Module 2 Reflection

This week's activities involved a program I was already somewhat familiar with and a program that I had never heard of. I was a little short for time this week (due to meetings, setting up classrooms, getting moved to a new classroom, and a wedding), but I managed to get all of my assignments submitted on time.

I started with the Noteflight project first because I was already familiar with the program. I have to say, I love this program. I think it's really user friendly and doesn't require a lot of time to figure out how the program works. I don't have a USB midi keyboard to use for these projects, but I still didn't feel like it was that time consuming (yes, inputting chords was a bit daunting). Some things I learned to do with Noteflight included adding chord symbols and adding dynamics (sounds silly, but I'd never used the expression symbols in the past). One of my favorite things about Noteflight is being able to access it from any computer. There have been times where I've started an arrangement at work, saved it, and finished it on my home computer. This has all been done with the free version. I don't know if I use the program enough to justify paying for an annual subscription, but perhaps I might in the future.

I'll admit to being intimidated by MuseScore because it's a program I've never used. The tutorial videos compare this program to some of the paid notation software like Finale or Sibelius. I have used both Finale and Sibelius in the past (with and without a midi keyboard). Overall, I found the tutorial videos VERY helpful. There are a lot of little shortcuts and things that I would never have known about if I didn't watch the tutorials. I was, however, a little confused. The tutorials eventually led to two different projects (both with the same melody). One involved lyrics and one involved scoring for a jazz combo. At one point I had put the lyrics in with the jazz combo arrangement because I thought we were supposed to only have one submission. Alas, we were to submit two assignments. Something else that bothered me in the tutorial videos was how the instructor would just omit certain information. For example, when we were ending the jazz combo arrangement he never went into detail with the chords/notes that were supposed to be in each part. I watched and re-watched the videos and became so frustrated that I just submitted the piece with an incomplete ending. 

I don't know how often I'll actually use MuseScore in the future. I think it's a good program, but for the simple arrangements that I do, Noteflight will probably suit me better.