Finale Forum

I use Finale 25 for windows 10.
I have a friend who plays the piano only by ear. He has "composed" many songs that he would like me to notate for him.
What software, if any, do you suggest that might enable him to send me his music so I could notate it for him. He reads no
music and really has no knowledge of music theory. I believe that if I could do this for a song or two, I could convince him
to put in the effort to learn enough theory to help his music.

If he sends you an audio file, you can incorporate it into Finale, which might help with transcribing it. I did this a while ago, and you click with the spacebar while listening to synch the audio with beats in Finale. I think Zuill has done this more than I.

Most phones have a recording app, or one can be downloaded. Windows 10 has a nice recording app. Either of those approaches work for creating an audio file. Audacity is another good audio program.

As far as loading the audio into Finale, that is the easiest way to be able to transcribe into notes. Be sure to turn off Human Playback, as it interferes with the tempo tap track Motet mentioned.

Please be advised that there isn't any way to have a program take an audio recording and turn it into notation. There are some who claim they have a program that can do that. I've never seen one that can really do it.

If your friend wants to try to record a MIDI file, that is another approach. However, unless it is recorded to a click track, or recorded in step time, it will be hard to get Finale to do much with it. If a free program is needed, MuseScore works for this (at least step time). I've not tried it for real time.

Zuill

Thank you! Recording an audio file would work just fine.
I just realized I had a hidden agenda. I was hoping to find an easy way to persuade my friend to learn enough music theory to be able to use a program like Finale for himself.
Therefore: A new question.
What is the easiest MakeMusic program to learn that would help a rank music beginner to learn some theory and ultimately be able to notate his own creations?

MM no longer has an entry level program. Other than the full Finale, there is only PrintMusic 2014.5, and that is for Windows only, and is unlikely to be developed further.

Also, Finale is not the way to learn music theory. There are a number of You Tube videos, and I would suggest you start there.

John II wrote:I have a friend who plays the piano only by ear. [...]He reads no music and really has no knowledge of music theory.

If you friend doesn't read music, most probably written music doesn't mean anything to him. So, what would be gained by notating his compositions? A composition transferred into a form which is not readable by the composer would be a doubtful achievement.

John II wrote:What is the easiest MakeMusic program to learn that would help a rank music beginner to learn some theory and ultimately be able to notate his own creations?

That's an entirely different topic. I know no MakeMusic software for that purpose. Nothing beats a human music teacher who helps your friend finding out his musical goals. Maybe it turns out that learning music notation is the aim, maybe it's playing piano by ear (your thread title). Both are very valuable goals.