Anyone using MuseScore for Education?

See http://musescore.org/en/about/references

Hello Mark,
I am a music teacher from Spain. I work in a music school with a program based in the Suzuki Method. We are developing our own program. I use Musescore for editing and self-publishing the materials (as a reading method for piano or an improvisation method). I teach how to use Musescore to my students trough some tutorials and examples, so all of our teenagers know how to write music on the computer using this nice software. Also, I'm teaching harmony and composition using it, because our students can actually listen what they compose and correct easily.

I don't know if it is useful, you can write me if need more details or examples.

Thanks.

Hello, Mark,
my name is Marcelo and I am a music teacher from Spain. First of all, you can use this programme to teach how to write music properly (complete measures, for example), so you can practise the duration-lenght of the half note, the quarter note, etc. On the other hand, you can practise composition with your students: you can set up some conditions (like speed, time signature, instrument, a close number of bars,...) and let your students compose a little piece freely.

Moreover, I use this programme to edit the pieces my students are going to play with their recorders, and then I upload the score to musescore.com. This web let me obtain a very useful interactive score. We rehearse the piece at school and after that, my students can practise the same piece at home on their own. As you can see the score sounds and the measure which is played is coloured in red.

Please, check out these links:
http://musescore.com/user/52779/scores/70355
http://marceloprofedemusica.wix.com/eltamborilero

I hope my experience is useful. If you need more information, please, don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,
Marcelo.

Hi, I'm an elementary music teacher, and I use MuseScore for two things.
First, if there's a piece of music I'm using to illustrate a musical concept the kids are learning to read, I'll notate it in MuseScore so I can project it on a white board and mark it up as needed.

Second, when I'm teaching notation more specifically (reading of letter names instead of solfege, for example), I put a blank staff on the board with one quarter note, which I then move up and down with the arrow keys, to help them see that line-to-space is one step, etc. This also helps them to understand stem direction (some younger kids have trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that a quarter-note is still a quarter-note, even when the stem faces down). Seeing the stuff *in motion* seems to really help some of them understand what is going on with step-wise motion. After several times of doing that, they can generally tell me quite quickly what the letter-name of most any note is, just by moving up and down the staff in their minds, without resorting to Every Good Boy Does Fine.

I use Musescore with my private piano/vocal students for composition work whenever possible as it is fast and easy to learn. I can keep a bank of simple examples for them to play around with, add notes to etc as well as bespoke pieces. I use Sibelius for most work but as few students can afford that Musescore is ideal as it is free and can write to MusicXML.

I use MuseScore in my teaching at the University of Denver. I teach Jazz Theory & Aural Skills. Over the course of the year, students produce a number of lead sheets, solo transcriptions, and other short projects. They are welcome to use whatever software they like, and they do learn about Sibelius and Finale in a music tech course and have access to those programs in a computer lab, but most choose to use MuseScore once they realize they can have it on their own computers for free. I teach them the basics of using MuseScore and provide support in their efforts. I also use MuseScore to prepare the handouts, tests, etc (in conjunction with LibreOffice, using the MuseScore Example Manager extension I developed).

Hi Mark,

If you're looking for people who can offer technical support and training for MuseScore in the UK, then I offer both those services.

You can contact me either through the services page here (at the bottom) or through my profile if you need any further information.

Regards
Michael

Hey Mark,

More comments are coming in via the social networks:
https://www.facebook.com/musescore/posts/582981321718339
https://plus.google.com/117505379039943633083/posts/cE5RasYGCrL
https://twitter.com/musescore/status/286504657176625152

hi,
yes i use it for my guitar lessons.
I write a method.
greets

Hi, I have been using Musescore for personal use since 0.9.5 and for music lessons since 1.0 (Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Almoradi). I translated into spanish K. Wardrobe´s tutorials on Youtube, so my music technology students can review the lessons at home. I teach score-writing and also prepare ear-training, theory, choir and big-band materials using Musescore. I can send you examples of any of these, you name it.
Pedro

I have my students explore composing using MuseScore. It is one of my go-to tools.

I have page on my website with my recommendations for Free/Libre Open Source music tools for education and MuseScore is one of the main items:
http://blog.wolftune.com/p/software-recommendations-and-more.html

I even taught a community class on intro to computer music and it featured Audacity, Hydrogen, and MuseScore; all excellent, Free/Libre, and cross-platform!

Hi. I'm a music teacher from the caribbean island of Puerto Rico. I teach guitar, puertorrican cuatro, and conduct a guitar and cuatro ensemble ("Rondalla") at a local public school specialized in music. In addition, I teach guitar privately. All the teaching materials I'm currently producing for my classes are made with MuseScore. You can find them at my blog, at http://mrdemusica.com, and my website http://angelsguitar.com.

