| Instructions
To use this web site, you must download the FREE Finale Notepad software and install it on your computer. Finale Notepad is the scaled-down free version of the popular Finale notation software. The following system requirements must be met to use this web site: Windows
Macintosh
Download/Install Finale Notepad (FREE) for Windows- Click HereDownload/Install Finale Notepad (FREE) for Macintosh- Click HereNote: Make sure that when you download Finale Notepad, you write down the serial number that is provided. You will need it later, the first time you open Finale Notepad. After you have downloaded and installed Finale Notepad (and restarted your computer), follow the instructions below: 1. Finale Notepad has been deposited in your Programs folder on Windows computers and in the Applications folder on Macintosh computers. Double-click upon the Finale Notepad icon to open it. 2. The first time you open Finale Notepad, it will request the serial number you were given previously when downloading the software. This serial number will also be sent to you in an email to the email account you provided a few minutes after you download the software. Click on the Register Now button and you will be taken to the Finale Notepad web site to register your software with the serial number (this is important for future upgrades but requires an internet connection). You may also simply type in the Serial Number in the dialog box that appeared and click on the Continue button. Another screen will appear, welcoming you to the "MakeMusic Family"; simply click on the Continue button (you do not need to upgrade to be successful with the exercises on this web site). 3. Finale Notepad will then begin taking you through the Document Wizard designed for creating a manuscript with this software. This is a nice feature that you might want to experiment with sometime but will not be used for the purpose of this web site. Click the Cancel button to immediately leave the Document Wizard. 4. Now, return to the Melody a Day web site. Click on one of the music categories in the navigation bar (e.g., Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Broadway, etc.) For guidance in levels of complexity for these dictations, please see the lesson plan link. 5. You will notice that there are three versions of each tune divided in the categories of Print, Take Notepad Dictation, and See & Hear the Answer. Click on the link of whichever version you desire in order to download it to the desktop of your computer. Note: Each one of these Finale Notepad files has been zipped and has a .zip extension to increase download speed. Use a zip utility, such as Stuffit Expander for Windows or Stuffit Expander for Mac to unzip the file (Both versions of Stuffit Expander have a free trial version you can download and use). Generally, if you already have one of these unzip compression utilities on your computer, all you have to do is double-click upon the .zip file to unzip it. 6. The first column within a Melody a Day music category is always labeled Print . The Print column contains a version of the tune for printing and writing out your dictation on manuscript paper with pencil. You can later turn this assignment into your instructor, if required. These printable versions always have the word "hidden" appended to their names and refer to tunes you can open in Finale Notepad and play in order to listen to the melodic dictation without actually seeing the music (i.e., the notated answer has been hidden from you). You will notice that each of these "hidden" documents display the number of measures of the dictation and provide the clef, key signature, and meter with a tonicization to help you get started. Occassionally, you will also be given the first pitch or pitches, especially if there is a anacrusis (pickup) involved. The second column in any music category, labeled Take Notepad Dictation, is a Finale Notepad-formatted version of the dictation, which allows you to input your own dictation answer using Finale Notepad's tools. Unfortunately, you cannot play these files to hear the dictation (i.e., beyond the given tonicization at the beginning) because once you have entered the notation with the Finale Notepad tools (or at least, what you perceive it to be), the file would play your version at the same time as the "correct answer" version that resides within a hidden layer of the file. As you might imagine, hearing these two layers (i.e., "your answer" and the "correct answer") played at the same time could cause quite a cacphony if your "rendition" of the dictation was quite a bit different than the correct answer! A simple answer to this problem is to download both the Print file and the Notepad file of a composition and open them at the same time and place them side by side. PLAY the Print file and use Finale Notepad's Simple Entry Tool to ENTER the dication into the Notepad file. If your computer monitor is not large enough to easily display both files at once, you could click on the Print file and make it smaller by going to Notepad's View menu and changing the size of the Print file to 50%. Then, make the window for the Print file take up less room on your computer screen by dragging it inward from the bottom left corner. Keep the Notepad file at 100% size so you can input the notes. This reduction-of-the-view-size approach can make room on even the smallest monitors for the purpose of having the Print file open and playing while inputting the notes on the Notepad file at the standard 100% size. In summary, the Notepad files are simply provided for you to input the dictation in a more professional format than your handwritten notation. Of course, you could complete the dication by hand with pen or pencil in the "old-fashioned way" by simply printing out the Print version of the composition and playing from the Print version as well. (Note: If you are one of the few blessed musicians in the universe who has amazing musical caligraphy skills, than by all means, print out the Print file and give the handwritten version to your instructor! Excellent musical caligraphy is rare these days!) Note that these types of digital music entry (Notepad) files available from the second column of the web page will always have the word "notepad" appended to their names. For more information on how to use Finale Notepad to enter your dictation, please become acquainted with Finale Notepad's features by consulting the Help menu in Finale Notepad and then selecting Tutorials. The third column, labeled See and Hear the Answer, is the answer to the dictation in its entirety, which allows you to open the file in Finale Notepad and play and view the final answer. These types of files will always have the word "answer" appended to their names. Note: Each category also has the option of downloading all the files for that category at once, deposited in one zipped folder on your computer desktop by simply clicking its link (e.g., All Baroque Files). Of course, this choice involves a longer download time. If you have a slow internet connection, we do not advise downloading the entire folder of tunes for a category all at once; rather, download the files you desire individually as needed. 7. Once you have downloaded your selection from either the first, second, or third column and unzipped the file, go to the File menu of Finale Notepad and select Open... Navigate to the unzipped file on your computer desktop and open it. 8. If you have chosen to open a hidden file from the Print column, go to File > Print... within Finale Notepad to print the pre-formatted page from which to take dictation. If you don't have access to a printer, you can view this page to copy down the clef, key signature, meter, and number of measures onto your own notation paper without peeking at the answer. 9.
Click on the Play
button If you wish to change the tempo, you can change it within the Playback Controls Palette by clicking the pull-down menu next to Tempo to select the rhythmic value of the beat (e.g., quarter note, eighth note, etc.) and then using the up and down arrows to the right next to the numeric metronome value (e.g., 140). 10.
Take
down your dictation on the paper with a pencil or if you
prefer, open up the file with the "notepad" appendage
from the second column (e.g., auraleenotepad.mus) and take
down the dictation within Finale Notepad, using the Finale
Notepad tools. When you first open a file in Finale Notepad,
you may see a purple note overlay on top of the first pitch
at the beginning of the piece. This occurs because the default
tool selection for Finale Notepad is to have the Simple Entry
Tool icon selected within the Main Tool Palette, which looks
like this: If you choose to write out your dictation with Finale Notepad, don't forget to go to File > Save As... and rename your file and save it to the desktop for later reference. You can also print out the Finale Notepad file you created by selecting File > Print... within Finale Notepad. Listen to the tune as many times as you need to; however, for best results, try to keep the number of listenings narrowed down to the number of times your instructor would normally allow you to listen to a dictation (usually 3 or 4 times depending upon your level of expertise and the difficulty of the melody). 11. If
you wish to take down the melodic dictation in a different
key than the default that is given, click on the Key
Signature Tool
button 12. When you feel that you have completed the melodic dictation, download and open the Answer file for that particular tune from the column labeled See and Hear the Answer. The
entire tune will appear transcribed on the screen. Click on
the Play button
|
within the Finale Notepad 
in Finale Notepad. Use the