Finding suitable software to help you out with learning a musical instrument can sometimes prove to be more difficult than just sitting down and teaching yourself. An inproportionate number of programs scrape the surface and don’t provide the flexibility, depth or support that you need to be able to go beyond being a novice. Thankfully, in Guitar Pro you will find a complete tool that will take you from tuning the guitar, through learning the scales and as far as composing your own sheet music.

The main interface is a daunting array of buttons on both the top and bottom of the window. On further inspection it becomes clear that the majority are involved with composing and each one refers to a very specific element. With this in mind, there are actually very few that you need to be familiar with to get going and as your guitar skills progress, so too will your familiarity with the software.

Some of the gizmos included in the software can actually come in useful and let you do everything from one place. The digital guitar tuner and the metronome are extremely handy to have and save you the bother of going out to buy them or of searching through your cluttered room for either. Once prepared, you can get started on the individual note library that lets you visualize the fingering as well as listen to how they should sound. Moving on, you can practice the large variety of scales that each come with a plethora of variations.

Getting the basics down is all well and good, but when it comes to composing or playing sheet music, Guitar Pro has it licked. Using the virtual keyboard or guitar, although tedious, will yield results when you want to compose something of your own, but for optimum results you can hook up your own MIDI device (such as a keyboard) and get cracking on tracks that are as simple or complex as you want. The extra dimension of a separate MIDI device lets you get ideas down much quicker while also giving you the ability to experiment with variations of a piece.

It’s difficult to point out faults with Guitar Pro, but having mentioned the cluttered interface, it could do with a facelift in the form of tabs or something similar that would better categorize and clean up the buttons scattered around the screen. The help file covers each topic without going into excruciating detail and if you’re after some extra resources, you’ll find tablatures, lessons and exercises on the Guitar Pro web site.

A good one-stop solution for beginners and experts alike, Guitar Pro succeeds in delivering the variety and depth required to taking the next step to rock-stardom!

Download Guitar Pro 5.2 in Softonic

With more power and speed than ever before, Finale offers endless possibilities for composing, arranging, hearing and printing your music. The original, groundbreaking notation software introduces new features that nurture and fuel creativity. Finale 2007 includes revolutionary tools for teaching students how to create, evaluate and shape ideas into songs, arrangements and compositions.

The largest publishers, including Hal Leonard engrave with Finale. Prestigious schools like Juilliard and Berklee College of Music teach with Finale. World-class arts organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center rely on Finale.

Download Finale 2007 in Softonic

This song-based learning software complements guitar tablature by providing additional, detailed instructions that guitar tab alone is unable to provide. Guitar Guru teaches guitarists of all skill levels how to play songs from a variety of genres.

Tools and features:

• Virtual fret board displays proper fingerings in real-time
• Detailed instructions for all guitar parts in a song
• Adjustable playback/learning tempo
• MIDI or CD-Synched Audio
• Customizable display with additional guitar skins
• Step-Through Playback Function
• Delayed start option: Give yourself time to grab your guitar
• Bass guitar support
• Select MIDI playback instrument to match your preferred sound
• Choose colored dots, numbers or dots and numbers to represent fingerings
• Adjust tempo up to 300% without changing pitch (MIDI only)
• Mute Button: The volume reset has been changed to an on/off toggle

Download Guitar Guru 2.1.4.1 in Softonic

I play the guitar a little bit and so I was glad to discover this program. The problem with my manual electronic tuner is that it's always running out of battery power so half the time I'm playing completely out of tune. However, Free Guitar Tuner totally eliminates this problem by running directly through my PC.

The principle is very simple. You've got six strings and to pluck each one you just click the mouse on them. There are three main settings - acoustic, electric and synthesized guitar. Just keep clicking the string until the tone on the program sounds exactly like the tone on your guitar. The disadvantage however is that, if you're tone deaf like me, it's hard to ascertain when you've got it right. If only the program could "hear" the guitar through the microphone, and show you how close it was to being in tune like a normal tuner, it would score much more highly.

Nevertheless, for a simple and elegant looking tuner, you need look no further.

Download Free Guitar Tuner 1.50 in Softonic

TuxGuitar is a full featured music composition tool that can be really helpful to musicians, whether they use their computer to compose music or not.

