Paperless Sheet Music

Since December 2012 I've essentially stopped reading sheet music on paper. Instead, I use an Android tablet with a dedicated music reader app called MobileSheets. This was originally available only on Android, but has since been ported to iPadOS and Windows. Another well-liked app on IpadOS is forScore).

This is basically the equivalent of an ebook reader for sheet music :-), and it implies the same sort of tradeoffs.

• On the negative side, there's no question that it takes time to scan paper copies of music and copy the scans onto a tablet (although that isn't a factor if the music you want is already available in electronic form, either because it's output from something you typeset yourself or because you obtained it as a PDF file in the first place, perhaps from IMSLP, ChoralWiki or similar sources).

• ...but on the plus side, once the music is loaded onto your tablet, you never have to search for it again (assuming you're careful about backups, but then, you're already careful about backups anyway, right? :-)

  But that's just a start. Other benefits include:

  • You always have your whole library with you all the time, so there's no worry about forgetting to bring the right book or folder.

  • You don't have to decide how to organize your paper sheets. Instead you can have your music sorted by title (including everything in your whole collection, or just those titles you currently need for each ensemble you play with), or according to the order in which you plan to play it at a given event, or by the book it originally came from, or by composer's name, or... – and the best part is that all of these views are available all the time, so you can move freely between them depending on what's most useful at any given moment.

  • You can add annotations to the music on the fly (including text, music symbols, freehand drawing and highlighting, all in multiple colours), and decide whether or not to display them during a performance.

  • It's easy to turn pages – and easier still if you add a wireless pedal (such as the AirTurn Duo 500 or PageFlip Firefly). This way you can turn pages with your foot without ever having to take your eyes off the music.

  • Tablets have their own lighting, so you don't need a music stand light in dark venues.

  • Since there's no actual paper, you don't need to worry about wind blowing your pages away if you're playing outdoors.

  • Keeping track of time during a performance is easy, since the tablet's clock is always displayed.

  • It's possible to link MP3 files with the corresponding sheet music (e.g. for demonstration purposes or backing tracks). The same app which displays the sheet music can also play the matching MP3 file.

  • The same tablet can also run other music-related apps (metronomes, tuners, etc.), keeping all your performance tools in one place.

  • You can also keep related documents on the tablet (regular or trill fingering charts, manuals for gear you may be using on stage, or anything else you want to keep handy).

[ SMW, December 2024 ]