It's Friday, so jump start your weekend activities with freeware such as Finale NotePad (Mac / Win), the newly released music notation software by MakeMusic.

Now available as a free download, Finale NotePad is the scaled-down version of the company's comprehensive, bigger Finale counterpart. Even though its features list is significantly smaller than Finale's, Finale Notepad still provides all the basic and most important functions and tools for creating, playing, printing, and sharing sheet music.

“MakeMusic shares our customers’ devotion for creating music, and we are pleased to offer our entry-level app as a free download,” said Karen van Lith, MakeMusic CEO. “Hobbyists, students, educators, and musicians will find NotePad fun and easy to use.”

With Finale Notepad, you can enter notes, lyrics, and markings to produce scores with up to eight instruments – more than enough to create lead sheets, guitar tablature, choral arrangements, and many other forms of popular music. When you are ready to create larger scores or when you want more control over the look and sound of your music, you can trade up to other MakeMusic products, including PrintMusic and Finale music notation software.

In addition, you can use Finale Notepad to play back your music with high-quality sounds -- a nice feature that lets you preview your work without whipping out your instruments or sitting down at a piano. You can print your sheet music or share your work as electronic files with others using a wide variety of music programs, including Finale. For those who like to post their music online, Finale Notepad also provides the means to connect with Finale fans via social networks on the Finale Community page.

MakeMusic's Finale Notepad is now available as a free download. Learn more at makemusic.com.