PlayScore 2 – Full Notation Music Recognition app. Play all kinds of music direct from an image.
Tip: Don’t use document scanning apps or tripod scanners with PlayScore. These degrade the image.
Welcome to PlayScore! If you have just downloaded PlayScore and have not purchased a subscription yet, you can still use the free app to
If you would like to create multi-page documents, play PDF scores or export MIDI or MusicXML you will need a subscription. See Subscriptions below.
To play music using the camera see Start a new score using the camera.
To play a PlayScore document someone has sent you see Playing a PlayScore document.
In PlayScore you work with PlayScore Documents. The thumbnails you see on the Documents screen each represent a PlayScore document. To play the music in a document just tap the thumbnail.
PlayScore comes with some example documents. You create a new document whenever you take a photo, or a series of photos, or open a PDF.
A PlayScore Document is a little like a PDF, except specialised for music. If you share a PlayScore Document with someone else, they will see exactly what you see, and hear the music just as you do.
Any version of PlayScore, on any device can play any Document. You don’t need a subscription to play documents. If you want to create new multi-page documents or create a PlayScore document for a PDF score you will need a subscription.
Document storage
Your PlayScore Documents are stored on your device only. Documents never leave your device unless you explicitly share them, and there is no central server. We never see your Documents and all processing takes place on your device.
You can always backup your documents using services like Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud. Just go to Export and share as Document.
Playback depends on a good photo. Tap 
on the camera screen for swipeable help on taking the best photo.
Start your score on the Documents screen. Tap the camera icon to take the first picture. PlayScore 2 will then switch to the Play screen and start playing
Adjust the slider at the bottom to change tempo
Swipe left to recapture (hard left to go straight to the camera)
Twist with two fingers if the page is the wrong way up
Tap the camera
to capture the next page (if you don’t have a subscription this just recaptures the first page)Tap the Cogwheel
to change dynamic range, handle transposing instruments and moreTap Done to go back to the Documents screen. You can return any time by tapping the document thumbnail
to capture the next page (if you don’t have a subscription this just recaptures the first page)NB if your score contains transposing instruments you will need to turn on the Auto transpose feature. Tap the cogwheel and then tap Auto transposition.
Most music is portrait shaped, but PlayScore 2 works just as well in landscape if the music is wide.
After the first, keep tapping the camera to add pages.
Tap the camera on the play screen. Don’t return to the documents screen because that will start a new document.
Every time you take a picture, PlayScore plays the new page on its own so you can judge whether to recapture. Note that for this initial play-through PlayScore ignors repeat signs.
Scroll to any page and swipe left to delete or recapture
Tap the Rearrange
button top right to move pages around. Drag pages left or right to change their position, or swipe up to deleteTap the Import symbol
to add a saved photo or an imageTap Done to go back to the Documents screen
Tip: the better the picture the better the result – See Camera help.
PlayScore documents are the thumbnails you see when you first open PlayScore. If you tap on one you will see the music and you will be able to play it. You can create your own documents and receive documents from others.
PlayScore can play any kind of music, but Choirs often use PlayScore documents to help the singers learn their vocal parts. If you have been sent a PlayScore document it will usually come as an email attachment. If so, and you have downloaded PlayScore, simply tap on the attachment and choose PlayScore from the app list.
If you have received the document in another way, via iCloud or Dropbox for example, simply tap the import symbol 
in PlayScore and navigate to the document.
If you would like to export your own PlayScore documents, open the document you would like to export and choose the export symbol .
PlayScore 2 has two main screens. The Documents Screen is PlayScore home. The app starts in the Documents screen. When you tap a document or when you have taken a picture, PlayScore 2 shows the Play screen. The Play screen is where you play and interact with the music. The screens are described separately below.
This is where you interact with your document. You go to the Play screen from the Documents screen when you
Tap a document thumbnail
Tap the camera
and take a photoImport a PDF, an image or a saved PlayScore 2 document
On the Play screen:
To play tap the Play
button or tap on a measure. You can double tap to start and stop play as in YouTubeTo change tempo adjust the slider along the bottom
To create a loop tap and hold, then drag
To change staff volume, instrument and transposition, tap the Staves button lower left
To have PlayScore 2 count one or more measures before play tap the icon
at the bottom, 2nd from the right.
button or tap on a measure. You can double tap to start and stop play as in YouTubeFor photos and images:
For PDF scores see PDF page ranges.
Tap to see what all the controls do.
