MuseScore 2,1 vs MuseScore PRO

• Oct 5, 2019 - 13:35

Hi,
I have been benefitting from MuseScore and really been appreciating it greatly. I just signed to get MuseScore Pro and I started my free trial period since October the 3rd. I did not use it yet as I understood the advantages of MuseScore Pro but there is still 4 points that are not clear:

  1. I have MuseScore 2,1 installed and I need to know if there is a new download you need to install and activate MuseScore Pro.
  2. Does MuseScore Pro give more music notation tools than the ones found "advanced"MuseScore 2,1 category with its 23 sections ("palettes" in French)?
  3. If MuserScore Pro comes also with 23 sections ("palettes") for music notation, are they exactly the same or are they more elaborate and exhaustive? Particularly the very first section, "embellishment" (cf. attachments, "fioritures" in French), MuseScore offers only 8 examples, so would MuseScore Pro offer more examples?
  4. Is there a way that I could "create" new "embellishment patterns" with the basic free 2,1 MuseScore software?

Thanks in advance to answer these questions,

Yours truly,
Alain Gagnon

Attachment(s)
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Comments

MuseScore pro doesn't exist. A pro account on musescore.com give you unlimited number of scores you can save online, access to downloading score more than a standard account and a few other thing, but it does not affect the program in any manner. The latest stable release is 3.2.3, which was free like all previous releases. The next release, 3.3 is due within days, it will also be 100% free.

What kind of embellishments are you trying to create? The palettes can be customized.

The MuseScore software on your Windows, macOS or Linux computer has got nothing to do with a pro account on musescore.com. The software is completely free, no restrictions, nothing a pro account would add.
And the latest MuseScore 2 version is 2.3.2, you should update to that at least from you 2.1 version. Or go to Musescore 3, currently 3.2.3, but you can have both too, and at the same time on the same computer

To expand on the other answers:

MuseScore Pro is not a program you install on your computer, it is a service you can sign up for on the score sharing website musescore.com. The Pro account gives you certain capabilities above and beyond a free account, but those differences have nothing to do with the MuseScore program you install on your computer - the differences are only about the level of service you get on musescore.com. And you don't need an account of any kind just to use MuseScore on your computer - only to share scores on musescore.com.

As for the MuseScore program on your computer:

2.1 is quite old at this point. The current version is 3.2.3 (with 3.3 due out in a matter of days) and it provides a ton of improvements over 2.1. Those improvements aren't so much about provided more symbols on the palettes - more about greatly simplifying the process of creating scores, by automatically positioning things to avoid collisions, by giving you additional commands to make entering notes and symbols easier, buy giving you additional commands to manipulate your score, etc.

The palette you show is called "Grace Notes" in English. I am not sure what additional symbols you'd like to see there, that should pretty much cover all the possibilities, especially when you consider you can add a grace note and then change its duration. Maybe you re expecting to find other ornaments like trills there? That's not the right palette. The palette for that in English is called Ornaments (in 3.2.3, anyhow - in 2.1 I think it was combined with Articulations).

There are also thousands of additional symbols on the Symbols palette (in both 2.1 and 3.2.3) which you can access by pressing "Z". It is possible to add some of these symbols to your own custom palette in 2.1, but the process is kind of awkward. 3.3 to be released soon will greatly improve that process. And it, like all versions of MsueScore, will be free just as MuseScore 2.1 was.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

"MuseScore Pro is not a program you install on your computer, it is a service you can sign up for on the score sharing website musescore.com. The Pro account gives you certain capabilities above and beyond a free account, but those differences have nothing to do with the MuseScore program you install on your computer - the differences are only about the level of service you get on musescore.com. And you don't need an account of any kind just to use MuseScore on your computer - only to share scores on musescore.com."

Thank you, Marc, for this simple and clear (and kind) explanation. I'm sure this information is available on the .com site, but I don't frequent the .com site so I can't speak to that. It does often seem that new users are not receiving this crucial information, or somehow (are led to?) believe that the "Pro" services are required for full use of the program itself, and end up paying for something they do not need.

As I have said before when this topic has been raised, the principle of Caveat Emptor does apply, but in there is also the responsibility of a legitimate business to clear up such ambiguities and to make it easier for customers to address inadvertent or ill-advised purchases.

To the OP: if you don't need/want the online services of musescore.com please cancel your trial subscription today (!sic. While it's a 7-day free trial you seem need to cancel the trial one day before the last day of the trial). Otherwise you're trapped in an (unwanted) subscription!

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