A Bicycle Built for Two
As music technology continues to develop, software for music creation have become increasingly diverse and accessible. Noteflight, a free web-based software for music notation, allows the user to create scores in the cloud and access projects from other devices without installation of a computer application. I recently used Noteflight to transcribe an existing arrangement of "A Bicycle Built for Two" (see score below). This transcription project allowed me to gain experience with the program for educational considerations. Here are my thoughts about Noteflight:
Noteflight provides professional-looking scores for compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions. The ability to share projects on social media sites or blogs is a great feature for exposing your music to the public. Additionally, being able to access your score without downloading an application provides users with the ability to work on a score regardless of location. This is ideal for student use as users could complete work on their score in a school computer lab and transition easily to a laptop or mobile device elsewhere. Similarly, students could collaborate on projects with other musicians. Noteflight's networking abilities are one of the highlights of the program, though the software does lack the user-friendly appeal of other notation software I have used in the past. While my project only included three staves and two parts, I found that navigating the program was a bit more challenging than other programs such as Finale, Sibelius, or MuseScore (another free program). Adding elements outside of basic notes, rests, articulations, and score markings was difficult and time-consuming. I feel that ease-of-use in Noteflight relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts while other notation programs provide these shortcuts and organized palettes. Furthermore, editing score properties/formats, textual elements, and precise placement of notation is superior in other programs, allowing the user to have more flexibility and customization. However, these features may be more suited for professional music transcribers. In closing, Noteflight delivers a free platform for music creation and, while not entirely comprehensive, I consider it to be an appealing choice for music educators and amateur transcribers.
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