Music notation software in education

~ mitchelljamesdavis

Music notation software is a powerful tool with many applications. However, with great power comes great responsibility as they say. There can be quite a learning curve in order to get the most of out of the software while wasting as little time as possible. This week in class we explored and discussed several of the big names in notation software, namely Musescore as a popular contender in music education since it is free and simple to use despite the inevitable learning curve. Interestingly, James mentioned the development of the XML file type, which allows for universal translation from one notation program to another. He also demonstrated the worksheet function in Sibelius, a powerful teaching resource for more concrete learning of specific musical concepts such as intervals, rhythm, and harmony.

We spent some time exploring Noteflight and Flat as free online options available to us as music students and future music educators. What became apparent for me personally is that my lack of experience with these programs is something that I feel I should work on, as it is another skill I could use as a future music educator.

As a contemporary music major studying in the Music ed degree, my experience with notation programs rests largely in the popular ‘Guitar Pro’. Guitar pro is a program aimed at musicians within popular music, mainly offering notation and tab functions for guitar, bass, drums, piano etc. however there is also large choice of orchestral, percussion, vocal/choral, and even the odd world instruments (African drums for instance!)

I have used guitar pro 6 for both personal and educational musical needs, in high school and still to this day studying at the con. Just the other day I created a chart with some ideas for a disco/dance track we were tasked with writing in our contemporary music class, have a look :

The Swedish online guitar personality Ola Englund created a guide/demonstration to the new guitar pro 7, highlighting the increasing speed trainer as a practice tool and the community of musicians who transcribe songs and share full charts for others to download and learn from. For students of a contemporary music background or preference, there is a lot of value in guitar pro.

Music notation software allows for both teacher directed and student (or self) directed learning which can create a more engaging and rewarding experience for all involved.

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Published by mitchelljamesdavis

Mitchell Davis is currently a music education student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, born in 1997 in Sydney. Following a positive experience with music education in primary and secondary school combined with a personal interest in music as an art form and pastime, the decision to become a secondary school music teacher was naturally made. Complimentary to studying music education, Mitchell also holds ongoing experience working casually in a youth centre in his home town of Liverpool, New South Wales. After studying a Certificate IV in Youth Work, It was here that he initially found his confidence and appreciation for working with young people to achieve positive outcomes, predominately running various sport and recreational youth programs both in local Liverpool school environments and at the youth centre's facilities. Mitchell's specific area of musical expertise is in contemporary popular music. He is a guitarist and songwriter who enjoys genres such as heavy metal, extreme metal, hard rock, blues and pop. He has begun to write, release and perform his original music in order to gain greater experience in the world of contemporary music and give more value to his skills in becoming a music educator.

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