Mudcatter Pavane designed a program called Harmony. It seems to be quite good, but I have to say I haven't switched over from Noteworthy yet. It seems that every music software package has drawbacks, expecially since there is no single standard of music notation for computer (other than MIDI, which has severe limitations). It takes a bit of work to learn just about any music program you choose.

I suppose that Finale Notepad comes as close as you can get to becoming a "standard." It's free, and it's connected to one of the two major professional music composition programs. Years ago, it seemed that Cakewalk was becoming the standard music program, but you hear very little about it now.

For now, I'm sticking with Noteworthy, but trying to find time to learn how to use Harmony. I also have to keep abreast of Finale, because my stepson's music teacher depends on me to solve her Finale problems. Why can't all this be easier?

-Joe Offer-