Play Your Sheet Music

Table of Contents:

• When Using an iPhone
• Play Your Sheet Music
• Changing the Tempo
• Using the Audio Mixer
• Play Guitar Chords and Guitar Tabs
• Digital Music Book Audio Options
• No sound with playback?

When Using an iPhone

Please note: If you are using a device with a smaller screen - such as a smartphone - you may not see the options listed below. However, you will see a "+" or "Plus" button; tapping this button first will then show additional functions.

Play Your Sheet Music

To play a Musicnotes digital sheet music file, first open it in the viewer, then tap the "Play" button in the top toolbar. The audio data for the piece will load, the piece will zoom to the default zoom level, and the menu will switch into playback mode.

Once loading is complete (after the "rest" symbol has disappeared from your screen) the sheet music will play from the start of the current page to the end of the song while highlighting the notes in time with the audio.

While the song is playing you will see the playback toolbar on the top of your screen.

The song will remain in playback mode until you tap the back button located on the left side of the toolbar. You can tap this button at any time to stop playback and return to the main toolbar.

To stop playback tap on the "Stop" button. The song will remain in playback mode but allow you to switch pages. If you hit the "Play" button again, the song will begin to play from the start of the current page.

After playback begins, you can pause the song using the "Pause" button. You will not be able to switch pages while the song is paused. However the next time you hit the "Play" button, playback will resume right where you left off.

If you start playback mode while holding your device horizontally, the sheet music will scroll vertically as it plays to keep the currently playing music in view.

Please note: The playback system advances pages for you in order to keep the playing music in view. You will only be able to manually turn pages before tapping "Play," or after the music has been stopped.

Changing the Tempo

You may adjust the playback tempo of your sheet music using the "Tempo" button from within playback mode. You can change the tempo both during playback and while stopped.

To adjust the tempo, you may tap one of the pre-selected speeds (relative to the piece's default tempo), use the slider, or type a number into the BPM field. You can return to the default tempo at any time by using the "1x" button.

When you exit playback mode for your piece, the tempo you chose will be retained for the next time you open it (even if you sign out, close the app, or remove the song from your download list).

Using the Audio Mixer

Play Guitar Chords and Guitar Tabs

Please note: If the piece you are viewing contains Guitar Chords above the staff lines, the option to adjust them will be available in the Mixer unless you have set the "Play Chords" setting to "Never" on the app Settings Page.

For Guitar TAB pieces, you will see either the guitar notation track or the guitar TAB track in the mixer based on which is going to be audible when the music is played. (You may adjust this in the "Play Guitar Tab" setting on the Settings Page).

Digital Music Book Audio Options

Interactive Digital Music Books will have separate audio files that can be downloaded and played back individually. However, you can enable the Always Download Book Audio option in Settings to download all of the playback files and any supplemental tracks by default.

No sound with playback?

Please see: No sound in playback on iPad or iPhone