The Documents screen is PlayScore 2 home. All the playable scores you have created are here, and you come back to the Documents screen after you tap Done from the Play screen. Just like Photos, you can zoom in and out to see more or fewer score icons on at a time. Each thumbnail shows information like the Name and Composer you set from the Play screen.
- Tap a document thumbnail to play and interact with a score
- Tap the camera to start a new score
- Tap the import icon to open a PDF, image or a PlayScore document
- Tap Select then one or more documents to share or delete
to open a PDF, image or a PlayScore documentYou can choose how your scores are sorted: By Title, Composer or by recency. The search box lets you see just those scores matching the text you type in under Title or Composer.
Each document icon shows a small coloured dot indicating the status of your score. Green means the score has been built and is ready to play, export etc. Red means there is an issue. Tap to go to the Play screen Control Panel to see what the problem is (see Troubleshooting below).
The tempo control is the slider near the bottom of the Play screen.
Tip: To see what any control does tap the ‘?’ button
[NB use the icon rather than the text ?]
If you need to set the tempo to an exact metronome mark it helps to switch to landscape orientation for a moment. You can also roll your finger on the knob for fine adjustment.
Playback depends on the picture you take. If it doesn’t play well the reason is usually the picture
The picture should look clean and square on the page. The sides and the measure lines should look vertical. The top and the bottom should be the same width.
When you first use the camera, tap the ? button to see some swipeable help illustrations on the camera screen.
Things to avoid
PlayScore 2 does not read handwritten music or music printed to look handwritten. These scores or parts of them have a felt-tipped-pen look with thick clefs and accidentals. RealBooks are in this style.
Old-style hand-held hymnbooks do not scan well. There are a large number of hymns available free online in a normal font. We recommend using these instead.
Screens do not photograph well. Sometimes this works, but PlayScore 2 is designed for paper music, scans in high resolution or PDF scores.
To process a PDF score you need a Professional subscription to PlayScore 2. Please tap the Store button to see options for your country.
You can create playable PlayScore 2 documents from saved photos and images just as you can for photos.
To navigate to a saved image tap the import symbol and navigate to your image.
On iOS devices, if the scanned images are in your photos, go to the camera screen as if you were taking a picture, but instead of tapping the capture button, tap Photos. If your scanned images are elsewhere, eg iCloud then tap the import symbol .
Whether photos or saved images you can use all the features described in The play screen. Especially useful are
To recapture a page or delete it, swipe the page left or right
To rotate a page twist with two fingers
To rearrange pages tap
upper right
Please note: PlayScore 2 needs a high resolution JPG image. Images smaller than about 1.5M may give poor results.
Scanned images should be at 300 DPI.
If your document was created using the camera or from image files, tap the icon top right 
to rearrange or delete individual pages. You will see a row of thumbnails representing the pages in your document.
There is an undo button for mistakes, but once you tap Done deleted images are permanently discarded.
To access PDF scores you need a Professional subscription to PlayScore 2. Please tap the Store button to see options for your country.
Any good quality high resolution PDF score should play well. Most published PDF scores are of good quality. There is also an enormous number of printed/engraved music available free online, on sites like IMSLP. Not all of this music is well enough scanned, but most is. It is well worth selecting the best out of those available.
To open a PDF score on an iOS device:
To open a PDF score on an Android device:
When the PDF has opened, PlayScore 2 shows a row of page thumbnails. Tap Done to go ahead and play up to 11 pages; PlayScore 2 will just ignore title and contents pages. If it’s a long document with many pages you can select a range.
NB if your score contains transposing instruments you will need to turn on the Auto transpose feature. Tap the cogwheel 
and tap Auto transposition.
If PlayScore 2 has trouble playing your PDF it may be out of focus, poorly scanned or low resolution. If it came from IMSLP there are often several alternatives. If there are some mistakes or the score is dense, try adjusting Sampling on the Document settings (tap the cogwheel 
). The best setting depends on the individual score and can be found with a little trial and error. If the score is faint and the individual staves of a system are being played separately rather than as one, try moving the Image slider to the left.
When you first create a PlayScore document from a PDF score (see Creating a playable PDF) you have the option to select the range of pages you want to play. By default PlayScore chooses the first 10 but you can choose any range you wish.
If you want to alter that range later on, for example to play a different song in a songbook), tap the icon top right 
. This shows the row of page thumbnails you saw when you first created the document.