The program looks really complex at first sight – at least for a music newbie like me – so I have the feeling it may overwhelm more novice users. But the amount of available tools, along with an extensive help section and documentation really encourages you to give it a go.

TuxGuitar features a nicely designed interface with clear, simple lines that turns your music composition tasks into a lighter work. Besides composing right on the tablature, you can also have a virtual guitar fretboard or piano keyboard to make composition even easier. What's more, the program lets you play the songs you just composed, using one of the many instruments included in it.

In spite of a confusing first impression, TuxGuitar well deserves a chance from all music composers: it's nicely designed and features many interesting tools.

Download TuxGuitar 1.0 RC3 in Softonic

If you've always wanted your own orchestra in your bedroom but can't play a single instrument then this is the program for you.

This program is a hell of a lot of fun if you're a music lover. The samples feature full recordings, lasting from 1 to 8 bars, playing along in perfect sync with the other Band-in-a-Box tracks. They sound like a real drummer, because they are genuine recordings of a real drummer - not just MIDI tracks. And adding a real instrument to the mix makes all of the Band-in-a-Box parts sound more authentic. There's a huge library of RealDrums styles and a superb "Chords from MP3" feature (Audio Chord Wizard) which automatically figures out the chords from any MP3, WAV or WMA audio file, and displays them in Band-in-a-Box - great for learning songs on your instrument. There's also a new soundtrack feature allows you to generate new royalty-free music of a specified length of time for use in home or corporate videos, soundtracks, etc. The "Reharmonist" feature figures out a chord progression for any melody which allows you to create a new chord progression or enhance an existing one. Other great features include save your creations as an MP3 and batch MP3/WAV/WMA generation. The only problem I had was exploring all the features which seem to go on an on. Once you've tried this though, you'll be hooked. The latest version features even more realistic instrument sounds such as even better acoustic guitars and saxophones. It also features a new "multistyler" which bascially allows you to create compositions with far more depth. Note that this demo version is fully functional except that the Save features, Notation, Soloist/Melodist, and accessory plugins have been disabled.

This is a music program with incredible range and features although it does take some getting to grips with so prepare to immerse yourself.

Download Band-in-a-Box 2007 in Softonic

Synthesia is the new title of a game previously known as Piano Hero… until Activision told its developer it was not a good idea.

Naming anecdotes aside, the game is described as a fun method to learn to play the piano but honestly, I have to disagree on that. Synthesia is by no means an easy method to learn the piano: I have some very basic piano notions myself and I found it extremely difficult. It could be because I was using a standard computer keyboard to test the game, and not a real music keyboard as recommended by the developer.

On the upside, I especially liked the default song selection the program includes to get you started (they're all popular theme songs from very well-known videogames). Also, note that you can use just about any MID file with Synthesia, which turns it into pretty much a never-ending musical entertainment.

With Synthesia you can practice your piano skills on the computer, but forget about learning how to play it: you'll need some prior basic knowledge.

Download Synthesia 0.6.3 in Softonic

MidiPiano is a very simple and useful application, with which you can open MIDI files and play them in a virtual piano keyboard. It also allows you to record MIDI files by the virtual keyboard or using a MIDI IN device.

Here's that MidiPiano has to offer:

• Supports MIDI IN/MIDI OUT devices
• Simple to Play and Record MIDI file
• Different color for tracks simulate hands
• Supports 128 GM Patches selection
• Supports customize keyboard layout
• Supports plugins with user message

Download MidiPiano 1.8.3 in Softonic

Remember those old Casio keyboards that were so popular a few decades ago? Well, now they're back, at least in your PC.

Electronic Piano emulates one of those electronic musical keyboards on your computer, using each keystroke of your PC keyboard to produce a different sound. Just like the original instrument, this software app supports a wide range of different sound styles, enabling you to emulate almost anything from a piano to a guitar, including trumpet, bass, organ, harmonica, violin, cello and a lot more.

Of course, you'll also get the special effects section (typewriter, helicopter, applause, gun shot and so on) and finally the drums, with even a wider selection of sounds.

The program is really easy to use, as it displays the note chart on its interface so that you know what you're playing at all times. On the downside, the keyboard seems to have a slower response than expected, which makes the whole experience a bit disappointing. Also, I notice one note was out of tune, which is certainly not something I would expect from a music program, even if it's not a professional tool.

