Music notation programs, getting your music down on paper, and self-publishing blog.

Programs like Noteflight and MuseScore are great software programs capable of a great deal, but can they produce professional orchestral scores? I’m not sure I can answer this question. Currently (at the date of this post), Noteflight still doesn’t place brackets around the orchestral group sections, lacks several articulations, and uses a non-industry standard sizing […]

Why bother? Because I think it’s fun. As I say goodbye to the 2023 academic year, I look forward to a new exciting project. During my extensive teaching career of over 25 years, students who know me know I’m excited about what I do and how much I want to inspire their music creativity. Here’s […]

What’s up with Up-Tempo Publishing and Bach To Basics? Bach To Basics music is my private teaching studio offering private online piano and theory lessons through Skype and Zoom to students of all ages. Some may think this is similar to students learning online during the pandemic, but it’s not. It’s better! Students have a […]

I’ve posted a few times promoting my Patreon page, which I continue to update. I can’t help it; I’m excited to work on it. I’m not someone who is looking at Patreon as a primary business model; I love teaching music. Patreon is another educational tool to help those pursuing their musical interests. Tonight is […]

Putting pen to paper and publishing any written work can be challenging, especially when the process is relatively new. People make it seem easy; in many cases, it’s not tricky but time-consuming and tedious. This post concerns the number of details needing to be reviewed as a self-publisher. Each distributor has their terms of use, […]

I discussed creating templates for your conductor’s score and parts in previous articles. This way, your orchestral scores have the same or almost identical feel and look. I’m not overly artistic with the look of my scores because I like consistency in my published works. While doing this is unnecessary, consider it. I’m talking about […]

It’s essential to proofread your score before publishing. Proofreading any printed piece of music is challenging; however, proofreading an orchestral score on your own is a monumental task. If you have a ninety-piece orchestra, you must proofread the conductor’s score and orchestra parts. My last orchestral score was around six hundred pages; that’s a lot […]

Every orchestrator refines their workflow throughout their years of composing and orchestrating. Each time you write a song or orchestrate a piece, you learn something new and streamline your process. In this post, I share my approach to each orchestral score and other compositions I write. I can break down my process into six steps. […]