Tip: The document always contains all the pages in the PDF. This screen merely lets you select the ones you want at the moment. You can always change this, and of course you can create as many documents as you like from a single PDF, for example to play different songs in a songbook.
Metronome
To hear on the metronome tap the 
icon lower left on the Play screen and turn on the Tick button. The volume control underneath lets you adjust the tick volume relative to the music. The sound the metronome makes depends on the current time signature, with strong beats emphasized over weak.
Count-in
If you are using PlayScore 2 as an accompanist, you may not want the app to start playing until you are ready. This is the purpose of the Count-in feature. Count-in will tap out one or more measures before the music starts, giving you time to pick up your instrument.
Tap the Count-in icon 2nd from left at the bottom. Tap+/- to set the number of measures to be counted. If the music has a pick-up bar or anacrusis, Count-in will also tap the beats prior to the first notated beat.
While one or more measures of Count-in are set they will be played before the music starts wherever you tap in a score.
PlayScore 2 allows you to adjust the volume of each part in the music independently, and assign a different instrument to each staff.
Play-My-Part
Whatever part you sing or play, PlayScore 2 can play just that part on its own, or standing out from the others.
Music with one part per staff
From the Documents screen, open your score by tapping on the thumbnail
Tap the Staves
button iOS lower left, Android top, 4th from the rightSet the volume for each staff as you want it. The staff controls are arranged top to bottom as in the music. If you want a part to stand out but still hear the others, consider giving it an instrument such as clarinet
Music with two parts per staff
Some multi-part vocal music is written with two parts to each staff. This is common in barbershop quartets but can also be true of hymns and in musical theatre.
PlayScore 2 can separate parts when written 2-to-a-staff, whether they are printed stem-up/stem-down, or 2-heads-to-a-stem. For example if the soprano and alto parts are printed on the same staff, PlayScore 2 gives you one volume control for soprano and another for alto.
From the Documents screen, open your score by tapping on the thumbnail
Tap the cogwheel
and turn on the Split staves setting (then close the Document settings by tapping the cogwheel again).Tap the Staves
button lower leftSet the volume for each part as you want it
Tap Done to return to the Play screen
Count-in – If you need a little time to pick up your instrument, tap the icon 2nd from the left at the bottom and select a number of Count-in measures
Lyrics and text is turned off by default
PlayScore can recognise text such as
For all these features PlayScore needs Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the ability to read words and numbers. When you first install PlayScore OCR is turned off. To turn OCR on, tap the cogwheel and enable Lyrics and text.
Lyrics and text is a subscription-only feature
Auto-transpose is turned off by default
If your score contains a mixture of transposing instruments, or a mixture of transposing instruments and non-transposing you should turn on Auto-transpose in Settings
A Music-minus-one score is a PlayScore 2 Playable Score with one part (usually the solo part) muted. Music-minus-one lets you practice your solo part to an accompaniment.
Tap the Staves icon
bottom leftLocate the staff with your part and move the volume slider fully to the left
Tap Done
Instruments – you can enhance your score to use instruments (see Instruments and orchestration)
If your score has transposing instruments mixed with non-transposing instruments, don’t forget to turn on Auto-transpose in settings(see Transposing instruments)
Count-in – If you need a little time to pick up your instrument, tap the icon 2nd from the left at the bottom and select a number of Count-in measures.
With PlayScore all processing and storage takes place on your device alone. Your documents are stored on your device only and are never sent anywhere unless you explicitly share them. There is no central server where documents are stored and no information from your device is ever shared with us.
This is good for speed, for copyright protection and for privacy, but it does mean that PlayScore does not sync your documents over multiple devices. It also means that if you uninstall PlayScore or reset your device to factory settings your PlayScore documents will be lost.
Most documents can easily be recreated from the original PDF or paper music. But if you want to keep a backup you can use any storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud.
Backing up Documents
You can do this individually or in bulk from the Documents screen. First tap Select, and then tap in turn the documents you want to store. Now tap the Export symbol and choose to share As Document. From there you can choose any installed storage service.
When you share a PlayScore 2 Playable Score Document you are sharing the whole PlayScore 2 experience. Anyone who receives your document will be able to play it and follow the music just as you do. This is free; they don’t need a subscription. They will be able to start from any measure, change tempo, create loops and more.
