We now offer nine music notation programs.  They can all produce high quality sheet music.  The cost of the software varies depending on what additional features you'd like.  Notation programs allow you to create sheetmusic with your computer's keyboard and mouse.  Most of them also allow you to scan printed music with a scanner, or enter music from a MIDI piano keyboard.  This page explains the differences between the nine programs as well as some opinions from the Musical Progressions staff.   We've also included answers to some frequently asked questions at the bottom of this page.   For more information please return to our home page, www.triplets.com or email us.

SongWriter, PrintMusic and Allegro - These three programs offer a variety of features depending on how much you can afford.  We've listed some of the features of each program below.

SongWriter This is an entry level program for people who are looking for a low cost way to produce sheet music.  You can produce quality sheetmusic with this software but you don't get the added features of the more expensive programs. If cost is a concern, this is a good choice, but if you can afford a little more, PrintMusic (shown below), is a better value. PrintMusic is slightly more expensive but it has extra features that make it worth the price. If you're deciding between these two programs, we recommend PrintMusic.

PrintMusic contains all the features of SongWriter, but it also has extras that make it easier to create sheet music. For example, it has a more advanced setup wizard that allows you to choose the instruments, tempo, key etc. and the program will automatically set up the page for you. You also get pre-designed templates to make setup faster. For example, if you were doing a piano/vocal arrangement, you simply choose that from a list and all the staffs are instantly set up for you. PrintMusic also adds the Mic Notator feature so you can play a brass or woodwind instrument into your mic and the program will notate it. You also get a music scanning feature that allows you to scan printed music into the program for playback and editing. Other features include "Row-Loff" marching and percussion sounds, and other program enhancements.

Allegro contains all the features of PrintMusic but it's much better if you plan on entering notes from a MIDI keyboard. This program includes the Advanced Hyperscibe feature. The programs mentioned above aren't as advanced when it comes to MIDI input. With Allegro you'll also have the ability to edit MIDI data that you play. This is a good choice for keyboard players.  Other featuers include, percussion maps that allow you to apply specific sounds to percussion notes. You also get, more pre-designed templates,more advanced guitar tablature features and other program enhancements. Allegro also includes the new Exercise Wizard. You can create 50,000 customizable exercises to help improve your playing. To summarize, if you're a keyboard player and can't afford Finale or Sibelius, then Allegro is a program you should consider.

Guitar Pro and G7 - These two notation programs are specifically aimed at guitar and bass players (They can also notate any other instrument in standard notation as well). Both programs offer many tablature notation options. They both include high quality, real guitar samples for nice sounding audio playback. The difference between the two programs is described below.

Guitar Pro is mostly used by people interested in learning songs with guitar tab. There are 1000's of songs available online in Guitar Pro format that can be imported into this program so you can learn them. Guitar Pro also includes a variety of tools to help you learn songs (The speed trainer for example). You can also create and print pretty good sheetmusic with Guitar Pro but the printouts and editing capabilities aren't as advanced as G7.

G7 is for guitarists who want to create publisher quality sheetmusic with tablature and/or standard notation. The printing and editing features of G7 are pro quality and more flexible than Guitar Pro. If you're interested in creating sheetmusic or a tablature book and can't afford the top-of-the-line programs like Finale and Sibelius then G7 is worth considering.

PhotoScore and SmartScore - These programs are great for music scanning. Many people are looking for software that allows them to scan sheet music with a scanner.  After the music is scanned, you can listen to it, edit it, transpose it and reprint it if you'd like.  Most of the notation programs we offer can do this, but not nearly as well as SmartScore and PhotoScore. If your main goal is scanning, look no further, you'll want to choose one of these.  Other programs (even Finale and Sibelius) have very limited scanning ability.  Both of these programs are fantastic and very accurate. The difference between the two is shown below.

PhotoScore is strictly a scanning program. You can edit the music you scan in if you need to, but it doesn't allow you to create your own notation from scratch or do any type of advanced editing. It's really designed to let you transfer your scans into other notation programs or sequencers and then you can do your editing in those programs. If you just want to work with what you've scanned or if you already have another notation program to use this program with, then this is a great choice. It's a little cheaper than Smartscore too.

