Noteflight is an online music notation program with an intuitive workflow and a great selection of editing tools. Unlike a lot of the best music notation software, you don't need to download any software or save project files on your computer, making Noteflight a great option for laptops and desktop computers with limited CPU power and storage. Also, you can start a project on your home computer and continue work later on a different computer with internet access. However, it isn’t powerful enough to arrange large scores that include third-party plugins, as the browser gets bogged down, especially if your wireless internet speeds are slow.
Noteflight: What you need to know
This program is simple to set up. It walks you step by step through the process of creating a user account. You tell the software if you are using it to write and arrange or to find music to play as well as what your primary instrument is and what level composer and performer you are. The software saves all this information to your profile.
There are three membership levels: Basic, Premium and Learn. The Basic plan is free and allows you to create up to 10 scores, import and export MIDI and MusicXML files, and view and join groups. The Premium version is $8 per month or $50 per year and includes audio recording features, a volume mixer and 85 instrument sounds. When you purchase the Premium plan, you can also create and sell an unlimited number of scores.
Noteflight is the only music notation software we tested with a marketplace. This software is owned by Hal Leonard, the largest songbook publisher in the world, and you can sell and market compositions to its more than 3 million users. In addition, you can purchase scores and edit them to fit your needs. Noteflight charges a 50 percent commission for selling your music, but you can remove the score from the marketplace at any time.
Noteflight Learn is designed for educators. It has all the same editing and composition features as the Premium version, plus it integrates with Google Classroom and other popular learning management systems that use the LTI standard, including Blackboard and Canvas. An annual subscription costs $70 for the first 10 students and $2 for each additional student. You get your own private website that students can access from any computer with WiFi. The activity templates allow teachers to quickly create customized assignments for each student, complete with audio recordings and personalized feedback.
Should you try Noteflight?
Noteflight isn’t powerful enough to produce large arrangements in a commercial capacity. For that, you need a program like Notion or Sibelius. However, it has all the tools you need to create simple and complex scores, and you can use it on any computer with internet access. The online platform also includes a marketplace to sell your compositions and buy arrangements you can edit to fit your needs.