Hello! Thanks to those of you who informed me of an issue with some of the links in last week's newsletter. A couple of those links were still using my old site domain name masteringmusescore.com instead of outsideshore.com, and while I had originally set things up so the old addresses would forward to the new ones, this actually broke last week. I have since fixed this, both so the links in the newsletter go to the new site, and so links to the old site forward automatically again. At least it should all be working, but do let me know if you encounter problems!

This week we are back to just a single Office Hours session. I will continue running additional sessions at other times periodically.
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In ​Practical Counterpoint​, we are beginning work on the Renaissance motet - one of the most significant musical forms of that era.

Mastering MuseScore

If you are interested in getting the most out of the world's most popular music notation software, join our community with a Mastering MuseScore membership for the most comprehensive training & expert support available!

MuseScore Café

This week in the MuseScore Café with Marc Sabatella, we continue our third-Wednesday "score of the month" series with a Renaissance motet. I'll show you step by step how I go about entering music into MuseScore Studio, focusing on the unique aspects of this form such as use of longer note values, unusual (by modern standards) time signatures, editorial accidentals, and more.

Tip of the Week

MuseScore allows you to define your own time signatures (like 17/8) and to customize existing ones (like to make 5/4 display as 3+2/4). In this video post, I demonstrate this process by creating and applying a version of a 4/2 time signature that displays using the "cut time" symbol - something commonly found in Renaissance music.

Musicianship

If you are serious about learning music - theory, composition, improvisation, and more - become a Gold-level member and receive access to all of our music courses and workshops, as well as exclusive benefits like my weekly Office Hours, in addition to our acclaimed Mastering MuseScore resources.

Music Master Class

This week in the Music Master Class with Marc Sabatella, we discuss the modes as used in Renaissance music and interpreted by modern musicians, and review the material on motets from the Practical Counterpoint​ course.

In Theory

Most musicians today learn to read treble and bass clef and that's it. But there are many more clefs that are and have been used in music. Viola players will be familiar with alto clef, and tenor clef is occasionally used for high passages on instruments like cello. In the Renaissance and Baroque eras, a variety of other clefs were in common use as well, and many of the scores you will find online for this music will use the soprano and other clefs. In this video post, I demonstrate my process for reading and even sight-singing in a clef I am not very familiar with, by following the line horizontally.