Introduction to Sibelius

Introduction to Sibelius is a comprehensive entry-level course led by composer and educator Martina Liviero, designed to help musicians, arrangers, and composers become confident using one of the industry’s most powerful notation programs. Whether you’re preparing a film score, arranging music for a band, or simply trying to create clean, professional sheet music, this course teaches you how to navigate the Sibelius interface, input notes efficiently, and format scores for clear, polished presentation.

The course begins with a full walkthrough of the Score Setup process, where Martina covers how to use templates, assign instruments, and navigate the Ribbon—the central hub for all of Sibelius’s tools and features. You’ll get a detailed breakdown of the interface, including how to access and customize the Home, Notations, and Text tabs. By the end of this section, you’ll be able to build multi-instrument scores and understand the logic behind Sibelius’s layout system.

Next, you’ll dive into note input methods, learning how to write music using your mouse, keyboard, or MIDI controller. Martina explains each input style—alphabetic, step-time, and Flexi-Time—so you can choose the method that best suits your workflow. The course continues with a deep dive into playback tools, layout customization, and appearance settings to enhance the readability and usability of your scores. Finally, you’ll learn how to create lead sheets, print your compositions, and export them in multiple formats for collaboration or publication. By the end of the course, you’ll be fully equipped to use Sibelius as a powerful tool for notation, arrangement, and music creation.