Inspiration for Music can strike at any time and from my experience they usually does.
And just a little distraction (for even finding paper & pen) can result in loss of the piece of inspiration you were so excited about.
But thanks to today’s technology advanced era you don’t need to carry your paper and pen always with you because you own a Smartphone right.
So why don’t you use it to note down your musical inspiration whenever and wherever it strikes.
So we have curated a list of 10 best music writing apps to help you capture the inspiration right at the moment.
Maestro
The first music writing app in our list is Maestro. It offers a tons features and is also totally free of cost.
The user-interface is very friendly which helps in writing music quickly by just choosing the right preset notes and then adjusting the position on the displayed sheet.
It is not limited for pianos only as it supports more than 125 musical instruments which means it offers something for everyone.
However if you are a expert you may feel like you need more features but for free cost it offers more than it should.
Get The Maestro App
Musical Notepad
The minimalist interface of the Musical Notepad comes quite useful when writing music.
Many apps allows you draw musical notes by hand gestures which is a good option but not for smaller screen.
You need a interface which shows preset notes (like Maestro) to activate those notes you just need to tap on the notes and adjust in your line and its done and musical notepad does exactly this.
You can also connect your finished pieces to make a complete sheet.
I think it is a good, free, simple app and worth a try.
Notation Pad
If you are looking for an app that can read, play scores and also helps in writing lyrics then Notation Pad is going to be the perfect match for you.
The cool part is that it allows you to send your saved music files to other people or other devices in the standard MusicXML file format.
MusicXML files are quite handy and is supported on large number of devices today.
So all in all Notation Pad is also a good free and helpful app to rely on.
Medly
Medly is also a quite popular music writing app but with a twist.
As medly allows you to create and experiment with sequences of loops and offers a broad list of typical sounds from different genres.
To start using it you just need to open an album in the app and add a new song.
The you will notice the screen is splited into section. Double tap one section to open it.
When the section will open you will notice that the notes are already there for you.
All you have to do is to fill in the blocks.
Medly is a great app for working out on beats that work for you.
It is quick and simple and quite easy to use.
You can also export your Medly file directly to soundcloud, or share the audio or you can also share the MIDI file.
NoteFlight
Noteflight app is allows you to create song in any device whether its iOS, Android or PC it works on all of them.
It helps in creating, editing, playing and sharing musical scores.
The interface is clean and very easy to understand so you don’t need to stress out while creating music.
The notable feature that none of the apps supports so far is the feedback from community option. (Community of Noteflight is growing great)
You are allowed to share your score with “All Site Members” which can share their feedback or can also use your musical score in their music which you can also track via the app.
Symphony Pro
Another feature rich app on our list is the Symphony Pro app from Xenon Lab.
It is not solely focused for pianist as it covers more than 100 instruments notes to play with auditioning feature too.
The interface is outstanding and supports gestures too.
Another fun part is that it supports music editing via MIDI input device too.
The two drawbacks of the app are it is only for iOS devices and it is not a free music writing software. It costs $14.99.
Musescore
Our list will not going to complete if we miss one of the most popular and free music notation app Musescore.
It supports more than 300 instrument.
Musescore is a opensource project and run and maintained by the community.
It allows to import and export your music files and the site offers more then 10,000 music sheets to learn and explore.
It offers a ton of features and is completely free.
Score Cloud
Score Cloud is just not another music writing software.
It is different. Score Cloud maker calls the "Musical Intelligence Company" and in reality they are. It is like the shazam app.
It hear the song and create the music sheet for you.
Is not it like a magic but not its technology advancement and the product of the hard work of the developer.
Flat.io
Flat.io is another outstanding app as it is online music score editor platform.
You just need to sign up via facebook or google and you are ready to go.
Flat.io offers collaborative feature which means you can share your sheet with your friend or colleagues or work on the sheet as a team (like google office product).
They can edit or add notes and so can you.
You can also create the score via live MIDI input or via your keyboard which is a great add-on for sure.
Garage Band
Garage Band is one of the most Popular app and I can bet you that any musician with an iOS device already has it.
In short GarageBand is a recording app cum pro-tool.
With tons of instrument options to select from along with live looping, mixing, and importing capabilities will surely help you jot down your creativity whenever you need it the most.
The 32 track music making capabilities the only limit you encounter will be your creativity.
In short Garageband is a free audio workstation for Apple devices and PC's.
thanks for writing the article. it helps me to learn the various music apps. Thank you! Enjoy music!
Thanks, Joe stay tuned I am going to update it with more apps this week.
Hi Daniel,
I am a 74 year old pianist living in Wyoming. I have many recordings. Go to my youtube site. However, I want an app that will listen to my improvisation and print the score? As I play the piano the app will hear it and write it. Can you recommend the best situation? Thank you so much. Brenthoven.
I am sure the following apps will get the job done easily.
https://scorecloud.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sc.scorecreator
this one is a little different though, but will surely help you in near future
https://www.playscore.co/
Thanks a lot, Brent for giving me the opportunity to help you out..