I've offered workshops about MuseScore to both the students and faculty of the school I work at. All of them are documented on my blog. Here's a quick link to all MuseScore activities documented on my blog - includes photos and videos:

http://mrdemusica.com/category/recursos/recursos-musescore/

Recently, I published a short ebook in Spanish called "Introducción a MuseScore 1.2". As the title suggests, it is an introduction to the basics of MuseScore, targeted at people who are just tarting out with the program. You can find it on my blog and my website, specifically at http://angelsguitar.com/descargas/libros/50-introduccion-a-musescore-1-2.

Hi - I am a post-secondary teacher having used Finale and Sibelius
for decades, but recently began using MuseScore. I have been a
teacher overseas where they mostly use pirated software, but I want
to be able to help students to utilize FLOSS instead. In teaching in
the South Pacific, there is an alternate music notation used, which
traces back to an early Wesleyan missionary who developed the
system which also enables printing music with a typewriter. Check this web:

http://www.tau.olunga.to/pages/fasi.html

This example is from Tonga, but the same system is also used in
Fiji, but they replace the numerals with solfege letters. I hope to get
a plug-in for MuseScore that will enable translation fromregular
"western" music notation to and from this "Moulton notation"

Malo - PJ
http://teachtonga.com

I use MuseScore at my work with assignature "New Technologies" where we are working with students at music notation. It's in Tui (Spain), Professional Conservatory of Music. It is a great tool for music notation!

Karolis Biveinis, composer and pianist
http://www.audiografik.net/

Hey, at the school I go to (http://www.nfgs.essex.sch.uk/) we use Musescore for our music GCSE work, we used to use Sibelius but now use Musescore because students can use it at home for free. Trying sending someone in music an email.

Hi. I am saxophonist and teacher at University of State of Rio de Janeiro. I was invited to give a course in editing of scores in a graduate program. Initially I would use Finale, but I intend to use MuseScore. The course begins in the second semester.
Besides I encourage all my students to learn and use MuseScore.

Hi Mark,
I reviewed a number of opensource and commercial applications, and chose Musescore about a year ago using multiple criteria. I've taught and performed for over twenty years at colleges, private and public schools, and am presently using MuseScore for a personal performance project of expansion and adding American Classics (the American Songbook) and Classic Rock Songs to my usual Classical Cello Repertoire, and for recording projects and concerts. MuseScore is indispensible to my learning process, memorization, study and interpretation in adapting basic vocal and piano scores over to the cello realm. In my cello, suzuki cello, and other teaching over the years I've also seen the need to expand the usual cello teaching repertoire to other great music where there is definitely interest, motivation and demand.
I've been working with, reviewing, following, and using opensource applications for about thirteen years in the music teaching and playing field for just about everything, from lesson planning, audio and video, web graphics and fine art, concert flyers, newsletters, orchestra promotion, and art and gallery musical opening events and advertising.

im a High School student in Atlanta, Ga and i use it all the time. when i get a new part for my insterment in band i plug it in to muse and listen to it. Muse is so much easier then Finale or Silibus. THANK YOU CREATORS!

I heard about this program a few months back and I tried this. After using this, I find it very useful to edit the music scores. It is very easy to use and once you learned how to use it, you can make wonderful music scores out of it. I think this program will be perfect for your use.

I use Musescore to make my compositions for school as this is the requirement for Year 11 in New Zealand in the subject music. My account has my composition but just request if you need more information.

I am a high school orchestra director on the US. I mostly use Musescore to create arrangements for my students to perform.

I teach elementary instrumental music in central Pennsylvania, USA. My students are 4th and 5th grade. I use MuseScore extensively to notate supplemental music transposed for all instruments, to write arrangements, to create supplemental ensemble parts (with composer permission) when needed and various other tasks. I used to use Finale but have abandoned it. I am currently in the process of migrating 18 years' worth of Finale files to MuseScore. I also use OpenOffice instead of MicroSoft Office. At home I am running a Windows XP computer (yes, old school) and at school we have Mac running OSx.
~Roy~

I recently downloaded MuseScore and used it to make a simple duet for young sisters. I expect to use it a lot more going forward.

http://joannafunk.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/ice-cream-man-duet/#comment-…

Greetings from Toronto, Canada

I am a piano / music theory and history teacher, composer and pianist. I had the idea of using this great software to help students learn music rudiments and to create some music. I have proposed using the software in this way to a couple music schools, and have a couple leads..

@everyone

I'm looking for a quote to use in our communication for the coming MuseScore 2.0 release, in particular how this update will influence - your - music education.

