In my previous post, I covered a blank sheet music generator called Blanksheetmusic.net. This is a great tool for blank sheet music, yes, but what if you need more? Finale Notepad 2009 is a hyper-charged version of this and is excellent in its ability to notate music. With this program, you have access to a wide variety of different tools to get music from your head, to the paper. The most handy feature that I have found is the ability to play back the music. For example, you write down the score for "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but you want to hear the music to make sure you didn't make any mistakes. So you hit the play button and it plays the song rigt back for you! You can even choose from many different instruments to get the sound you want. Unfortunatley, it is about $10 for a download, but the trial version is what I have used in the past, and it has worked great. http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/

~Geoff~