Pulling in to MENC HQ today!

I’m having a great time teaching teachers at the SoundTree Institute that is being held in Reston, VA at MENC Headquarters.    At the Institute,  I have the distinct pleasure of sharing my knowledge of Finale with a number of fantastic and highly motivated music educators from across the country.    It has been great experience for all involved.

SoundTree has partnered with the University of the Arts and is providing graduate level credit (and continuing ed. credit) for the courses being offered.   In addition, the courses being taught here are satisfying the TI:ME 1A certification requirements – it’s a WIN ALL AROUND!

Be sure to check at the SoundTree site for more opportunities this year (both online/webinars and at various locations).  I’ve decided to post some of my favorite Finale Resources in this post -I hope that you find them as useful as I do:

  1. Finale main website
  2. Compare features of the various Finale family products
  3. Finale Version Comparison (Pre 2007-2011 -what’s new in the product for each new version…)
  4. Download a free finale demo (Mac or Windows)
  5. Buy Finale (Academic Price Discount)  
  6. Find FREE finale music files from the Finale Showcase
  7. Finale Music Blog (official)
  8. Finale Support Forums (official)
  9. Finale Online User Manuals
  10. Finale Quick Reference Guide (Cheat Sheets)
  11. Free Finale reader (open and print .mus files)
  12. Dr. Tom Rudolph’s “Making the Most of Notation Software” Blog
  13. Free Instrumental Scores from IMSLP
  14. Free Choral Scores from the Choral Public Domain Library
  15. Get FREE classical MIDI files from Kunstderfuge.com (download 5 per day)
  16. Dr. Frank’s Finale Keyboard Shortcuts (PDF)
  17. Tom Carruth’s Finale Quick Start Guide (From SoundTree)
  18. Finale Keyboard Stickers
I did a quick super-quick Web 2.0 survey on multiple Social Networks asking for the “best Finale Features since 2009”, here are the responses from various people (as taken from G+, Twitter, FaceBook, and the MusicPLN.org:
  1. Instead of making Smart Music files, which my students don’t have, I make audio files to give my students to practice with. I find myself inputting almost all my choruses’ music because I always want to tweak something, or create a part for an instrument.
  2.  Linked score+parts (coolest)
  3.  new Expression Tool’s rehearsal marks (auto number)
  4. XML export/import for Noteflight
  5. Setting up a score for boomwhackers in the boomwhacker font!
  6. New Garritan Sounds!
  7. I love the Music Education worksheets!
  8. Finally, some Pickup measures work like they should!
Enjoy!
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