Finale NotePad:
free to create
your music
Finale NotePad is your free introduction to the world of music notation software!
  • Get started

    The Setup Wizard makes it easy.
  • Capture ideas

    Use your computer or MIDI keyboard.
  • Hear your music

    More than 128 built-in instrument sounds.
  • Markings, lyrics, and more

    Intuitive and powerful.
  • Share

    Printing and beyond.

Get started

Focus on your music.

What instruments are you writing for?

Whether you’re notating guitar tablature, composing a piano solo, or arranging for a jazz combo, NotePad’s Setup Wizard sets up your score automatically.

NotePad handles instrument transposition, clefs, key signatures, and more, freeing you to explore the creative process.


  • Setup Wizard Page 1
  • Setup Wizard Page 2
  • Setup Wizard Page 3
“I have found Finale NotePad to be a great aid for writing out melodies and chords quickly to print for other musicians in my bands. I play with groups that mostly just need the melody and a few chords, and this is definitely the tool.”
– Duffy Keith

Capture ideas

When inspiration strikes, NotePad is there.

Capture your ideas quickly with NotePad. Select notes on your computer keyboard by typing note names, or enter notes in step-time using a MIDI keyboard – or any other MIDI device.

Ever jot a musical idea down only to find it’s unintelligible the next day? Not with NotePad: Your music is always clear and legible, just like published scores.

If some of your inspiration comes from working with collaborators, NotePad can help here too, even if your partners use different software. NotePad can open files made by the entire family of Finale software as well as import MIDI and MusicXML files created by hundreds of other products.

Don’t let that great melody get away. Save it today with NotePad.


“NotePad enables me to take my original compositions to the next phase of production rather than lyrics, chords, and letters scribbled on a sheet of paper. It gives the work credibility.”
– Dennis Auth

Hear your music

“If it sounds good, it IS good.”
– Duke Ellington

Hear your notes as you enter them, then press Play to hear how they work together. NotePad’s instant feedback empowers you to quickly shape the music of your imagination.

But NotePad is more than just notes. It’s also about interpretation and sound quality. With Human Playback and built-in sounds, your notes not only make sound – they make great sound.

Human Playback®

Your music deserves to be heard with all the feeling, phrasing, and nuance you felt when you wrote it.

NotePad’s Human Playback feature plays your music with the nuance and expression of human performers.

High-quality software instrument sounds included!

NotePad includes more than 128 built-in software instrument sounds. Combine these professional sounds with NotePad’s Human Playback and the results are truly astounding.

Etude in Eb minor, Frédéric Chopin
Excerpt without Human Playback
Excerpt with Human Playback
“I have improved my ability to sing more accurately and to memorize notes, because of Finale NotePad. I can increase or decrease speed so that I can lock in a note I'm not able to sing correctly. Good learning tool.”
– Robert H. Whitcomb

Add markings, lyrics, and more

Lyrics
Percussion Notation
Guitar and Bass Tablature

The notes are just the beginning.

Markings

Adding dynamics and tempo markings is quick and easy. Not only do they look great, they also influence NotePad playback. Change your mind? It’s simple to switch to another marking or drag them anyplace you wish.

Lyrics

Enter a lyric verse and NotePad automatically spaces the lyrics under the notes with publisher-quality precision. Lyrics instantly appear exactly as they’ll print out.

Percussion Notation

Notes on percussion staves look – and play back – exactly the way you want them to.

  • Easy to enter – Simply drag the cursor over the staff and on-screen feedback indicates whether you’re about to enter a snare, bass drum, or other percussion instrument – and displays the appropriate notehead.
  • Automatic playback configuration – your snare will play back with a snare sound – and so forth – without any manual intervention.

Guitar and Bass Tablature

NotePad simplifies the creation of Guitar and Electric Bass tablature. Simply choose a TAB staff from the Setup Wizard to begin. You can enter and edit tablature directly in any TAB staff, or generate TAB automatically by dragging notes from a standard notation staff.

“I really like Finale NotePad because it is the first tool that I had to put notes to paper, and print it out in a format that was easy to read and play. I have already recommended Finale NotePad to several other people.”
– Peggy Singler

Share

Share your music – any way you wish.

With Finale NotePad you can:

  • Print professional-quality sheet music.
  • Share your NotePad creations to collaborate with fellow NotePad and Finale users.
  • Encourage your students to use NotePad to complete your assignments and compose on their own.
  • Share MIDI or MusicXML files. Unlike MIDI files, MusicXML allows you to transfer the sounds and graphical elements in your file to hundreds of other music programs including older versions of Finale and NotePad.
  • Post your music at the Finale Showcase, MakeMusic’s free site where people can see, play, and print your music.

Let NotePad help you share your music with the world.