The iPad As A Sheet Music Reader: A Guide

A number of apps have been released to read music on the iPad.  There are four main categories these apps fall into, as far as I can see:

1. Apps that read (and recognize) your music.

2. Apps that read everything.

3. Apps that allow paid downloading from a single source

4. Apps that display music included with the app

Here’s a breakdown of some of the apps that fall in each category, as well as some features of each.

Apps that read your music:

MusicReader (free, $59 or $99 Mac or PC version required) – A comprehensive music reading app, which recognizes measures and displays on the iPad in either full or half page (landscape) modes.  All kinds of image files are supported by the program, not just PDF’s.  Annotation and playlist support are inlcuded, and the app has been updated several times, showing an active development team.  The iTunes description boasts integrating with an available music stand and an upcoming foot pedal.

Apps that read everything:

Forscore ($4.99) – A music centered app that reads PDF’s.  It doesn’t recognize the music on the page, but instead adds a metronome, the ability to create playlists, and tools to annotate your music.

Good Reader ($.99) – While not a music reader specifically, Good Reader reads PDF, TXT, and all Microsoft Office and iWork formats, plus more.  Good Reader can use USB file transfer or link over WiFi to a computer or Mobile Me account.  Good Reader does not support annotating, but is a simple viewer and cataloger of PDF files, music included.

Unreal Book ($4.99): This app features many of the reading capabilities of apps like Good Reader, but adds the capability to bookmark as well as iTunes library playback controls in-app.

Apps that allow paid downloading from a single source:

MusicNotes Sheet Music Reader (Free) – This app only syncs proprietary files downloaded from Musicnotes.com.  It offers annotation, a metronome, and bookmarking.  Ironically, this app’s biggest limitation – only reading music purchased from Musicnotes – is also it’s greatest  strength: it’s legal, folks.  While I’d argue a single copy of sheet music you own being used on your iPad is within Copyright fair use, putting the music on a classroom full of iPads is a gray area, even if you own 40 physical copies.  With purchases from Musicnotes, using them on the iPad is part of the license, even if using it on 40 might not be.

Apps that display music included with the app:

iReal Book ($7.99): 900 standard charts are included with this app, which is designed to run on both the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch.  While it doesn’t include lyrics, it does show changes, with the ability to alter the chords shown, and to change the key of the piece.  The app promises one-page charts for all songs, so the player can keep his hands on the keyboard.

One more thing:

If you’re looking into using an iPad to read your music, you may need to transfer your files to the PDF format.  In my case, I’ve been scanning music into my computer in TIFF format for optical character recognition (OCR) using SmartScore for years.  If you have files in any graphics format you’d like to convert to PDF, I recommend the Mac program Graphic Converter ($34.95, functioning demo available).  It includes a batch converter that can read a series of nested folders (like I have) and make every appropriate file into a PDF.  I converted about 250 choral octavos into PDF in a few minutes, uploaded them to my iPad via Mobile Me, and brought them into Good Reader, and now I have an entire choral library at my fingertips!

If you’ve used an iPad music reading software you feel deserves mention – post your comments below!

Music Reader for the iPad

Music Reader on the iPad

I’ve blogged about an ideal music reading software.  Music Reader is a program that exists for Mac, PC, and Tablet PC’s, and it looks like they’re preparing an iPad version. They are asking for musicians to complete a short survey about features they find important in the software, and you can sign up to be notified on its release.  While it’s not my ideal, it looks like a good program, with PDF importing and built in recording/playback in-app.  Sign up to be notified on its release here.

Imagining the Perfect Music Reader

My vision for an iPad music reader

Let’s pretend we’ve decided to do for sheet music publishing what the iTunes store has done for the recorded music market: create a one-stop-shop of sheet music specially designed for the iPad.  What would be the ideal reader App for this music?  How would the music be formatted? What would the user interface look like, and what capabilities would it have? That’s what I’ve been pondering.  Let’s see what we can come up with.

