Be sure to read “First Day of the Future” to find my delighted reactions to adding a Bluetooth foot pedal to my high-tech music-reading experience!
I spent the rest of my delightful day today working toward making my basic gigging life easier through the use of an iPad Score Reader App. (Yes, I know, it was high time I looked into transferring some of my massive music library over to such a system….) 🙄 What can I say? I’m old-fashioned. 😎
Well, I took my time to think over my two favorites of those I had found in the App Store; it was a tie between forScore and the much more expensive Scorecerer. After finding numerous positive reviews for **forScore** (and naught for Scorecerer but a review that made mention of the fact that, while Scorecerer was indeed a fine app, forScore actually had more to it, and for way less $$), I went ahead with my whole 5-bucks and gave it a whirl!
I’m thoroughly delighted with it so far!!!
I’ve easily imported all of my random scores and parts that I use (or could foresee using) regularly, which had been scattered all over my poor laptop’s system. How to import? There are several ways to do this — either via iTunes syncing, or via other importing apps such as Mail or iBooks — and I found the easiest way today was to email myself a whole slew of my PDFs and then open them in my Mail app on the iPad, where I could then “hold” over the attachment until the options of where to open it appeared. When it did, I selected forScore. Piece of cake!
From there, I could easily add all necessary data, such as title, composer, keywords, etc…
I can arrange my music into set lists — so I’m even plotting gathering up the courage to use only my iPad when I perform with groups like String Theory Quartet, or when I’m out and about either busking or playing background music for any number of events. 😯
Some other features I’ve found, but haven’t yet explored, that I’m excited about include:
- Auto-Turn function, usable in conjunction with metronome: (I’m a little concerned about using this function in performance, as I and the group I’m with would have to be ultra precise with our tempo, or I’d find myself unnecessarily frustrated, flinging at my iPad, on stage… we’ll see… But otherwise, the regular swiping/tapping of turning pages is very easy and brisk!)
- Linking! I experimented with creating a link (like a wormhole portal) from a D.S. to its corresponding Sign (for example)…. Really great function, to get you around those music road maps!
And of course, there’s all the annotating and note-making… file sharing… I can even “scan” in the rest of my music lurking in my massive gig books via a camera function in the app itself! Excellent! Look at all you can do:
I highly recommend anyone looking for a good Score Reader to give forScore a try! I look forward to really putting it to the test out in the field soon… 😉
Hi Sarah, I highly recommend a Bluetooth foot pedal page turner. I play clarinet and can hardly ever spare a finger. The Auto-Turn will seldom work out, especially in a group (and of course there can be tempi changes on a page). I have the PageFlip Cicada foot pedal. It is compact and easy to use. Enjoy, Barry
Hi Barry! I completely agree. That’s why I ordered my AirTurn Bluetooth pedal right after making this post. You can see my positive reactions to it here: http://www.sarahwallinhuff.com/2013/04/21/first-day-of-the-future/ I’ve been using it ever since — of course the Auto Turn function is only of any use when playing alone — and I love it!
With Forscore is there a way to have a visual view of a thumbnail of the pieces in a list or is it just in list format.
Can Forscore be in Windows 10 laptop? If not, what is a similar program for Windows 10?
Hey there! Unfortunately, ForScore is only for iPad. I’m not sure what’s currently similar for Windows- I haven’t used a pc in a long time…
Sarah, have you tried Airturn (www.airturn.com) to turns pages back and forward. I’ve been using it for ages to turn pages while I play piano, flute and bass guitar.
Yep! I use an AirTurn for page turns and love it! 🙂 I only have the forwards working one, though; that’s all I’ve really needed so far.
How do I get forScore to scroll?
Hi Greg! You can manually turn the pages like a book by just tapping or swiping. You can also use a foot pedal to turn pages. And, you can also go to the metronome-shaped icon toward the far right of the menu bar, tap on “Autoturn” (in the lower left corner), set either how many beats (total) or how many measures total you want forScore to count before turning the page for you.
The Bluetooth pedal is great for me as both hands have to be on my clarinet. The half page turn feature means you always have your music in front of you and there are no panics to do page turns but it does mean twice as many page turns. I mark these in on my scores. I have been using forScore on my iPad for 4 years now and really love it. I am considering getting the 12 inch iPad pro – any thoughts on that would be welcome.
The iPad Pro is seriously tempting! My only thing is that I can’t justify buying one for myself if the only thing I use it for is my music… :-/
Thanks Sarah, My sentiments exactly and I am only an amateur musician. The price is terribly high – yet I see kids playing games on them.