MuseScore

Fairly quickly after our Vigil Music Group started, I discovered a very significant resource - notation software.  For many, the go-to option for music notation software is Sebelius.  By all accounts it is very good but it costs well over £400 to buy or a £15+ monthly subscription.  What's more, for my purposes, it is far too powerful - I wouldn't use a fraction of its functions.  MuseScore, however, is more than powerful enough for my needs - and most people's, I suspect - and is totally free.

It's not too difficult to get to grips with the basic functions and there are helpful tutorials available on YouTube.  I was very quickly able to create simple responses for the Psalm and, before long, was creating harmonies for some hymns and writing Mass settings.  It is very simple to change the key of a piece of music ("God's Spirit is in my heart" is FAR too low in the hymnal!) or to transpose the music for different instruments (eg Bb Clarinet).  Using the "Export" function (via "File" on the menu), you can save completed scores as graphic or PDF files which allows me to email music to others in the group.


You can download the programme for free via the MuseScore website or, if you are on a Windows PC/laptop, you can find it in the app Store.






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