First, I imagine the format of the music will be MIDI-capable and resolution independent.  MIDI capability would allow the user to playback the music at tempo, or slow it down for practice.  The ability to hear the music greatly aids in learning.  Simple tools to change tempo or key could also be easily implemented.  Resolution independence means the music can be scaled to a single system (in landscape mode, scrolling with performance) or as an entire page (scrolling vertically in portrait mode).  It also means users could see a score in very small type or make a difficult passage more easily readable with a quick tap.

Since we’re dreaming about this, why not integrate the iPad’s microphone into the experience, and have the computer evaluate the musician’s performance, ala Smartmusic Studio?  Feedback about pitch and rhythmic accuracy, as well as the ability to record ones’ self and play back with accompaniment would be an amazing rehearsal tool.

One main innovation I’d like to see in this ideal music reader is the integration of a virtual piano keyboard.  The keyboard could appear in landscape mode, after pressing a ‘button’.  The current system is displayed on top, as the keyboard is displayed below it.   The keyboard could be used in one of two ways: First, music scroll playback could show the keys being ‘depressed’ as the music plays, showing the notes to play the entire piece or just one or two parts.  Second, the keyboard could be playable, so the process could be reversed, playing notes on the keyboard rather than having them played for you, perhaps even evaluating your performance for accuracy.

An integrated music store could instantly deliver new pieces to your iPad and allow for ratings and variable pricing (less for public domain and ‘chestnuts’, more for major works and new compositions or editions.

And here’s the ‘one more thing’: in my fantasy world, the ability to sync iPad music readers among a group of musicians using bluetooth or WiFi would make this the ultimate rehearsal tool: Instead of just counting 122 measures, the triangle player can watch the entire score as the performance nears his part, scrolling right in time.

What other features can you imagine?  Who do you think might pull this off?  Can you imagine a system that isn’t closed to only iPad music store files, but allows for Finale or Sibelius exporting?  Let your imagination run wild…

That Didn’t Take Long!

Musicians are excited about the iPad and its possible use as a music reader.  Already a website is announcing their intention to open an iPad sheet music store.  At first glance, the offerings appear to be public domain works, already available free at sites like The Choral Public Domain Library, but if the works are edited to be free of errors (and user editable!), and optimized for the iPad, this could be a great resource for music teachers.  Check it out at iphonesheetmusic.com.

The iPad Music Education Project: Welcome!

Steve Jobs introduces the iPad

Hello!  Welcome to the iPad Music Education Project blog.  In this post, you’ll find out what the iPMEP is all about, and what I hope to accomplish with this blog.

iPMEP was conceived on January 27, 2010, when Steve Jobs announced Apple’s latest creation, the iPad.  As an Mac and iPhone user, I was instantly intrigued by the power of its user interface as well as its low (starting at $500) price point.  I began to imagine how this tablet computer could be used in my middle school choir classroom, and here we are.

The iPMEP has the following goals:

-Facilitate theory and ear training

-Teach basic piano skills

-Replace paper worksheets and tests

-Replace paper octavos (with public domain music or permission from publishers)

-Use cloud technology to make student work accessible from any iPad, and make teacher evaluation automatic and easy.

-Integrate all National Standards for Music Education using the iPad technology, including performing, improvising, composing, reading, listening to, and evaluating music, as well as understanding its relationship with the other arts and the world at large.

In order to achieve these goals, grant money is being sought to finance the purchase of iPad computers and related accessories, and I am looking to partner with developers who have experience programming iPhone/iPad apps.

On this blog, I plan to publish information about finding grants, reviews of available apps which might be used for the project, and hopefully, information about the setup, implementation, and maintenance of an iPad music education lab, and how it affects my students’ music education.

I hope you find this blog informative and entertaining.  I am excited to begin my quest to bring this technology to my students, and I’m glad to have you along for the ride!

Dave