Linux sheet music and MIDI authoring with Frescobaldi/Lilypond

An easy way to author music on Linux, with both sheet music and MIDI, is to use Lilypond, a text-based sheet music language. A GUI editor for Lilypond is Frescobaldi, which is available for all three major platforms.

Furthermore, you will need to install a MIDI player. I use Timidity++ for this.

If you want a more complex music studio, you might try Rosegarden.

This is an example Lilypond file, that covers

• Chords
• Lyrics
• Repeats
• MIDI player
• Transpose

\version "2.22.1"

\header {
  title = "My Heart Will Go On"
  composer = "Theme from Titanic (1997)"
  tagline = \markup {
    Engraved at
    \simple #(strftime "%Y-%m-%d" (localtime (current-time)))
    with \with-url #"http://lilypond.org/"
    \line { LilyPond \simple #(lilypond-version) (http://lilypond.org/) }
  }
}

vocal = <<
\new ChordNames \with {midiInstrument = "acoustic guitar (nylon)"} {
  \chordmode {
    \repeat volta 2 {
      e1 b a e2 b
      e1 b a
    }
    \alternative {
      { a1 }
      { a2 gis:m }
    }

    cis1:m b a b cis:m b a gis2:m fis:m
    cis1:m b a b cis:m b a b2 a e1
  }
}

\new Voice = "one" \relative e' {
  \tempo 4 = 120
  \key e \major

  \repeat volta 2 {
    e4. e8 e4 e
    dis e2 e4
    dis e2 fis4
    gis2 fis
    e4. e8 e4 e
    dis e2 e4
    b1(
  }
  \alternative {
    { cis1) }
    { cis2 cis4( dis }
  }

  \break

  e1) fis2. b,4
  b'2 a4 gis8 fis~
  fis2 gis4 a
  gis2 fis4 e

  \break

  dis e2 dis4
  cis2.~( cis8 dis16 cis
  b2 a2)

  \break

  e'1 fis2. b,4
  b'2 a4 gis8 fis~
  fis2 gis4 a
  gis2 fis4 e

  \break

  dis e2 dis4
  dis e2 fis4
  gis2 fis e1

  \bar "|."
}

\new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" {
  <<
  {
    Eve -- ry night in my dreams
    I see you, I feel you.
    That is how I know you, go on.
  }

  \new Lyrics {
    \set associatedVoice = "one"
    Far a -- cross the dis -- tance
    And spa -- ces, be -- tween us
    You have come to show you, go on.
    \skip 1
    Near,
  }
  >>

  far, wher -- e -- ver you are
  I be -- lieve that the heart does, go on

  Once more you o -- pen the door,
  and you're here in my heart,
  and my heart will go on, and on.
}
>>

\score {
  \transpose e e {
    \vocal
  }

  \layout {}
}

\score {
  \unfoldRepeats {
    \vocal
  }
  \midi {}
}

And, the exported PDF - my-heart-will-go-on.pdf.