using iPad for "song sheets"

[jimrex62]

Greetings,

I'm thinking that I could get more practice and playing accomplished if I had easy access to songs that I like. Currently, I just save bookmarks to Chrome from UkuTabs, Richard G's (scorpex), Ukulele Tabs, or Liveukukulele pages. That's ok when I'm at home in front of computer, but never works out well when trailer camping and trying to use iPhone due to signal issues and tiny screen size.

So, as a test I created a PDF of Baby's in Black from Ukulele-Tabs with my old Lenovo IdeaPad and think that the concept is doable, but want to get a refurbished iPad 9th gen because it's smaller and lighter (10.2" screen at 1lb) than the Lenovo (12.2" screen at 2.78lbs).

What are you all doing for song sheets?

 

[rhiggie]

forScore

 

[man0a]

I know that there are fancy songbook apps that some people use. However, what most of the people in my uke groups do is just save all their song sheets to folders of PDF files then use the tablets' built-in file manager app to search for and display the PDF files that they need. This works with any brand of tablet and you can easily share files with people using other brands of tablets. A lot of the fancy apps only work with 1 brand of tablet and are sometimes too complicated for the older people in my uke groups. If you need to take notes, many tablets support electronic styluses that are pretty easy to use to annotate PDF files and you can share the PDF files with or without your notes.

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

I know that there are fancy songbook apps that some people use. However, what most of the people in my uke groups do is just save all their song sheets to folders of PDF files then use the tablets' built-in file manager app to search for and display the PDF files that they need. This works with any brand of tablet and you can easily share files with people using other brands of tablets. A lot of the fancy apps only work with 1 brand of tablet and are sometimes too complicated for the older people in my uke groups. If you need to take notes, many tablets support electronic styluses that are pretty easy to use to annotate PDF files and you can share the PDF files with or without your notes.

I have a Samsung 6 lite tablet and it has a pdf viewer that works well. I just can't see them.

 

[pondweed]

I've noticed that Samsung tablets take an inordinate length of time opening up pdfs when accessing wifi to a group playlist... my old ipad just clicks and goes easily. We are currently having debates of where the chords should go in songsheets. I'm wondering if my hate of "embedded chords in lyric line" is more because they are sometimes slightly wrongly placed. I do like things all on one page, and that does help do that and keep a better font point size.

I personally often just type things out in Apple wordprocessor and then save to PDF. and then scribble over in any old noting software accessible... until someone else revises when they get too numerous.

 

[man0a]

I've noticed that Samsung tablets take an inordinate length of time opening up pdfs when accessing wifi to a group playlist... my old ipad just clicks and goes easily. We are currently having debates of where the chords should go in songsheets. I'm wondering if my hate of "embedded chords in lyric line" is more because they are sometimes slightly wrongly placed. I do like things all on one page, and that does help do that and keep a better font point size.

I personally often just type things out in Apple wordprocessor and then save to PDF. and then scribble over in any old noting software accessible... until someone else revises when they get too numerous.

Are the exact same files much slower on Samsung than on Apple? If the files were created differently, the speed of display can vary depending on the physical file size (especially for files with graphics) and also the compression level. Also cheaper tablets will usually have slower CPUs and graphics. Samsung has some high-end tables, but others that are much cheaper than Apple.

 

[ScooterD35]

The OnSong app is excellent. You can load song/chord sheets in, organize them, and then have the pages scroll up in tempo.

OnSong

OnSong replaces the mess of paper and binders with interactive chord charts and sheet music on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

onsongapp.com

Scooter

 

[Shari]

ForScore works great with an IPad...

 

[Bobalonia]

Cave man here. Paper in binders! After 40+ years, I’m locked in

 

[pondweed]

Are the exact same files much slower on Samsung than on Apple? If the files were created differently, the speed of display can vary depending on the physical file size (especially for files with graphics) and also the compression level. Also cheaper tablets will usually have slower CPUs and graphics. Samsung has some high-end tables, but others that are much cheaper than Apple.

someone said his samsung was 4 years old. Another had a brand new one. My ipad was donated to me when someone upgraded and is 6+ years old. The 4 year old Samsung was accessing the same song sheets as me from group leader via wifi. I'm sure there was some reason [they were opening up a pdf programme each time a file was clicked on, and offering some image clean up....] but the point is many people dont go in depth with these things; they just want them to work out of the box.

 

[rreffner]

OnSong here.

 

[don_b]

I have a 10” Amazon Fire tablet. I purchased it just before the end of 2023 around Black Friday for under $100. I know not everybody is an Amazon fan. But since I already own an iPhone, I don’t have any use for an iPad. I am not really looking for a 10” version of my phone that can’t make calls or send texts. I’m really just looking for a lightweight 10” screen that displays PDFs. For me, the 10” Amazon tablet perfect and I’d recommend it to anyone who is looking for what I was looking for.

 

[RafterGirl]

My group uses PiaScore. I was resistant to going electronic until last year. Now I can't imagine life without it. I splurged on the largest iPad Pro 12.9 to make it as easy as possible on older eyes. I can download PDF music sheets & use the camera feature to download my hand written music, organize my songs, make set lists for jams and performances, add notes to music, scroll two page sheets, use the metronome to get timing down, etc.

 

[jimrex62]

I have a 10” Amazon Fire tablet. I purchased it just before the end of 2023 around Black Friday for under $100. I know not everybody is an Amazon fan. But since I already own an iPhone, I don’t have any use for an iPad. I am not really looking for a 10” version of my phone that can’t make calls or send texts. I’m really just looking for a lightweight 10” screen that displays PDFs. For me, the 10” Amazon tablet perfect and I’d recommend it to anyone who is looking for what I was looking for.

yeah, I'm kinda looking the basic route. might save some money with the Amazon.

 

[spongeuke]

I use a Nook reader. I load PDFs folders with the files to be played. I switched to it years ago as my hard copy (paper) files were approaching 5 feet without copies. I load the PDF folders from my Mac with a supplied connection/charging cable. Some files have small print, different formats or faint copies that I must adjust. I do prefer paper, but many groups have large song lists/books. The cheep Nook works for me.

 

[Altrove]

I read the scores/tab in PDF format (either native or converted to pdf) with the app PDFExpert on ipad.
You can annotate with Apple pen, highlight, organize them in folders and insert bookmarks.
I really like it