Electronic Piano is a simple, MIDI digital keyboard that lets you play some basic tunes on your PC. That said, don't expect professional output. This is just for fun.

Download Electronic Piano 2.5 in Softonic

Bendometer Playing System is a harmonica software that used the microphone to teach you how to play bends, overblows, and even songs in harmonica tab format.

The first screen you should see is a simulated harmonica with notation. As soon as this comes up, you should be able to start playing your harmonica. As you do, you will see notes "light up". The upper row (above the numbers) represents blow notes, whereas, the rows below the numbers represent the draw notes (or notes you breath in).

If you have trouble seeing notes, first try holding the microphone to the harmonica while playing (or quite close to the harmonica). This will help get more accurate note detection in any case. If you aren't seeing any response, you might try changing mixers.

The notes are in standard musical notation. The picture above shows the notes in the key of 'C' as this is the harmonica pictured. You can also see this in the "Harp Type" dialog window.

When you load a tab file one of the notes will become highlighted. Simply play the highlighted notes to play the tune. When you have to play the same note twice or more, it will highlight in red.

Download Bendometer Playing System 1.0 in Softonic

If you no nothing about how to compose music then Encore can help you look like Mozart although it's a steep learning curve. Whether you play directly into Encore or transcribe your MIDI files, you get accurate notation and beautiful printouts every time. You can extract parts, transpose for different instruments, and play your music as you originally conceived it. Encore graphically displays and plays back dynamic marks, repeats, multiple endings, pedal marks, or any MIDI controller.

Encore scores can be fine-tuned with a simple move of the mouse. On-screen palettes let you enter appropriate notes or graphics and both lyrics and text are easily added. As a guitar enthusiast, I was interested by the option to instantly transcribe music into guitar tablature with correct fingering and guitar fret diagrams although in the end, I couldn't quite work it out.

For professional musicians writing compositions, this is a brilliant tool but you'll need some time to get used to it.

Download Encore 4.5.5 in Softonic

Guitar & Drum Trainer is all about helping you to be the best musician that you can be. (Soldiers included.) And if you are serious about your music, and you think there is room to improve your playing, then Guitar and Drum Trainer is for you. And if you're already blazing down the fretboard at lightspeed, then Guitar & Drum Trainer is your perfect transcription tool to help you get things down on paper.

Guitar & Drum Trainer is the ultimate musician's practice tool. We've all heard the gurus say, "gradually build speed" and we know that's true. Nobody starts off blazing like Yngwie or Vai. Speed and accuracy take practice. Guitar and Drum Trainer can help you improve the quality of your practice time and get far better results.

Download Guitar and Drum Trainer 3.3 in Softonic

Click MusicalKEYS will change your computer into a virtual music lab. With 128 musical instruments, you can play the best music of your choice. You can also save your favorites in the MIDI file format for free using the MIDI Converter utility.

Click MusicalKEYS can be used as an accompaniment just like electronic keyboards and it is also ideal for people who want to learn how to play tunes in musical instruments. You can also download tunes from your friends and send your favorites to them, so with Click MusicalKEYS, it is very easy and fun to use the computer as a musical instrument.

You don't need any experience about music staves and sheets. Click MusicalKEYS will do all the work.

Download Click MusicalKEYS 3.0.214 in Softonic

Explore the scales, modes and chords in any key with this great looking guitar tool. Easily find the right chord voicings, filtering them by difficulty or inversion, and list all the modes you can play over.

The fingerboard can be configured (Left handed players, background texture and other features). The theme of the application and MIDI settings can also be customized.

With this program, guitarists of any level can now attach meaning to music! The scales are displayed on both the fingerboard and the staff.

Download Guitar Alchemist Trial 1.21 in Softonic

MagicScore lets you precisely tune up the notes' sounds and their timing features, process the effects and the dynamics. In this program, you may use both general and extended sets of musical symbols and as well create your own symbols, terms and chords for complex compositions with a peculiar or a non-standard grammatical solution.

Special tools such as: virtual piano, virtual fingerboard for six and seven-string guitars, notes performance editor, real-time notes play-back editor and the navigator let you easily and efficiently record and work with both single pieces and large musical compositions.

