Musicians and Their iPads
Let me tell you, I absolutely adore my iPad, and I’m sure you’ve noticed more and more musicians toting one around. Before I go on though, I want to convey something very important! If you are not in a position financially to buy one, please do not worry or feel left out. iPad’s are luxury items, and 99% of us in this world cannot have everything we want when we want it. You’ll be fine with paper music!
One more important piece of information that I see as very important. Please, please– when you are ready to purchase an iPad for use in music, buy the large iPad. Students will buy the smaller version in order to save money. We read music off of these devices and the small version is not conducive to music use. Plan on buying the Apple Pencil when you buy the iPad. Using your finger for writing becomes frustrating fast.
During Covid, my dad purchased an iPad for me. 💙Back story… My husband is in a major symphony orchestra, so our family income was slashed as soon as the pandemic hit. My dad really had a lot of foresight knowing right away that tech was going to be super important as we entered the online world. He made sure we were set up, and I’m very grateful! I was teaching my university studio of sixteen students, as well as my adult students, and the iPad was a lifesaver.
So, on to how I use my iPad.
I scan my own music (not all of it!) in order to have easy access to a large amount of my personal library. To get a great scan, I use Genius Scan I need access to more than my own library when teaching though. In my studio, my students email their scans. I upload the music directly to ForScore. (Please don’t send photos of music to teachers and piano collaborators.)
Sometimes, I already have a scan of the piece of music a student is playing already on my iPad, However, many editions of works exist. When a student and I are communicating across a room or in a rehearsal, we need the same markings. So, I always request a scan of the music a student is using. I can, and do, get up and look over student’s shoulders to see their music. With an iPad, I have freedom of movement to hear players from different places in a space. I can also quickly make notes on the scan and email the marked music to them. Erasing the marks is very easy. There is something called “layers” in ForScore, the app I use for my music. You can keep several marked versions of a piece on one scan. I haven’t made use of that feature yet, but maybe I should.
The Apple Pencil. The tip needs to be replaced occasionally, and that part is very inexpensive!
Before I owned an iPad, I would load my bag with the pieces my students were playing in lessons the next day. If I didn’t own the piece, they’d usually make me a copy or I’d look over their shoulder. I LOVE not spending time loading my bag with different music each night. Also, my sheet music sometimes became damaged when loading it often. The iPad makes my teaching days much easier.
The option to purchase digital downloads of a lot music exists now and many websites have free music available to download. I pay for music downloads all the time. I’ve needed music last minute, and digital downloads saved the day. I do save music purchases to Files and then upload them to ForScore. I don’t want my purchases just living on an app.
Using free music sites, I literally could create an entire course of study for beginning/intermediate flutists. The benefit for those that teach many young students is a game changer. There are mistakes sometimes on these sites and the “edition” they use might not be the best, but you can’t discount the handiness of this tool.
Website with free, downloadable music
I also import music into an app called Goodnotes. Personally, I just use Goodnotes to create books or a single page or so of notes, but I realize the app can be used for so much more. I have used Goodnotes to compile my own selection of works for a student, create an audition excerpt packet for chair placement auditions and create action plans for clients. You can add and move pages within books. I’ve planned vacations in Goodnotes. I love looking over some of my older documents BTW.
✏️ A tip when uploading music to an app like ForScore: take a second and title the piece correctly. Input the composer and maybe add a tag using whatever organization method you chose for ForScore. My students will emails scans with titles written in all manners and if I don’t fix the title, I have a lot of trouble searching the app for their scan later. (I am very thankful when students send a clearly labeled scan. If I can’t adjust the title right away, I can still find their music.)
Extra tip-get used to labeling attachments and scans.
As a freelancer, I’m often sent music for a job online. Downloading parts to an iPad makes getting ready for a gig much easier than it used to be. We used to drive to pick up parts! Sometimes parts would come via snail mail. Without an iPad though, you still get the online access to music and can print it out at home or make do by checking the music out on a computer. The digital world makes freelancing easier whether you have an iPad or not.
Does this mean that I perform with an iPad? Sometimes. If the ipad makes the performance easier, yes. If the paper copy is better for page turns, etc, I’ll use the paper copy. I am still terrible with the electronic page turners/pedals, but I plan to get better! I actually stomped during my last recital trying to use the page turner. Using a pedal is not easy for all of us.🫠 At gigs, I tend to use the parts provided at the first rehearsal, but I am seeing more and more musicians use their ipads at gigs.
It was just easier to use the provided paper music for this job.
You know what’s really impressive? The pianists I see are able to use an airturn pedal AND play the piano at the same time, which already involves three pedals. They add yet another thing for their four appendages to do.🤩
➡️By the way, you have to remember to charge your ipad. Have a routine. I have a charger set up in my home studio. I walk in from work, and plug the iPad in-right away. I also have an extra charging kit for my phone and ipad in my gig bag. Too many students come into lessons with uncharged ipads. They need to get into the charging habit! 🔋
➡️Also, students need to use a pedal or use other page turn options when practicing and playing for their teacher. (I won’t explain page turn options here, but within apps like ForScore there are some options.) With paper music often two pages are open at a time, while an iPad shows one full size page. When we use paper sheet music, we often need to make a copy of a page in order to get around a page turn issue. Using electronics doesn’t let one off the hook. Stopping in the middle of your etude to hit your ipad screen is not a great idea.
Finally, I love to use my iPad for signing documents and filling out forms. I import anything of that nature to ForScore and when I’m done, I email the form to its destination.
Technology really is a ton of fun. (Most of the time. 😏)
