Sibelius First, Sibelius 6 and Sibelius Student comparison

 

General features	Sibelius First	Sibelius 6	Sibelius Student
Who's it for?	Songwriters, adult learners, church musicians, amateur composers/arrangers, instrumental teachers	Schools, teachers, universities, colleges, university/college students, professionals	School students at home
What's it for?	Composing, arranging, creating lead sheets, tab and simple exercises	Teaching, learning, creating worksheets & exercises, composing, arranging	Homework, composing, arranging
Types of music:	Simple/moderate music of up to 16 staves	Scores & parts of any size or complexity; worksheets & exercises	Simple/moderate music of up to 12 staves
Available as:	Single copy only	Single copy (educational discount available), 5-pack, site license, network license	Single copy only
No. of computers you can install a single copy on:	1	2 (for use by same person, e.g. desktop + laptop)	1
User guide:	Short on-screen guide (about 200 pages) plus 25-page printed installation guide	Full (732 pages), on-screen only for educational copies	Short on-screen guide (about 200 pages) plus 25-page printed installation guide
Technical help:	Limited	By phone, email, fax & web site	Limited

 

Notation	Sibelius First	Sibelius 6	Sibelius Student
Accidentals	Normal & double only	Normal, double, quarter-tones, bracketed	Normal & double only
Articulations	Common ones only	Full set	Common ones only
Bar numbers	At start of system only; can't restart bar numbering	Range of formats	At start of system only; can't restart bar numbering
Barline types	Single, double, repeat only	Single, double, repeat, dotted, early music	Single, double, repeat only
Bars, irregular	No, except pick-up bars		No, except pick-up bars
Beams, cross-staff (in keyboard music)	-		-
Beam/rest groupings	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
Brackets & braces	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
Change transposition of tranposing instruments	-		-
Chord symbols (appearance and MIDI/text input)	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
Cue (small) notes	-		-
Dotted notes	Single dot only	Single / double / triple dotted	Single dot only
Guitar chord diagrams	Limited		-
Guitar scale diagrams	-		-
Guitar tab	Basic only	Full	Basic only
Instruments	Common instruments only, with fixed number of staves	Full customizable range	Common instruments only, with fixed number of staves
Jazz articulations	Scoops and falls only	Scoops, falls, doits and plops	Scoops and falls only
Lines, custom	-		-
Multi-arc slurs	-		-
Multirests (required in parts)			-
Note values	32nd (demisemiquaver) to whole note (semibreve)	512th note (7 beams) to "long" (double breve)	32nd (demisemiquaver) to whole note (semibreve)
Noteheads, custom	-		-
Ossia staves	-		-
Page numbers	Automatic	Customizable	Automatic
Repeat bars	Automatic numbering	Customizable	Automatic numbering
Slurs	Default appearance, manual adjustment only	Fully customizable	Default appearance, manual adjustment only
Special symbols	-		-
Staves	Up to 16 per system	Unlimited number	Up to 12 per system
Stemlets (half-stems) and ‘feathered’ beams	-		-
Tuplets	Duplets (2:3) to nontuplets (9:8)	Any (e.g. 2, 7, 44:31, nested tuplets)	Duplets (2:3) to nontuplets (9:8)

 

Playback	Sibelius First	Sibelius 6	Sibelius Student
Edit MIDI data	-		-
Built-in sounds	Limited - included GM soundbank	Full range of high-quality sounds in Sibelius Sounds Essentials	Limited - included GM soundbank
Live Tempo (conduct playback by tapping)	Limited - playback only	Record, edit, clear and playback Live Tempo	Limited - playback only
Playback markings on specified repeats	-		-
Playback of hairpins, rits & accel	Fixed	Adjustable	Fixed
Playback of fermatas	Fixed	Adjustable	Fixed
Words which affect playback (e.g. legato)	Fixed	Editable	Fixed
ReWire (sync with your sequencer/DAW)			-
Supports VST/AU virtual instruments
Supports VST/AU effects
Supports HyperControl for M-Audio keyboards

 

Utilities	Sibelius First	Sibelius 6	Sibelius Student
Arrange - automatic arranging & orchestration	-		-
Auto page breaks	-		-
Comments (‘sticky’ notes)	-		-
Copy and paste to Word and other programs	Low resolution (96dpi) only		-
Display timecode	Single format	Customizable format	Single format
Display duration of score	-		-
Dynamic parts	Limited		-
Edit word menus	-		-
Export a log of changes to a score	-		-
Export lyrics as text file	-		-
Export to previous version	-
Explode & reduce	-		-
Filters (for editing similar objects)	-		-
Find	-		-
Focus on staves	-		-
Graphics export (for e.g. creating worksheets)	-		-
Hide markings			-
Highlight music	-		-
Ideas Hub	Limited - no library	Over 2000 library ideas	Limited to 300 presets
Import MusicXML files
Instrument changes	-		-
Join scores together	-		-
Keyboard shortcuts	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
Lyric verses allowed	5	Unlimited	5
Lyrics from text file	-		-
Menus	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
MIDI file export	Type 1 GM only	Type 0 & Type 1 for any device	Type 1 GM only
Note input options	Limited	Full	-
Panorama (scroll view)	-
Paper & desk textures	6	Over 60	7
Part extraction	-		-
Paste As Cue	-		-
Plug-ins	8	Over 130	-
Properties window (to edit individual objects)	Limited	Full	Limited
Rehearsal marks	Default only	Fully customizable	Default only
Reinput pitches of existing notes	-		-
Repeat structures	Default only	Fully customizable	Default only
Rulers	-		-
Scanning printed music			-
Special page breaks	-		-
Swap voices	-		-
Transcribe single-line acoustic instrument			-
Versions	-	Save, export, edit, delete, comment , compare and create log	Save, view and print only
Viewing options for Magnetic Layout, page margins, note colors, full screen, etc.	-		-
Worksheet Creator	-		-

 

Publishing	Sibelius First	Sibelius 6	Sibelius Student
Advanced layout features	-		-
Auto Layout options	-		-
Edit fonts	Limited	Full	Limited
Edit staff types	-		-
Edit text styles	-		-
Engraving rules, edit hundreds of	-		-
Headers/footers	Limited - no footers		Limited - no footers
House Style import/export	Import only		Import only
Magnetic Layout	Fixed	Fully customizable	Fixed
Manuscript papers (preset score layouts)	Few; can't create your own	Many; can create your own	Few; can't create your own
Note spacing rules	Fixed	Customizable	Fixed
Reset position/design of objects	Limited		-
Set default object positions	-		-
Staff spacing	Manual adjustment only		Manual adjustment only