Finale NotePad^®

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 p. 1

Setup Wizard p. 2

Setup Wizard p.3

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.

“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.

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.

Share your music – any way you wish

With Finale NotePad you can:

• Print professional-quality sheet music.
• Exchange 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.
• Share the music you create in NotePad with users of the free, downloadable Finale SongBook iPad app.
• Let NotePad help you share your music with the world.