Working with Digital Scores – OMEA 2025

CleanShot 2025-02-06 at 10.33.12@2x.

I am thrilled to be presenting four sessions at the Ohio Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference this weekend! My second session focuses on working with digital scores.

If you’d like to attend, the session is on February 7 at 5 PM. If you’re already here or have attended, thank you for coming!

This post serves as a resource for session notes, including links to the primary tools I mention in the session.

Apps for Scanning:
– Simple Scan
– Scanner Pro
– Apple Notes/Files

Apps for Scanning Notation
– Scoring Notes Article: Scanning the Current OMR Landscape
– Sheet Music Scanner
– Newzik
– Soundslice
– PlayScore 2
– SmartScore 64
– ScanScore 3

Apps for Managing Files
– Files App
– Dropbox
– Google Drive
– Documents
– Evernote

Apps for Working with Scores:
– forScore
– unReal Book
– Newzik

Notes on forScore:
– forScore Mac App Review
– Creating indexes with forScore
– The fastest way to get music into forScore
– forScore Automation Links

My Book:

Digital Organization Tips for Music Teachers

Buy on Amazon | Buy on Oxford University Press

View the video trailer

🗒 MMEA Session Notes – Working With Digital Scores

Tomorrow I will be presenting at the Maryland Music Educators Association’s Fall Conference. The session I am presenting is all about Working with Digital Scores. I will be covering file management, scanning, and score reading software such as forScore. I am also going to be digging in to some of the new iPad productivity features that shipped with iOS 11 last month. If you are going to be at the conference, come say hi!

Here are the session notes for the session…

Click here to view the session notes in Evernote!

Working with Digital Scores Session Notes – Robby Burns – MMEA In Service, October 20, 2017

Apps for Scanning:

Apple Notes App

Apps for Managing Files:

Files App

Apps for Working with Scores:

Notes on forScore:

Link to my blog post on creating indexes with forScore

My Book:

Digital Organization Tips for Music Teachers

Buy on Amazon | Buy on Oxford University Press

View the video trailer

About Me:

Robby Burns

Twitter | Blog | Podcast | Email

🔗 Why every orchestra is going to scrap sheet music and go digital

Why every orchestra is going to scrap sheet music and go digital | David Taylor Music:

This summer, my orchestra took a risk. Yorkshire Young Sinfonia became the first youth orchestra in the world to become 100% digital, using iPads and an app called Newzik instead of sheet music.

Cool story. Interesting that they are using Newzik and not something like forScore. Newzik is a really cool alternative but I personally do not have a huge need for reading XML files on my iPad. Most of the scores I work with are scanned copies of original paper. There are a lot of cool things you can do with XML though, like resizing the music and having the entire layout of the score adjust itself to the size you prefer. Neat stuff.