Sheet music Help

• Mar 30, 2016 - 04:06

How am I supposed to make one of those sheet music stuff when I am new and don't know what to do?
Can someone please tell me the steps of how to find a nscz document/file?

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• Mar 31, 2016 - 01:35

.mscz is the standard MuseScore file format. All scores you create are saved to your hard-drive in this format unless you specify another format while saving them. Files in this format can only be opened using MuseScore.

Step 1: Create a score, using the program as instructed in the tutorial videos. It's really easier than you think to create a basic score. Don't Panic. ;o)

Step 2: Save the score to the hard-drive in your computer. The program allows you to choose the directory in which you want to save your scores. Click on File>Save from the main menu, then browse to the directory in your computer that you want to use to store your scores. Click Save. The score is now recorded on your computer, but nowhere else.

Step 3: If you WANT to share your score with other MuseScore users on this website, you have the OPTION of saving the score on the MuseScore server. That does not happen automatically when you save a score to your computer's hard-drive. If you want to share it, click File>Save On Line.... A browser window will open; to save the score to the MuseScore server, all you need to do is follow the prompts.

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• Mar 31, 2016 - 02:05

You need to be logged in on a computer as an administrator to download and install software. But assuming this is your own personal computer and there are no issues of that sort, you should be able to download the program from https://musescore.org/en/download/musescore.msi

If that doesn't work, shut down and re-boot your computer and try again. If it still doesn't work, disable your anti-virus program and/or firewall. And if THAT doesn't work, you need more help than I can provide.

EDIT: Please note, the link I provided is for Windows operating systems; if you're running something else, see https://musescore.org/en/download and choose the appropriate download.

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• Apr 2, 2016 - 00:41

What Marc said.

When my son was younger, I set up an 'account' in his name on the desktop, but he did not have 'permissions' (as computer-jive has it) to download or modify any program. That's a standard, built-in safety precaution for almost all operating systems. All secondary accounts have lesser permissions than the administrator account unless the administrator sets it up differently.

Your father, as the owner of the machine, will 'own' the administrator account. When he is logged in to the computer on THAT account, it will download programs.

Ask him to do it for you, and to set the program as 'shared' software that you can access from your own account.

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• Apr 5, 2016 - 02:58

You don't need to download it from his account; he needs to share it with your account.

I don't know what kind of computer or operating system your father has, but if he does not know how to enable 'sharing' of software and files stored on it, the simplest solution for you two is for him to run the following phrase through a search engine (such as Google, for instance): "How to share files on [insert name and version of the operating system; Windows 7, or Mac OS-x, or whatever]."

A number of webpages will turn up on that search; pick one (or more, as necessary) and follow the instructions. It's not that complicated, even though the jargon used can be daunting.

I can only tell you about Windows 7, as that is the OS that I run. Your father, as the administrator, will have to do this.

To share a program on Win7, push the Windows key or click START, then click on ALL PROGRAMS. Scroll down the list until you find MuseScore, and right-click on it. Then click on "Properties" and click the "Sharing" tab on the properties panel which will appear.

If the program is not shown as shared already, click on SHARE, and follow the prompts as needed.

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• Apr 12, 2016 - 17:19

Congratulations!

You can now explore refining the score using the more advanced functions that MuseScore offers. For instance, you can get rid of those empty measueres at the end by highlighting them and typing CTL+DEL. (To highlight a section of the score, click in an empty part of the first measure you want to highlight--a blue box will appear around the measure--and then hold down the SHIFT key while using the arrow keys to extend the blue box to the end of the last measure you want to select.)

And if you want to experiment with adding harmony to this melody, you can add new instruments by typing I or clicking on 'Instruments' in the drop-down under Edit in the main menu. I don't know how much music theory you've had in school yet, but this is an interesting, modal melody. You might try to write a simple counterpoint to it as a start. Have fun!

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• Apr 13, 2016 - 00:40

Don't worry about the mistakes; you can always correct them. There are errors in the original MSS of every composer in history, including guys like Bach and Beethoven. I work with those scores all the time, and correcting errors is a large part of my job as an editor. ;o)

MuseScore is a great tool that will enable you to explore your musical vision. Keep at it!

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• Apr 13, 2016 - 00:30

Zack, she's a young music student, learning to use a scorewriter for the first time as far as I can tell. I know that the piece was written by Mark Williams (he died a few years back, but wrote a load of stuff for the educational market), but if she wants to stretch herself and learn, she can take his 'cantus firmus' and try to add to it using MuseScore. It's an interesting melody, written more or less in Dorian mode, and it'd be a learning experience for her to try to compose a first-species counterpoint to it.

It's good to encourage young musicians to do more than whack away at I, IV, and V chords on an electric guitar.... ;o)

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• Apr 13, 2016 - 00:50

Nicky, all "first species counterpoint" means is harmony.

Yeah, but it's a specific type of harmony--harmony based on a single additional melodic line, rather than on chords. In Fux's Gradus it's defined precisely, but I have NO idea of what theory teachers are giving the kids these days. In the 1960s, my theory teachers didn't even touch polyphony; all I got was basic triads, scale degrees, inversions, and NO PARALLEL FIFTHS!!!! That was about it.

If she can compose a single-voice melody to harmonise with Mark Williams' original melody, she'll be 'way ahead of the average. Great thing about MuseScore (and digital scorewriters in general) is that they enable the student to HEAR what they've written. Not everybody can look at a perfect fourth on paper and hear it in their head.

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• Apr 13, 2016 - 01:12

FWIW, I teach a college course on counterpoint - kind of an overview of Renaissance and Baroque approaches. I do cover species counterpoint, and most textbooks I have looked at devote a few chapters to it, and I remember spending a month or two studying it as an undergraduate. It tends not to be the main focus but is usually treated more as a means to an end, even within the specific field of counterpoint. I imagine that's how Fux thought of it, but I confess to only having read excerpts.

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• Apr 13, 2016 - 01:30

I'm currently belting my way through Jeppeson, with the Alfred Mann translation of Fux as a back-up for when Jeppeson loses focus and wanders off into his own world (which is highly opinionated, in spite of his friendly style). Fux invented the whole idea of the graduated species of counterpoint as a pedagogical device, so yes, 'means to an end' describes it perfectly. The 'dialogue' between Josephus and Aloysius is almost funny by today's standards ('O revered master, I am glad that my error was due to ignorance rather than inattention...'), but it is an EXCELLENT teaching device once one gets past the archaic language.

Mann's translation is quite accessible if you don't read German or Latin. Amazon has it available quite inexpensively.

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