I too use Finale Printmusic, and I've found it immensely useful from
several points of view. Firstly as a means of producing clear
readable music. I play in a couple of military bands and some of the
pieces date back to the year dot and are almost unreadable, I often
copy my parts out so I can read them fluently. Secondly, once you've
got something down and saved you can do things like transpose the
whole lot into a different key or for a different instrument with
just a few mouse clicks. Thirdly, and I think most importantly, you
can hear the music you've typed into a part or score - I often type
out parts which have awkward phrasings and syncopations I can't get
my head around just so I can hear how they're supposed to go.
Sibelius does all this also of course.

--- In thesaxophoneclub@..., "xlonglife"
<xlonglife@a...> wrote:
> Sibelius is a professional notation program ... it costs a huge
£535
> but is very comprehensive.
>
> I use Finale Printmusic which is excellent, pretty comprehensive
and
> fairly inexpensive(about £40) although a free, lower function,
> version called notepad is available.
>
> Web Sites:
> www.sibelius.com
> www.finalemusic.com
>