Based on the multi award-winning Sibelius 6, Sibelius 6 First is an entry-level music notation program designed for home musicians of all kinds. Whether you are a songwriter, church musician, choir director, instrumentalist or hobbyist composer, Sibelius First is designed to help you share the song in your head with the rest of the world.

New features and enhancements 

Sibelius 6 First builds on the rich feature set of the previous version of Sibelius First, which allowed you to input music using mouse, MIDI keyboard, or by scanning printed music; write for any common instrument, including guitar tab, percussion notation, and vocal music with lyrics; produce high-quality audio files to burn to CD or convert to MP3; and sell your music online using the free Scorch web browser plug-in via SibeliusMusic.com.

New features in Sibelius 6 First include:

- New Quick Start window to get you up and running right away, including a Guided Tour video and shortcuts to common tasks, like scanning printed sheet music, importing MIDI files, etc.

- Score Starter templates. Choose from more than 40 pre-defined score templates in 10 different styles, including country, jazz, pop, rock, blues, funk, classical and choral. Each template includes a riff or introduction to get you started, and provides you with loops to copy and paste into the score to quickly build your arrangement.

- Magnetic Layout. The revolutionary new automatic collision avoidance system from Sibelius 6 is included in the new Sibelius First, ensuring that scores look perfect first time, avoiding the need for time-consuming manual positioning and editing.

- Virtual instruments and effects support. Use any VST or Audio Unit virtual instrument or effect in Sibelius Student, for greater realism of playback sounds.

- On-screen Keyboard and Fretboard window. These beautiful on- screen representations of a piano keyboard and a guitar neck provide a familiar interface for musicians who are still developing their familiarity with notation. You can even play your computer keyboard’s keys like a piano!

- Improved chord symbols. Input complex chord symbols and guitar chord diagrams in seconds, simply by playing the chord on your MIDI keyboard or MIDI guitar, or typing it in using plain English terms.

- Write for ensembles of up to 16 staves. Expand your horizons to compose for larger ensembles than ever, with the newly-increased limit of 16 staves per composition (was 12 in Sibelius 5 First).