Hello! Yes, this is still me, Marc Sabatella from Mastering MuseScore, now coming to you under the banner of my "new" site, Outside Shore Music. I put "new" in quotes because it's really the same Mastering MuseScore Community with different branding, and also because the name "Outside Shore Music" is not only older than Mastering MuseScore, it's older than MuseScore itself. I've been publishing music and educational materials online under this name since the mid-1990's, making this one of the longest-running music education websites in the world.

​Mastering MuseScore remains one of our most popular offerings, but we provide so much more than that - university-level courses, workshops, and other resources in music theory, harmony, counterpoint, and jazz. And according to the poll I posted a few weeks ago, the vast majority of you are interested in most or all of it!

For more information on the changes and rationale, see the main announcement I posted after the move was completed, and also the new About Us page I created.

If you haven't joined us yet, we'd love to have you! Check out our different membership levels and choose the one that's right for you.

If you're already a member, thank you for your support, and remember, you will need to reset your password if you haven't already.

Soon we'll be starting up a new cohort of my counterpoint course, and I have other new resources to launch as well, so stay tuned - I should have more information to share on what's coming in next week's newsletter!

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 first-Wednesday "ask me anything" series. Come with your questions, and I'll do my best to answer!

Tip of the Week

Here's a tip I wish someone had shared with me sooner when I first started using MuseScore - it was a long time before I learned this. If you've been using your mouse to drag the canvas around, don't! It's awkward, slow, and likely to result in accidentally dragging elements within your score. In this video post, I demonstrate how you can use the scroll wheel or equivalent touch gestures, or other techniques, instead.

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'll continue our focus on ear training and recent music submitted by Gold-level members.

In Theory

When writing for small horn sections in a setting like jazz, pop, funk, or salsa, we often think in terms of either writing unison/octaves or harmonizing the entire line. But it can be effective to combine these two approaches. In this video post, I show a technique where you start off in unison/octaves and then peel off into harmony at the end.