Collecting and organizing piano, or any type of sheet music, can be a daunting task.  Organizing it in binders, or even remembering where it is located becomes more and more of an issue as you expand your repertoire.  Even more challenging is laying it out on the piano’s music rack during a performance (think taping together 4 or 5 sheets when a human page turner is not available).

Fortunately, options that were beyond the amateur’s reach even 5 years ago are commonplace and more affordable today. In this M&T Corner article we will explore some of the options available to the pianist.

The key to overcoming these obstacles is converting paper ‘sheet’ music into a digital form.  While this may seem daunting, and such a paradigm shift from what we have been doing all our musical lives, it’s now fairly straightforward, and can be done incrementally.

Start with Collecting Digital Copies of Your Music

In order to move away from, or supplement paper copies of your music you will need to find or create a digital copy.  The most common source of classical digital music is available (for Free) from IMSLP https://imslp.org.  You can search by composer, type of music, or title.  These public domain scores come in all types of condition, so look for one that will display clearly before you download.

Another popular source is MuseScore https://musescore.com.  Some are available for free, others for a subscription cost.  SheetMusicDirect http://sheetmusicdirect.com is a subscription service that has a very extensive selection of piano music in all genres along with music for the entire spectrum of musical instruments.  

Finally, just searching the internet on the piece you are looking for with the keyword PDF will often result in a good digital copy.  Just be careful that the site you reach appears legitimate to ensure that you are not downloading spyware!

If you are fortunate enough to have an All-In-One printer, you can scan you r existing sheet music with the printer’s provided software.  This typically works regardless of whether you are running Windows, Mac, a phone, or tablet.

Obtain a Tablet and Software to Display Your Music

Once you have started collecting your digital piano music, you will need to acquire a tablet to display the music on the piano rack.  Below is a link to an excellent article that examines the pros and cons of the current lineup of tablets for musicians:

https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-tablets/ 

You  can’t go wrong with a 12.9-inch or 13-inch iPad. The iPad Pro in particular is the most used tablet among professional musicians and has the best stylus and keyboard. iPadOS still has some exclusive apps (forScore, Newzik, GarageBand) and features (AirDrop, AirPlay), as well as the best performance of any tablet today.  However,  Apple iPads in general have some drawbacks, the biggest being their aspect ratio, which is ideal for office use, but not for displaying sheet music. Also, don’t expect a fast battery charge during rehearsal breaks, as the iPad Pro has the slowest charging speed of all the tablets in its category.  Finally, a large iPad can be quite expensive to purchase new.

 The 11-inch iPad models (Pro and Air) and the “standard” iPad are too small for more than casual music practice. If you’re on a budget, I would strongly recommend getting a used or refurbished 12.9-inch iPad Pro over one of the smaller models. If you’re not tied to the Apple ecosystem, a Samsung Galaxy S10 or S11 Ultra may also be an excellent choice.  TCL NXTPaper 14 Android Tablet is an extremely affordable option with the largest 14” screen of all tablets.  It displays the same size as standard sheet music with an anti-glare screen.  It also has an extremely long battery life.

Finally, you need to have software to display and organize your music.  Two of the most common software apps are ForScore https://forscore.co/ and MobileSheets  https://www.zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/. Both have try-before-you-buy options.  Be aware that ForScore works only on Apple tablets, while MobileSheets works with all tablet vendors.  Each is intuitive to use, but may take some practice loading and organizing your music.

How Do I Turn Pages!

So now that you have your tablet on your piano rack, you are ready to play. But, how do I “Turn the Page?!”  Both of the software apps previously mentioned are extremely easy and versatile for page turns.  At their most basic you will tap on the right side of the tablet to move forward to the next page; tap on the left side to move back.  Each are also programmed to recognize facial movements (e.g. a wink or a nod) to move pages forward or backward, or even Da capo.

If you want further freedom you can purchase a bluetooth pedal controller that will perform all of these functions (and more) with your foot.  Two popular brands include the AirTurn DUO 500, and the PageFlip Dragonfly.

Next Steps

Now that you have your tablet and software you need to organize your music!  All of the music tablet software includes systems to organize your pieces by name, type, composer, key, etc.  You can even link audio recordings for reference with a particular piece.  The key is to create your own discipline to best utilize these systems.  One approach is to digitize each piece as you begin studying it.  This provides you with a clean reference copy (Note:  all of the software allows you to later add notations, fingering, comments, etc., just like an electronic pencil).  As you progress your digital library grows.  You can then take your tablet with you to lessons or performances, and have complete copies of everything.  If you play jazz, it’s fantastic to have your own digital fake book, so when someone says: “Hey, let’s play …” you have it immediately available.

I hope this article is useful in providing some information on this exciting digital performance trend.  Happy Practicing and Playing!