The basic features of the Maestro version are as follows:

• Automatic spell-checking of entered information
• Extensive editing capabilities (copy, paste, delete, transpose both single notes and selected blocks)
• Note entry using the virtual piano
• Score entry using the Chord Builder
• Capability to bind comments, links, and other appearance elements to all score elements
• Adjustment of volume, balance, and effects for each track (of an instrument's score)
• Reading from MIDI files and writing to MIDI files
• Play-back of the entered notes both by a single instrument and by the entire orchestra
• Printing scores, including previewing the scores
• Drag & Drop support
• Capability to cancel the running operation
• Score recording from a MIDI device

Download MagicScore Maestro 5.325 in Softonic

Reading or writing music is one of the trickiest parts of being a professional musician but software like Melody Assistant can make your life considerably easier.

This program features a wide range of musical symbols that will enable you to create and tablatures including even complex scores such as Gregorian notation. You can input music through the mouse, computer keyboard or even an external MIDI keyboard. The program comes bundled with its own embedded software synthesizer (SoftSynth), which provides high quality output on basic sound cards, even without any external MIDI device, and includes hundreds of different instruments. In addition, you'll find a complete score editor, tablature calculation for miscellaneous string instruments, a chord diagram library for various instruments plus the possibility to allow visitors to view, transpose, play or print your scores. If you're completely new to composing music too, there's a host of very handy video tutorials on the developer website to help you get the most out of it.

Easy to use and with input possibilities from MIDI devices, Melody Assistant will help you write tablature and musical scores in no time.

Download Melody Assistant 7.3.4 in Softonic

Play-along method to master the 100 most important guitar chords positions. You will also learn to read chord charts effortlessly. In a few weeks you will master a minimum of 100 carefully selected chord positions and become completely fluent with all important types of chords and variations.

If you are not satisfied with your rhythmic skills, the 100 Chords Method play-along exercises will tighten up your time and train your brain cells and nerve fibers to produce a great groove every single time you strum a chord!

Download 100 Chords Method 1.0 in Softonic

Guitar Chords could save many guitar players time as it is a comprehensive database of the chords on your guitar and all their possible combinations.

Leaving aside the salmon-pink background, which is a little difficult to cope with, the way it works is that after pressing the Start button, you have to choose which type of chord you are looking for: Major & Minor, Augmented, Diminished Suspended, of 6th, of 7th and so on. At this point just click on the name of the note you want and view all the available combinations for creating that chord on the central window.

View the ‘How to read the chords’ sections if you have any problems understanding what ‘X 0 2 2 2 0’ means. This represents which cords you have to play, and where you have to put your fingers. That said, I’ve found it strange that the most common way to play chords is not the first solution available, but instead appears in the middle of a nearly endless list. I don’t really understand the logic behind this, although I hope there is one. If you want, you can also export the list of combinations as a text document by clicking on the Printable Format button.

Guitar Chords is a useful database of all the possible chords you can create with your guitar. It also features all the possible combination of notes you can use to create that chord, although, as the list is very long, it can be confusing to find the most common way to play a specific sound.

Download Guitar Chords 2.1 in Softonic

Note Attack helps you to learn to read music by blasting notes into submission as part of an addictive game. You can use your computer keyboard or your MIDI compatible piano or keyboard to control the game.

Features include:

• Use your computer or MIDI compatible keyboard
• Adjust the speed
• Adjust the note range
• Optionally play note each time
• High Score List
• Violent/Peaceful option

Download Note Attack 1.36 in Softonic

GNU Solfege is a music program, but not in the traditional way of music editors and mixers: this app teaches you music theory.

Well, at least that's the impression you get from reading the developer's description. However, after testing the program, you can easily tell that you need to have already some basic – if not intermediate - music knowledge if you want to make the most of GNU Solfege.

The program includes a series of tests and quizzes to evaluate your music skills, mostly based on the recognition of notes, scales, chords and the like. There are also some dictation exercises, but these must be done on a piece of paper, which doesn't make much sense to me.

In general terms, I was a bit disappointed when testing GNU Solfege. It may be useful for music students to test their skills, but I expected a software tool to help me take my first steps in music – something that GNU Solfege is certainly not.

In spite of requiring some theoretical background, GNU Solfege may still be a good tool to put your musical skills to test.

Download GNU Solfege 3.6.3 in Softonic