What is an easy to use midi program for scoring/playing?

[QH]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

QH

 

[Laurence Payne]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very

You don't need Sibelius. That's for publication-quality score
printing. The Score Edit page in Cubase will be fine. But it won't
be "intuitive"

Anyone who goes into learning an instrument expecting "quick and easy"
is doomed to mediocrity.

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

 

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song.

Look at abc, it is a brilliant scheme for typing in music from a
keyboard - the program abc2midi is to be found at
http://abc.sourceforge.net there are links to the manuals there.

You'll be impressed, it takes only a few minutes to type in a score and
it has particular provision for guitar chords.

--
O how I cried when Alice died
The day we were to have wed!
We never had our Roasted Duck
And now she's a Loaf of Bread!

At nights I weep an cannot sleep,
Moonlight to me recalls
I never saw her Waterfront
Nor she my Waterfalls
- W.H. Auden verses for 'The Dog Beneath the Skin'
* TagZilla 0.057 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org

 

[Michael Bednarek]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very
grateful.

As Laurence Payne already pointed out, Sibelius (or Finale) would be
overkill for your purpose, and the score functions in your Cubase
programs are probably sufficient.

If you want a notation program which has a very intuitive, computer
keyboard based method of notation entry, I can recommend Mozart. Most
people can get their first score entered very quickly, it doesn't cost
the earth, and it has a very supportive mailing list.

A fully functional trial version is available at
<http://www.mozart.co.uk>. I use it a a lot.

 

[Chris Laarman]

QH ([email protected]) in
(e-mail address removed):

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there
is a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very
muddy and difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the
supposed leading program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a
friend, but did not find it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I
am not using the program to make music, I don't really want to spend
hours ploughing through the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox,
but I don't know if this has a scoring function (although I could be
wrong). I also own Cubase SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring
facility, but I don't know how suitable it would be for this purpose.
If someone could direct me towards something quick and easy to
achieve this, I would be very grateful.

You don't specify how you would get the "parts of sheet music" from paper to
MIDI.
Will you play them on a MIDI-keyboard or MIDI-guitar connected to a
computer?
Will you scan them an use an Optical Musuc Recognition program?

As far as I can judge, I would in your place play along with the original
recording after all. Not only slowed down, but using such equalizer settings
that unwanted instrument parts are suppressed as much as possible.

In terms of ease and cost, that would by far be the preferred way.

 

[Eric Fretheim]

I use a very inexpensive program called "Noteworthy" for this
purpose. The interface is very quick to pick up, and it has a
good range of features for the price.
http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/

 

[Blue]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

QH

http://www.power-tab.net/

Brilliant Program for inputing guitar and bass tabs, Does Notation
as well but cant input it

Also is Free

http://www.powertab-central.net/

Instead of inputing the songs yourself go here do a search for the song
you want to learn and go

Not all Tabs are perfect but most are close enough untill your good
enough to tell the differance

 

[Les Cargill]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

QH

I've always found MidiSoft's product to have good ease of use. But
the version I have is pretty old, so it mighta bloated...

 

[Robert Schulze Lutum]

I am a (very) amateur guitar player. I am trying to learn various song
segments including solos, melodies and arpeggio chords. What I would
like to do is to input parts of sheet music (from guitar magazines
etc.) into the Midi program, and then have it play it back
automatically so I can play along to the song. I prefer not to play
along to the original CD of the song, as when you slow it down there is
a lot of interference from drums, bass etc which make it very muddy and
difficult to make out subtle guitar pieces. I know the supposed leading
program is Sibelius. I borrowed a copy from a friend, but did not find
it intuitive to pick up how to use it - as I am not using the program
to make music, I don't really want to spend hours ploughing through
the manuals. I also own an Protools LE MBox, but I don't know if this
has a scoring function (although I could be wrong). I also own Cubase
SX 2. I know that this does have a scoring facility, but I don't know
how suitable it would be for this purpose. If someone could direct me
towards something quick and easy to achieve this, I would be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

QH

If you have SX2, use that.
Read the manual.

 

[glen]

HI QH

As a (professional) guitarist i would recommend that you shift your
focus away from trying to figure out how to get stuff into a computer
so you can slow it down (effectively) and start concentrating on
playing ( if necessary ) tiny bits of what you can play, along with the
record. At speed. It happened at that tempo. On a gig the drummer
won't slow down because you can't play the hard bit.

If your goal is becoming a better guitarist then the only "shortcut" I
can recommend is playing as much as you can with the record. This is
how 90% of all popular/rock/jazz/ whatever, players learnt. If you
get it "wrong" then you just go again.

It's an EAR thing and using your computer isn't going to help you
significantly.

For a start, you'll just good at playing stuff out of magazines really
slowly to a midi file. Is this where you want to be as a guitarist?


Secondly, all the time that it takes to get software to make stuff slow
and listenable could be spent learning the traditional skills that make
the guys who are your favourite guitarists (or even just the guys who
write the guitar mags) that good. Every minute away from the neck of
the guitar is a minute that your not getting better at playing it .

Get a good book ( stuff publihsed by Mel Bay or Berklee Press tends to
be excellent) and do it the hard way.

it's much more fun.

all the best

g

 

[Laurence Payne]

If your goal is becoming a better guitarist then the only "shortcut" I
can recommend is playing as much as you can with the record. This is
how 90% of all popular/rock/jazz/ whatever, players learnt. If you
get it "wrong" then you just go again.

