BAIN MUSC 336
Introduction to Computer Music

Learning Notation

Links to music notation software (also called score writers), PDF score libraries, virtual instruments, music notation resources, and more – including data formats for music notation (PDF, MID, MusicXML and SMuFL).

1. Music Notation Software {WP}
   • Professional/Commercial
     • Avid, Sibelius (Released 1993) {WP}
     • Steinberg, Dorico (Released 2016) {WP}
   • Free
     • LilyPond {WP} (Released 1996) {WP}
     • MuseScore (Released 2008) {WP}
   • Other
     • List of Scorewriters {WP}
       
     • MakeMusic, Finale (Released 1988, discontinued Aug. 2024) {WP}
2. Music Representation
• What is music representation? {Audio Labs} (Muller 2021)
• Research
• IRCAM, Music Representations Team {IRCAM; IRCAM STMS LAB}
3. Common Data Formats
   
   • A hands-on example
     J.S. Bach, Chorale No. 1 Aus meines Herzens Grunde, BWV 269
     Audio Recording: Chamber Choir of Europe & Nicol Matt {YouTube}
   • PDF: Adobe, Portable Document File {WP}
     An open format for viewing and printing music notation
     • File extension: .pdf
     • This Bach Chorale 1 PDF allows you to view/print a reduced SATB score of the chorale.
     • A PDF viewer application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple's Preview is required to view/print the PDF.
     • The file was obtained from the Mutopia Project – a public domain sheet music repository.
     • The score was created with the text-based music notation program LilyPond and exported to a PDF.
   • MID: Standard MIDI File (SMF) {WP}
     An open format for performance data exchange
     • File extension: .mid
     • Standard MIDI File (SMF) {Spec.: MIDI.org}
       
       • Type 1 – Multi-track
       • Type 0 – Single track
     • Download this Type 1 SMF of Bach Chorale 1 to your computer: 01AusmeinesHerz.mid
     • Mac: Use control-click to download; Windows: Use right-click to download
     • This SMF was downloaded from the Bach Central MIDI repository.
     • Import the MIDI file into a music notation program like Finale.
     • How do the imported SMF results differ from the PDF display?
     • Now view the SMF in a MIDI monitor app like MIDI Yodi {canto.se}, or a sequencer
     • How is SMF event data organized?
     • A different MIDI file for the same chorale is available at Stanford's KernScores repository
     • Download the SMF file for Chorale 1 and import it into Finale.
     • Compare/contrast the results to the previous import.
     • What do you notice?
   • XML: Extensible Markup Language {WP}
     
     • MusicXML 4.0 {W3C}
       An open format for music notation data exchange
       • Here is a very simple score: C4.pdf
         C4, whole note, treble clef (1 measure, 4/4 time) with text headers
         • C4.musx - A Finale 26 for Mac OS file
         • C4.musicxml - Uncompressed MusicXML file
         • C4.mxl - Compressed MusicXML file
4. Score Libraries
   • Alexander Street – Access through our Thomas Cooper Library subscription
   • IMSLP – International Music Score Library Project
   • CPDL – Choral Public Domain Library
   • KernScores – A library of virtual musical scores in the Humdrum kern data format
   • MuseData Archive {CCARH}
5. Score Followers
• Boosey & Hawkes Study Scores {YouTube Channel}
• PROKOFIEV, Classical Symphony (1917) {SF: YouTube}
• MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL), Pictures at an Exhibition (1922) {SF: YouTube}
• STRAVINSKY, Rite of Spring (1913) {SF: YouTube}
• COPLAND, Appalachian Spring (1945) {SF: YouTube}
• BARTOK, Concerto for Orchestra (1943) {SF: YouTube}
• XENAKIS, Metastaseis (1954) {SF: YouTube}
• REICH, Tehillim (1981) {SF: YouTube}
• ADAMS, Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) {SF: YouTube}
• Score Follower: A New Music Resource {ScoreFollower.org}
• Incipitsify:
  
• SCHOENBERG, Pierrot lunaire (1912) {SF: YouTube; Universal Edition}
• CRUMB, Black Angels (1971) {SF: YouTube; Edition Peters}
• ADÈS, Traced Overhead (1996) {SF: YouTube; Faber}
  
• NORMAN, The Companion Guide to Rome (I-VIII) (2010) {SF: YouTube; Schott}
6. Virtual Instruments & Sound Libraries
   • Dorico, Playback Tutorials {YouTube Playlist}
   • HALion {Steinberg}
     
   • Sibelius Sound Library {Avid}
   • MuseScore Sound and Playback {MuseScore}
   • Other:
   • MakeMusic, Garritan {Garritan}
   • Native Instruments, Kontakt {Native Instruments}
   • Wallender Instruments, NotePerformer {NotePerformer.com}
   • Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) {YouTube Channel}
7. Music Fonts
• Definitions:
• Music notation {WP}
• Music symbols {WP}
• Music Font Comparison tool, v2.0 {Elbsound.studio}
• W3C, A Brief History of Music Fonts {W3C}
• Leland Smith, Score (1967) {WP}
• Cleo Huggins, Sonata font (1985)
• Steve Peha, Petrucci font (1988)
• Finale's Maestro font
• See: Tom Johnson, A Brief History of Finale Fonts {FinaleMusic.com}
• Jonathan Finn, Sibelius's Opus font (1993)
• The LilyPond Authors, Emmentaler font (1996) {LilyPond.org}
• Daniel Spreadbury, Dorico's Bravura font (2013) {Dorico.com}
• Martin Keary & Simon Smith, MuseScore's Leland font (2021) {ScoringNotes.com}
• SMuFL: Standard Music Font Layout {Smufl.org; GitHub}
• Browse the glyphs {Smufl.org}
8. Music as Symbolic Data (Selfridge-Field 1997)
• Cuthbert, music21 {MIT.edu}
• Huron, Humdrum {Humdrum.org}
9. Handwriting Recognition
• Staff Pad {WP; Website; MuseGroup}
10. Optical Music Recognition (OMR) {WP}
1. Newzik, Maestria
2. See Hinchey 2021
11. Blogs & Podcasts
    • Philip Rothman, Scoring Notes
    • Scoring Notes Podcast
    • Robert Puff, Of Note
12. iPad Score Readers
• ForScore
• Newzi

Organizations: ASA | ISO {WP} | TENOR | W3C {WP}

Links

Audio Graffiti, Guide to Drum & Percussion Notation {MIT}

Indiana University (Composition Department), Music Notation Style Guide {Indiana University}

David MacDonald, Score preparation and production notes {ScoringNotes}

Robert Puff, Of Note: Music notation tips & tutorials by Robert Puff & expert contributing authors {Of Note}

Philip Rothman, Create lead sheets in The Real Book style in Finale and Sibelius {Sibelius Blog}

ScoringNotes, iPad Article Archive {ScoringNotes}

Bibliography

Gould, Elaine. 2011. Behind Bars. London: Faber Music Ltd. {GB}

Müller, Meinard. 2021. Fundamentals of Music Processing: Using Python and Jupyter Notebooks. New York: Springer. {GB; Website}

Read, Gardner. 1969. Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice, 2nd ed. New York : Taplinger Publishing Company. {GBd}

Risatti, Howard. 1975. New Music Vocabulary. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. {GBd}

Selfridge-Field, Eleanor. 1997. Beyond MIDI: The Handbook of Musical Codes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. {GB}

Stone, Kurt. 1980. Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook. New York : W. W. Norton. {GBd}

Updated: October 23, 2025