From the Documents screen, tap Select and then one or more document thumbnails (for Android devices, long-tap the document)
Tap the share/export icon
Send the document, eg by email
When someone receives your document, as long as they have an iPhone, iPad, a mac (with the M1 chip or above), a Windows 11 PC or Android device they will be able to play it. To do this they must first have downloaded PlayScore 2 from the app store for their device. This is free; they don’t need a subscription. If the document comes in an email they just tap on the attachment and choose Send to PlayScore 2. On a Windows PC the recipient should save the attachment somewhere and use the right-click command Send to PlayScore 2.
Locking
Sometimes it is useful to prevent the recipient from accidentally changing the Document. Say you are a choir leader and you want to send Play-my-part voice separations to your singers. You might want to lock the Document so it can’t be changed unintentionally. A locked document can be played but not altered. To lock a document just tap the padlock symbol 
top right before export. Note that if the recipient does not have a subscription they will receive the document locked but still playable by default.
PlayScore will observe normal repeats written into your music, but sometimes it is useful to repeat other sections. You might want to do this to help you practice a passage on your instrument by playing it over many times, with PlayScore playing the accompaniment. PlayScore loops make this common practicing technique easy.
Short loops
To set up a loop covering any of the music you can see on the screen:
1) tap and hold on the opening measure until green brackets appear
2) while still holding, drag to the closing measure
Extended loops (iOS only)
Extended loops let you repeat a whole verse, a song or even a full movement. To set up a long loop you simply set up a short loop and then extend it:
1) tap on the opening measure and hold until the green brackets appear (a single measure loop will start)
2) scroll down to the closing measure and long-tap until you see the green bracket.
That’s it. You can extend or contract a loop by long-tapping a measure outside or inside the loop, or by long-tapping and dragging.
Clearing a loop
To remove a loop just tap somewhere outside.
Metronome and count-in works with loops. You can set up metronome/count-in beforehand, or while a loop is paused.
PlayScore supports standard percussion/drum notation on a normal 5-line staff using the percussion (neutral) clef.
Clefs other than the percussion clef play in the piano sound by default but percussion staves always play as percussion. PlayScore uses standard conventions for assigning individual percussion instruments to specific staff lines and spaces. For example, notes on the second space from the top play as snare drum.
Volume
Percussion staff volume works slightly differently than other staves. On the staves screen (button lower left) , the volume for all percussion staves is adjusted using a single control at the bottom of the screen. Even if the music has several percussion parts there is only a single control for them all. This limitation arises from the way percussion is handled by the MIDI standard.
Percussion notation will be reflected in an exported MusicXML file with standard instrument assignments.
For this feature Lyrics and text in settings must be turned on
PlayScore supports D.C. (da capo), D.S. (dal segno), fine, 
(segno) and 
(coda) symbols. These are especially common in songs, but appear in other music too. If Lyrics and text is turned on in settings , these directions will be observed during playback. And exported as MusicXML.
On iOS devices, PlayScore 2 can recognise multi-measure rests. To enable this feature tap the cogwheel and then Lyrics and Text.
NB We do not recommend MIDI files for practice tracks sent to others. MIDI will work, but PlayScore provides a better way. If you use this PlayScore feature recipients will see the music and follow along just as you do. This feature is free for the recipient. Please see Preparing practice scores for a choir or ensemble, or watch this video.
Creating MIDI files
In PlayScore you can export a MIDI file to play on any mobile or desktop device and sound as the music did in PlayScore 2.
Whatever adjustments you make to the music: voice volume, transpositions, instruments, tempo, repeats and so on are reflected in the exported MIDI file. However, note that MIDI is not the same as a recording. MIDI is a standard for controlling (electronic) musical instruments. When a MIDI file is played on another device it plays using the instrument sounds on that device. This means that the sound of the instruments will probably be somewhat different.
To share a MIDI file, open the document and from the Play screen, tap the export icon 
and choose Save as MIDI.
MIDI as music notation
We don’t recommend that you use MIDI to export music to a score editor such as MuseScore, Sibelius, Noteflight or Dorico. Use MusicXML instead. MusicXML contains much more of the printed music than MIDI does. Only through MusicXML export will you get the full richness of the original notation.
MusicXML is the standard format for exporting music notation. MusicXML is better than MIDI for most purposes. If you have been used to using MIDI files in the past consider MusicXML. Always use MusicXML to open scores in notation programs such as Dorico, MuseScore and Sibelius. If supported use MusicXML in DAW software also.
To share a MusicXML file, open the document and from the Play screen, tap the export icon and choose Save as MusicXML.