So your advice is: "Take a run at it. When you fail, take another run
at it"?

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

 

[glen]

yeah. that's about it. . you do that for a few thousand days and one
day you've got it together. then you put on a record that you
*definately* cannot play.

repeat above.

every time you take a run a it, you're hearing it again. you're
putting it in your ear, in your aural memory. it's not so muh a
question of failing and running at it again: it's more learing a little
bit each time how to run at it better. learning high level skills (or
anything else worthwhile, for that matter), like instumental playing,
is not an easy process. it's a cummulative thing that really rewards
the hours you spend doing it. Just like using software or engineering
or anything else that used to be hard before you did loads of it.

My point is; if you want to be a better guitarist, then stop worrying
about the software solutions and start by being a bad ,but very
ambitious guitarist.

btw ,

it's a beautiful instrument. Treat yourself to a nice one if you can.
Play a few and pick one that you really like.

Then unplug your computer for six months

g

 

[daz[at]roughdiamondmarketing[dot]com]

So your advice is: "Take a run at it. When you fail, take another run

at it"?

could explain why a lot of guitarists have issues playing as part of a
group, and keeping up if something untoward should happen - I understand the
principle of 'stop and retry' but 'carry on and get it back together' can be
a whole lot easier to play with. if you are playing with a group of other
people, what would happen if they all took the attitude of rewind and try
again as they made mistakes at different times in the piece ... ?

 

[Laurence Payne]

every time you take a run a it, you're hearing it again.

Really?

Maybe you heard it wrong. Maybe you heard it right, but your
technique isn't up to reproducing it. A teacher can show you the
tricks. Or you may be able to analyse them for yourself. Good luck,
if your learning process consists of "keep taking a run at it".

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

 

[Jim Carr]

If your goal is becoming a better guitarist then the only "shortcut" I
can recommend is playing as much as you can with the record. This is
how 90% of all popular/rock/jazz/ whatever, players learnt. If you
get it "wrong" then you just go again.

Right. That's why jugglers start with six balls, and pole vaulters start at
18 feet, and gymnasts start with the most complex moves.

I wish I had the ability to slow things down when I was younger. I find it
invaluable today. It helps me wrap my brain around it. I can certainly hear
it better slowed down. It gives my fingers a chance to become comfortable
with the movement. The phrases start to come together in my head.

If you can't play it slow, then you're not playing it right fast. Once
you've got it down slow, speed it up utnil you start to mess up, then back
it down a bit until you can do it right again. Practice some more, then
speed it up. Repeat until you can play it at full speed. Then slow it down
again and make sure you didn't start cheating when you started going fast.

Perfect practice makes perfect play. You really don't learn much by playing
it wrong 50 times in a row. You'll play it much better if you do it 10 times
slow, 10 times faster and so forth until you've finally got the speed and
note where they should be.

 

[Porky]

Right. That's why jugglers start with six balls, and pole vaulters start at
18 feet, and gymnasts start with the most complex moves.

I wish I had the ability to slow things down when I was younger. I find it
invaluable today. It helps me wrap my brain around it. I can certainly hear
it better slowed down. It gives my fingers a chance to become comfortable
with the movement. The phrases start to come together in my head.

If you can't play it slow, then you're not playing it right fast. Once
you've got it down slow, speed it up utnil you start to mess up, then back
it down a bit until you can do it right again. Practice some more, then
speed it up. Repeat until you can play it at full speed. Then slow it down
again and make sure you didn't start cheating when you started going fast.

Perfect practice makes perfect play. You really don't learn much by playing
it wrong 50 times in a row. You'll play it much better if you do it 10 times
slow, 10 times faster and so forth until you've finally got the speed and
note where they should be.

I have a friend who is a very good guitarist, and he recommends starting
slow and practicing until you can play the riff smoothly considerably faster
than the recording. That way, you'll never feel like you're straining when
playing live, and you'll always be comfortable, even if the band is playing
the song a bit fast.

 

[Joe Kesselman]

Way offtopic for most of these newsgroups so I'm routing followups to
null, but one fast comment:

Practicing too fast only improves (and locks in) your ability to play it
wrong and fake your way through it. Starting slow and then speeding up
as you get it nailed down is incredibly frustrating at times because you
hear every mistake -- but that's precisely why it _works_. (If you
really want to drive yourself crazy -- but really want to get it sharp
-- try practicing slow AND with a metronome.)

 

[Laurence Payne]

Way offtopic for most of these newsgroups so I'm routing followups to
null, but one fast comment:

Practicing too fast only improves (and locks in) your ability to play it
wrong and fake your way through it. Starting slow and then speeding up
as you get it nailed down is incredibly frustrating at times because you
hear every mistake -- but that's precisely why it _works_. (If you
really want to drive yourself crazy -- but really want to get it sharp
-- try practicing slow AND with a metronome.)

Cheeky bastard! Who are you to decide that discussion of musical
technique is inappropriate in music groups, and that YOU may have the
last word? Follow ups reinstated.

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

 

[Joe Kesselman]

(Can we compromise and set the followups to groups related to
PERFORMING, rather than recording, music? That'd drop out home-studio
and cubase at least...)

 

[Laurence Payne]

(Can we compromise and set the followups to groups related to
PERFORMING, rather than recording, music? That'd drop out home-studio
and cubase at least...)

Don't most people set up a home studio because they play music and
want to record it? There should be MORE musical content in these
forums, not less!

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect