I use Sibelius, or at least I have since I bought my first copy of the software on disc over a decade ago. Sibelius and the digital audio workstation Logic Pro were the main programs on my 17-inch Mac laptop computer, which I no longer have. Despite all my efforts, my old laptop finally gave up, and I had to find a cheap replacement for next to nothing quickly.
I went and purchased a Chromebook. I knew little to nothing about a Chromebook; I’d never used one before and naively thought it was a less powerful laptop, which I was wrong in assuming. I soon realized I could no longer run Sibelius on it. I searched and stumbled across a music notation program called Noteflight. I could try the premium features with a free trial, so I signed up to test it out.
I understand the program is light enough to run on a Chromebook. How good is this software? I was about to find out. After working with the program briefly, I hauled out my credit card and signed up for the year. Is Noteflight Sibelius? No, not by a long shot, but I’m not sure it has to be; the software has enough features to make it highly worthwhile. At first, I thought I would miss Sibelius, but Noteflight was ticking all the boxes for me. I could even write orchestral scores; the only problem being Noteflight doesn’t currently use brackets and braces to group the orchestras’ sections. While that’s a big disappointment, it’s not a dealbreaker by any stretch of the imagination.
Noteflight is free to use but is limited to 10 scores and some limited features, whereas the paid version gives you access to additional score templates and program features. The program itself is so inexpensive for what it does that it’s well worth the purchase. Many of my students use Chromebooks; therefore, Noteflight is an obvious choice. Another feature that puts it up there with the other music notation programs and even allows it to stick its head up above the crowd is its publishing features. If you have the paid version of noteflight, you can sell your scores in the Noteflight marketplace and other online sheet music stores; that’s something.
I suggest Noteflight to all my students because it’s a great program. I plan to film quite a few tutorials on how to use the software. Depending on when you’re reading this post, the issue regarding braces and brackets on the orchestral template may be fixed by now, as they keep this software up to date.
If you own a Chromebook and want to leave the studio for some composition work, Noteflight may be your ticket to freedom. Feature-packed, relatively easy to use, multiple score export options are some of the features that make this a must-try. Thank you for reading; I’m just a music teacher having fun; catch ya on the next one.