Obviously MuseScore remains to have its unique selling features "it's free, easy to use and makes beautiful sheet music" but we are in particular interested in highlighting one of the many new features and improvements in 2.0. So pick one or two out and highlight how it has an impact on yourself as a teacher or as a student.

You can leave your quote as a reply on this comment, or send it to support at musescore dot org. Don't forget to mention your name and position.

Thanks in advance for your support!

I use MuseScore daily in my job as an elementary band and orchestra educator. I can write or notate songs, arrangements and special parts on the fly. It is much easier to differentiate instruction in music education using a solid notation program with built-in sequencer. I've made Mp3 tracks for students to practice with at home. With the composer's permission, I've reprinted old arrangements that were originally hand written for publication. Also with permission, I've recombined or rearranged parts to accommodate uncommon instrumentations. With the note head color plugin I've created color specific scale sheets to aid clarinet students in learning their scales that cross over the break.

Hi Mark: Jerry from Washington, DC. My chorus (Washington men's Camerata, www.camerata.com) uses MuseScore scores (usually prepared by me) to learn music. We have an extensive library of men's choral music (we advertise it as the largest in the world) and it is our long-term goal to put all our music in MuseScore format. Initially this will be done just as we perform the music (so, say, maybe 50 scores a year), but eventually to include all the music in our possession. Although I read music pretty well, we're instituting this tool for the guys in our group who can't, because with the music and playback (and accompaniment in many instances) in one place (particularly on tablet computers), there's now no longer any excuse not to rehearse and learn music away from our regular rehearsals.

Initially we're shooting for "listenable" MuseScore scores, but eventually we'd like to supplant the paper sheet music with MuseScore scores that are printable/publishable (to include dynamics and other performance notes of the composer), with royalties to the copyright holders where appropriate. This latter goal (printable music) is important because much of what's in our collection is crumbling from age and we'd rather it not be lost to the ages.

(As an aside, we have this huge men's choral music library because so many men's choruses have gone out of existence over the last couple of decades. We make it freely available on loan to anyone who needs it. http://www.camerata.com/library.php)

Right now, because of the effort involved, we've only made our scores (stored both at MuseScore.com and also on several backup hard drives) private. They are private also because some of the music is still under copyright protection and we don't (yet) want to publish anything and tread on a copyright holder's rights.

We've had tremendous feedback on this tool, particularly from singers who use the MuseScore Songbook application, because this completely frees them to rehearse even without an internet connection.

I can be reached at gparshal@hotmail.com and my cell phone is (202) 285-6200. Thanks to the developers of MuseScore/ I love it.

Jerry Parshall

Hey! I don't know if this is helpful or not, but my school, in Spartanburg, SC, uses MuseScore in the choir and band classes. I don't know about orchestra (the orchestra is only strings in junior high); I play percussion. I use MuseScore all the time -- look at my account for proof! I love this, and I think your school would be very wise to use this program.

I'd like to put a different spin on this and ask for further feedback, including from people who have already responded.

I am doing a presentation a local music educators conference in a few weeks, focusing on use of MuseScore in a K-12 classroom setting. I only have 50 minutes, and I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to spend much of thast time, but I'd love to highlight a handful of particular use cases that seem like they'd be especially likely to appeal to K-12 music teachers.

So, if you think others would like to hear about your use of MuseScore, and wouldn't mind providing some quotes, photos, screenshots, or whatever else for me to include in this presentation, respond here, or contact me offline if you prefer (marc@outsideshore.com).

Wouldn't it be great if highly musically educated folks such as yourself could lead coursework here on musescore? I have noticed that other groups (nonmusic) have educational sessions in which members have educational classes within the group. Why doesn't musescore have this also? Surely, this would be perfect for musescore to have its own "musescore college" in which musescore members could learn more about music theory, harmony, etc. I know there are some highly talented and educated members here at musescore who could facilitate this kind of 'coursework.' Any ideas? thanks

I use it in schools. I would be interested in participitating in projects :)

Hello Mark!
I am Stefani and I am a professor of Music Education. I would like you to help me with an educational software that I can use with my middle school students during classes.
Thank you very much!

Hi Mark and all the other replies,

We're using Musescore in the European schools in Brussels, although as a whole we direct more towards the 14 year olds. However, I've used it for the younger students 11 to 13 years old, and it does work although I'm not always so sure the 11 year olds really pay much attention to the detail, and enjoy more the notion of clicking on things which eventually make a noise.

I'd be interested to hear/read some remarks from those trying to use it for 11 or 12 year olds, not university students, who obviously will have no problems understanding how to use this program.