How do you annotate on sheet music?
You could try using erasable colored pencil (Crayola sells them) to mark the wedges (which are what you want to keep). Use a bright or contrasting color to make the wedges stand out from the connecting lines (which you will be ignoring). After you're finished with the piece, erase the colored pencil marks. I use colored pencils all the time on my scores. They erase very well.
Stub You could try using erasable colored pencil (Crayola sells them) to mark the wedges (which are what you want to keep). Use a bright or contrasting color to make the wedges stand out from the connecting lines (which you will be ignoring).
That is a great idea!
I change the fingering markings so often from the printed ones that my brain now ignores any fingerings that aren't in my handwriting. So sometimes even if I'm doing the same fingerings as marked, I write over it in forScore. Same with pedal markings, the original ones are printed so lightly that I hardly notice them but if I want to pay attention I write P and X over them. Colored pencils might be able to retrain your brain to pay attention to only your markings.
If you do use forScore, there’s white in the annotation tools which you can use like white out. And because it’s digital, it’s erasable.
When I was still playing from paper, I used to always make a copy of the score and play from the copy so that I kept a clean version, and wrote only on the copy. (With multi-page scores, I had a system of taping them together like a booklet so the copies also served that purpose.)
These days I have my scores almost exclusively on the iPad though.
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twocats There is?!
Yes! I can't remember if it comes up as a pre-set option or you have to pick on of the pens and change the color. I just did a quick and dirty google image search, so these might help:
See where it says "hue"? If you don't already have a white option, I think you can change it here:
This is another photo from google image search, you can see that thick white pen mark, to the right of black? That's it. And you can change the line thickness (size) etc. I have used the white pen for all kinds of things, including to correct scores, cover up annotation I don't want to see etc. Oh and also for paper scores that I once wrote on and then made a PDF without erasing my earlier markings like fingerings etc, I use the white when I want to update fingerings etc.
I will look for it next time I'm at the piano!
twocats awesome! I’m pretty sure forScore has tons of functions I don’t know exist. Well, and probably some that only work with newer iPads or tablets maybe. I think my iPad Pro is from 2021 and I think I’m using the original Apple Pencil (I’m not exactly sure though, my memory is rubbish). But my piano teacher has a newer one, and I think he has the newest Apple Pencil, and I see him do stuff with forScore that I can’t do…
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ShiroKuro I think my iPad Pro is from 2021 and I think I’m using the original Apple Pencil
That would be Pencil 2! My iPad Pro is a 2018. I also have the first big iPad Pro from 2015 that uses the original Pencil, but the writing experience is pretty awful. The upgrade to get Pencil 2 was worth it.
I know the newest Pencil Pro has some additional features. I think one of the useful ones is to squeeze the barrel to switch between writing and erasing, which would be very convenient.
I have learned many useful tips for forScore here! Sgisela told me about the split screen feature for learning transitions across page turns. I should really sit down and write a post about backups because last week I figured out how (I think) it all works and how to back stuff up to Dropbox to avoid losing your notations if your iPad gets damaged or stolen.
twocats I think one of the useful ones is to squeeze the barrel to switch between writing and erasing, which would be very convenient.
Yes, that's what my teacher has!! I want it!!! But now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure I have the Pencil 2, and it's fine.
I should really sit down and write a post about backups because last week I figured out how (I think) it all works and how to back stuff up to Dropbox to avoid losing your notations if your iPad gets damaged or stolen.
Oh yes please!! I need to do that! Yikes!!!
I priced it out and had to pass though. If I'm going to spend a buttload of money it's going to be on maintaining my piano.
ShiroKuro Yep, new iPads are way too expensive. This current one needs to last me like another five years at least!
I think it will! My almost 10 year old one is still going strong!!
I just priced out a new 13" iPad Air plus Pencil Pro with trade-in but they won't take my Pencil 2, so it just is too much trouble to have to sell the Pencil 2 separately even if I was willing to pay the extra cash. Plus I like Face ID because sometimes I step away and come back and I don't need to enter a password!
I got my 3rd Gen used for a good price so hopefully it lasts a long time. Plus then if it does get stolen I won't feel as bad-- as long as all my forScore files are properly backed up!
twocats I will try to write up a post on forScore backups in the next couple of days!
Done!
https://forum.pianotell.com/d/1588-instructions-forscore-ipad-backups-to-dropbox
There's another (very easy) way to backup everything in forScore - scores, metadata, setlists, annotations etc - if you don't use Dropbox but have a Mac. It's the forScore Backup Utility, full details here: https://forscore.co/backup-utility/
It works a treat. 
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Some of the time I’d enter pieces into MuseScore and keep both the MS files & PDFs. I can put in as much info as needed including fingerings or delete then when no longer needed.
Normally I wouldn’t re-create a sheet in MS except in cases of rearranging music. Like changing sections than playing off the original sheet. And pieces for other instruments rearranged for piano.
Recently found a set of keyboard pieces with note runs & arpeggios that are hard to read. The notes on the 2 staffs are continuous with no LH /RH separation. Had them redone in MuseScore to show clearly the parts for LH & RH.
thepianoplayer416 Same here - unfortunately this means tons of work.
And I woud be happy if Musescore offered a fullscreen reading mode with programmable page flip positions and customizable keyboard/mousebutton/midi page flip input.
Like use sostenuto pedal for page flip, press lowest+highset key together for reset to page 1.
