Do you use an iPad for sheet music? You should learn how to put sheet music on an iPad?
Whether you’re a professional, student, or somewhere in between, an iPad is great. But you should know how you can transfer your current library to a tablet.
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What You’ll Need
Before you can put sheet music on an iPad, you need to gather a few supplies. That way, the scanning process can go a lot more smoothly. You will need:
- Your iPad or iPhone (or a traditional scanner)
- A scanning app
- A blank background to make scanning easier
- Good lighting
- The sheet music you want to scan
If you have a traditional scanner, you can use that. However, that’s not super convenient, especially if you get music at a rehearsal. Being able to scan directly with your iPad can be a lot easier at home and at rehearsals or lessons.
How to Put Sheet Music on an iPad
Now, it’s time to learn how to put sheet music on an iPad. Whether you decide to use a physical scanner or a scanner app, you can follow similar steps.
Set Up Your Scanning Station
When using an iPad or iPhone, you should have an area where you can scan the music. I like to use my desk because it has a solid white background, but you could also use a music stand or a similar area.
You also need to find a spot with good lighting. Then, your iPad or iPhone’s camera will be able to capture a nice image of each page.
If you use a physical scanner, you will need to connect the scanner to your iPad or a computer. That way, you can get the sheet music to your iPad to use.
Open the Scanner
The rest of this tutorial will focus on using your iPad as the scanner, so you will need to open your scanning app. You can use a lot of different scanning apps out there, so feel free to test a few out to find one that you like the best.
Grab a piece of sheet music and place it on the background. Then, use the app and your iPad’s camera to take a picture of the page.
A good scanning app will allow you to take multiple pictures as one file. That way, you don’t have to worry about combining PDFs to read your sheet music on an iPad.
Edit the Borders
Once you finish scanning the music for that file, you should be able to hit a button that says “next” or something similar. This will allow you to go through each image and make sure it looks good.
Some scanner apps will automatically detect the right borders. However, the crops won’t always be accurate. You can go through and edit the borders so that they do fit correctly to the page.
This is also useful if you only want to scan part of a page. Then, you can get just the music you need. Once everything looks good, you can finish it off by tapping something like “finish.”
Repeat
You can follow the previous steps for as many sheet music files as you want. Some scanner apps have a limit in their free version. But upgrading only costs a few dollars, and it’s super worth it if you want to use your iPad for sheet music.
The more you practice how to put sheet music on an iPad, the easier it will get. Soon, you may be able to scan long pieces quickly. That way, you don’t have to spend a ton of time on the process.
Export
After you scan sheet music and create a file, you can export that file. Then, you’ll be able to open the music in the Files app or in forScore. The Files app is great if you scan on your iPhone because you can use the cloud to transfer the music to your iPad.
However, if you scan on your iPad, you can export the music straight to forScore. That way, you can get to reading and playing the music within minutes.
If you need to scan music for a pianist or another musician, you can also export the file to your email app. Then, you can share the music with anyone who may need a copy.
How Long Does Scanning Take?
When you first start to learn how to put sheet music on an iPad, it can take a while. You need to figure out how to hold your iPad and how to use the scanning app you select.
It can also take a long time if you decide to scan a lot of music at once. But after you get started, you won’t need to spend as much time scanning music.
You may only need to scan a piece or two at a time. At that point, it may only take a few minutes. If you want to keep yourself from getting bored while scanning, play some music to motivate you.
How Can You Shorten the Scanning Process?
Start by scanning only the music you need to use on your iPad. Maybe you don’t need to scan that full book of flute exercises. Keep using the physical book for now, and scan it when you need it.
You can also look for digital sheet music that you can download. Then, you won’t have to worry about scanning the files at all.
I have a small but growing library of flute sheet music. All of the files are available instantly, so you can put the pieces on your iPad as soon as you purchase them.
How Will You Put Sheet Music on an iPad?
Knowing how to put sheet music on an iPad will make things a lot easier. That way, you don’t have to carry physical files with you.
Whether you want to use a scanning app or a physical scanner, you can make it work.