Smartscore is both a scanning program and a notation program. It has great scanning ability and can also be used for creating your own notation if you'd like. It allows you to enter music from a MIDI keyboard if needed. If you want a top quality scanning program with good notation and editing capability, this software is Fantastic. Smartscore is expensive, but definitely worth it if you want a great scanning program.

Finale and Sibelius - These two programs are the best notation programs available today.  They are very similar and they're packed with every feature you can imagine for music notation.  There's no type of notation that they can't do.   Most music books you find in stores are created with one of these programs or the other.   Many popular movies are scored with these programs also.  Both programs are equally expensive, but there's no better notation software available anywhere.

It would be nearly impossible for us to list every feature of these two programs here.   They contain so many features, some music schools even offer classes to teach students how to use them.   But don't worry, they are both designed to be easy to use. They include plenty of instuctions and tutorials to help you learn what you want to know.   Here are just a few features available in these programs:

Great Audio - The big new improvement this year is the Integrated Kontakt Player and Garritan Sounds.  Both programs let you play back the music you create with real instrument sounds rather than just MIDI.   So not only can you create publisher quality sheet music, you can create CD quality audio. You can even save your creations in formats that can be burned to CD.

Composition Features - These two programs include other features that do a variety of things.  They not only make it much easier for you to create sheet music, but they also help you make music.   For example, Finale has an Auto Harmonizer feature.   You can enter a melody and Finale will harmonize it in up to 6 parts for you.   It also has a rhythm section generator built in.   Sibelius has similar features like "Arrange".   This feature allows you to alter music at the click of a mouse.   For example, say you have a piece written for choir and you wanted a piano version.   This can be done in seconds with the Arrange feature.

Realistic playback - Another great feature available in both programs is "Human Playback".   This allows you to make subtle changes in rhythm, tempo and dynamics to give your music a more "human" sound.

Teaching Aids - Both programs have a huge amount of built-in worksheets and exercises that are customizable. This makes life a whole lot easier for teachers.   You'll have all kinds of exercises for your students ready to print out.

Editing - The advanced editing features of these programs allow you to make your music look and sound perfect in the shortest amount of time.  They have a lot of features that let you fine tune your music beyond what the other programs can do.   Whether you need to simply change a note, transpose a part, or completely rearrange an entire orchestra these programs let you do it in the shortest amount of time.

No Limitations - As we mentioned before Finale and Sibelius can do any type of notation. If you're writing a simple melody, they can do it, if you're writing something unusual it can do that too.   Both programs are extremely powerful.

Academic Pricing Available - Since these are the most expensive programs, we offer academic pricing.   Academic priced software is exactly the same as the more expensive retail product, but you must meet certain qualifications to purchase.   See our ordering section for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question - Ok, so both Finale and Sibelius are top-of-the-line programs... Which one is better?
Answer - Thousands of people are using each program. Some choose Sibelius, some choose Finale.   We chose to add both programs to our product line because they are both great.   You won't be dissappointed with either one and we have them both listed at the exact same price.   If you are a college student taking music classes, you will obviously want to choose the program that is used at your school.

Question - Can these programs handle percussion notation?
Answer - Yes, they all have some percussion capability.   Finale, and Sibelius give you more options with percussion though.   For example, you can choose how many lines are on the drum staves. The other programs can only do 5 line staffs.   Finale and Sibelius have more advanced audio editing also, so you can apply specific sounds to each type of percussion symbol.

Question - Why is scanning limited in most of the programs?
Answer - All of programs (even Finale and Sibelius) include "LITE" versions of either Smartscore or Photoscore.   They can scan simple melodies but they have many limitations.   For example, you can't scan lyrics, dynamics, multiple staffs per system, chord symbols, etc.   Only Smartscore and Photoscore are full scanning programs.

Question - Can I transpose music with these programs?
Answer - Yes, all nine programs can transpose music easily.

Question - Can I install these programs on more than one computer?
Answer - Finale and Sibelius allow you to install on two computers, all other programs allow one install.