Installing music21 in Windows¶
Get Python¶
Python is a simple but powerful programming language that music21
is written in and in which you will write your own programs that
use music21.
Windows users should download and install Python version 3.12 or higher.
To get Python for Windows, go to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and click on the “Windows installer” link. It is probably the first link. Save the file to your desktop and then click on it there.
To test to see if Python has been installed properly, go
to the start menu and run (either by clicking “Run” in older
Windows or by typing in the search box) a program called IDLE.
Once it’s started, type 2+2. If your system then
displays 4 python is working properly and we can start thinking
about installing music21.
Updating Python¶
If you have already installed Python on your computer, launch IDLE (a Python interpreter and code editor) by clicking the start menu and clicking Run (on Windows XP or older) and typing in “IDLE” or (on Windows Vista and newer) typing in “IDLE” in the Search Programs list.
The first lines of text displayed will include a version number. Make sure it begins with 3.12 or higher.
If your version is too old, download a newer version as above.
Install music21¶
Open up a command prompt and type:
pip install music21
This will download and install music21. If you already
have music21 but want to upgrade to the latest version, run:
pip install –upgrade music21
To test to see if music21 has been installed properly, go
to the start menu and run (either by clicking “Run” in older
Windows or by typing in the search box) IDLE. Type
“import music21”. If your system waits for a few seconds and then
displays “>>>” and perhaps a warning about missing packages, then
you’ve installed everything properly. (If the system
cannot find music21 then you may have more than one version of
Python on your system. Try uninstalling all of them along with music21
and then restarting from scratch).
You should then configure music21 to find your helper programs
such as MuseScore or Finale. In the command prompt, type:
python3 -m music21.configure
Or, in IDLE type:
import music21
music21.configure.run()
After Installation¶
After a successful installation, you may proceed to Notes
to begin using music21.
Installation Help¶
If you have followed all the instructions and still encounter problems, start over from scratch
and try it again very carefully. If you still have problems
contact the music21 group and someone should be able to help: