OnSong

Nickie

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If you don't use OnSong for songs you don't memorize, I highly recommend it. You do need an iPad.

We just attended an OnSong workshop, it was expensive, but I sure learned a lot!
 
After trying both OnSong and forScore, I ended up going with forScore because it records directly in the song sheet I'm playing. I record each song during my group's rehearsals and post them on my website so everyone can practice at home as if they're in rehearsal (which I do right inside forScore). You can also import any audio track. (Sorry Nikki, thought it would useful to see an alternative.)


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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OnSong and forScore are just two different programs in a related space, and both are the envy of users of other platforms. There are solutions on Android, and they work...but these two programs are exceptional.

OnSong has its background as a tool for worship leaders, first and foremost, as a way to display, edit, and share lyrics for themselves AND their congregations. The program can actually be used to display lyrics on a background on a screen, with a different view than the band. Ultimately, OnSong is about working with what I call "chord charts." For many ukulele players, to be able to import a "song sheet" and then edit it to match how you want to play it, and then display it/share it is pure gold. I get it.

forScore is a musician's PDF reader with a ton of tools. While it can display PDFs of songs in "chord chart" format (which is what so many people use), it can also be used to display music that has been printed as a PDF (music notation as a font) or scanned (as an image). For a person like myself, a music teacher, a classically trained music (i.e. I read music notation as a primary way of understanding music), and as a performer, forScore is invaluable to me.

As I make the play alongs, I've been working with Ukutabs lately to put a "Chord Chart" of every new chord on their page. I prepare my scores in an app called Song Sheet Pro, then export to OnSong, which allows me to export that file to a .TXT file that can be used on Ukutabs.

There are undoubtedly more features and uses of OnSong...and forScore's tools for a musician and as a music teacher are massive. I'm just happy that we have both programs available at a very affordable cost. We're lucky.

Side note: StaffPad, a music notation program originally created ONLY for Microsoft Surface, came out on iPad a few weeks ago. I'd still recommend Notion for most users if you want to create music notation on an iPad.
 
Do any of these apps run on the Amazon Fire tablets? The 10" Amazon Fire tablet is frequently on sale for under $100 and quality is fine for reading PDF sheet music. For people with good eyes, the 8" Amazon Fire tablet is often under $50.
 
Do any of these apps run on the Amazon Fire tablets? The 10" Amazon Fire tablet is frequently on sale for under $100 and quality is fine for reading PDF sheet music. For people with good eyes, the 8" Amazon Fire tablet is often under $50.

These particular apps do not. You can get Mobile Sheets Pro on the Amazon Fire (running Android Apps) for $13. That would be as close as you're going to get to forScore.

As for OnSong, here is there statement: link

I've seen study after study, and developers the develop on iOS and Android consistently report that iOS is far more profitable than Android. That doesn't mean that Android is bad, or that the hardware is inferior. It's just the situation when it comes to running a business that develops software for mobile devices.
 
Do any of these apps run on the Amazon Fire tablets? The 10" Amazon Fire tablet is frequently on sale for under $100 and quality is fine for reading PDF sheet music. For people with good eyes, the 8" Amazon Fire tablet is often under $50.

I use a Fire tablet with MobileSheets Pro to manage PDF and JPG files and create setlists. I don't record audio files and I rarely work with ChordPro format, but MobileSheets can handle those as well. I use GuitarTapp to search and download and transpose song lyrics/chords from the web.

Like any technology choice, the right platform for you depends on what you want to accomplish. The Fire works perfectly for my needs, but I am not a music teacher or a conductor. I don't use a tablet to write and format arrangements; I use a PC for that. YMMV :)
 
Are any of these apps appropriate for keeping a notebook of tab playsheets on an ipad
 
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I'm an Android user, and as such, am unable to use OnSong but I hear a lot of good things about it.
I use, and would recommend OpenSongApp for Android, it seems to share a lot of similarities with OnSong.

Regards
Vintage
 
These particular apps do not. You can get Mobile Sheets Pro on the Amazon Fire (running Android Apps) for $13. That would be as close as you're going to get to forScore.

I used Mobile Sheets Pro for a couple of years while I waited for the iPad Pro to come out. I found Mobile Sheets Pro to have a better user interface, very clear where to go, better than either OnSong or forScore, but because the iPad Pro OS, hardware and the Apple Pencil are so far superior to Android or Windows 10, I decided to learn the intricacies of forScore, plus it's the only one that records directly in the app.

Are any of these apps appropriate for keeping a notebook of tab playsheets on an ipad

Absolutely, that's one of the main uses of these apps.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
I use a binder. I can't get the font large enough, and put enough on the page, for me to see on a tablet. My monitor at home will let me see two 8-1/2" X 11" pages side-by-side, and I can print each page full size.

I've seen some 12" iPads that would let me look at a full page - then I looked at the price; Two weeks gross pay, aka 3 weeks net pay. I can buy a lot of binders, paper, and a new color printer for that kinda dough. And have enough left over for a new Cocobolo ukulele, if I so choose.

It may not be as portable, but I can see what is one the page, and if it falls I won't cry.

-Kurt​
 
Thanks for a good summary.

OnSong and forScore are just two different programs in a related space, and both are the envy of users of other platforms. There are solutions on Android, and they work...but these two programs are exceptional.

OnSong has its background as a tool for worship leaders, first and foremost, as a way to display, edit, and share lyrics for themselves AND their congregations. The program can actually be used to display lyrics on a background on a screen, with a different view than the band. Ultimately, OnSong is about working with what I call "chord charts." For many ukulele players, to be able to import a "song sheet" and then edit it to match how you want to play it, and then display it/share it is pure gold. I get it.

forScore is a musician's PDF reader with a ton of tools. While it can display PDFs of songs in "chord chart" format (which is what so many people use), it can also be used to display music that has been printed as a PDF (music notation as a font) or scanned (as an image). For a person like myself, a music teacher, a classically trained music (i.e. I read music notation as a primary way of understanding music), and as a performer, forScore is invaluable to me.

As I make the play alongs, I've been working with Ukutabs lately to put a "Chord Chart" of every new chord on their page. I prepare my scores in an app called Song Sheet Pro, then export to OnSong, which allows me to export that file to a .TXT file that can be used on Ukutabs.

There are undoubtedly more features and uses of OnSong...and forScore's tools for a musician and as a music teacher are massive. I'm just happy that we have both programs available at a very affordable cost. We're lucky.

Side note: StaffPad, a music notation program originally created ONLY for Microsoft Surface, came out on iPad a few weeks ago. I'd still recommend Notion for most users if you want to create music notation on an iPad.
 
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