To include text as well as music in the MusicXML turn on Lyrics, text and D.S./D.C in settings . You need this option also for D.S./D.C., and for multi-measure rests also.
For practice tracks see Preparing practice scores for a choir or ensemble.
PlayScore 2 is designed to allow the musical director of a choir or ensemble to create practice resources for singers and players. Play-My-Part and Music-minus-one arrangements can be shared with others free. The director needs a subscription to make the practice scores, but the singers/players can play and interact with them free.
Once you have scanned the music, save it as a PlayScore document to iCloud, Google drive or Dropbox and import it back into PlayScore 2 once for each part. Add part names to the title as you go. That gives you one document for each voice
Adjust part volumes for each voice-document as appropriate (see Play-My-Part)
Lock each document (tap lock symbol) and email them to the musicians: Tap Select, and then tap the document (long-tap on Android devices). Then tap the export icon
and choose Save/Share Document. When you see the sharing screen select email and send
Your ensemble members should first download PlayScore 2 on their iOS, Android or Windows device. They won’t have to pay. When they get your email they tap on the attachment and choose Copy to PlayScore 2. They will then be able to interact with the music just as you did.
The group members you send the document to will be able to change tempo, use the count-in and metronome, and create loops. But if they are using the free app they won’t be able to change relative part volumes, transposition or instruments that you set for them.
The PlayScore 2 Documents screen shows all your playable scores as thumbnails of the music, displayed sorted and searchable by Title and Composer.
To make it easier to search and sort, use both the Title and Composer fields. You can set these from the Play screen. To see the Composer field, pull down the slider under the Title, or tap the cogwheel .
In the Documents screen you can keep your documents sorted by Title, by Composer or by recency. To display only matching documents, type in the search box.
PlayScore 2 does not sync the documents screen between devices, but you can archive to bulk to storage (eg iCloud). From the Documents screen tap Select. Now tap all the documents you want to copy and tap the export icon. This action does not remove the documents from the Documents screen. Documents can be deleted separately by selecting and tapping the trash 
.
To add annotations to a score tap the icon half way down the right edge of the music on the Play screen 
. The icon opens out to show the annotation tools.
 | Open or close the annotation toolbar |
 | Line colors and thicknesses |
 | Erase |
 | Undo/Redo annotation |
Removing the Annotation icon
The Annotation icon only shows on unlocked documents. I you’d rather not see the icon tap the padlock upper right.
The padlock at the top right of the Play screen shows the locked status of the document. A locked document cannot be altered. When you are happy with a document, lock it to prevent accidental changes.
This works like Photos. On iOS devices tap Select and tap the document(s) to be deleted. Then tap the bin . On Android, long-tap the document icon and then DELETE upper right.
You can delete several documents by deleting multiple documents.
PlayScore does not support guitar tab. Tab music will not play at all in PlayScore, however some music contains music notation and tab combined. This hybrid music consists of a staff of notation joined to a staff of tablature, usually printed underneath. This music may play but only poorly, as the tab interferes with PlayScore music parser.
However the app will often play this kind of score if the tab part is covered up using PlayScore masking feature. To do this draw a mask over each tab staff, being careful not to cover up any of the music. We don’t guarantee this but in practice it often works.
Use Play and MIDI settings to control how the music sounds in playback. The changes you make on the Play and MIDI settings screen also control how an exported MIDI file sounds when you play it using a MIDI player.
NB Staff settings affect only playback and MIDI. They have no effect on MusicXML exports. To change how MusicXML sounds when exported to a notation editor like Dorico, MuseScore or Sibelius, adjust the settings there.
On Play and MIDI settings, you will find a group of controls for each staff. The number of groups depends on the number of staves in the music.
Normally there will be one group of controls per staff. However if you have turned on Split-staffs in Document settings, two volume controls will be shown for each staff. To learn more about this see Play-my-part.
Instruments – Choose from one of 23 instruments.
Volume – Adjust volume for that staff. You can mute a staff by moving the control all the way to the left.
Transposition – Using he [+] and [-] buttons you can change the pitch through two octaves in either direction.
Tip: Don’t use these transposition controls to accommodate a transposing instrument playing with other instruments. To accommodate transposing instruments turn on Auto transposition under Document settings.
The only time you should set a transposition on the Play and MIDI settings screen for a transposing instrument is where
- The music is single-staff, that is just your part on its own without accompaniment
- You want to transpose a whole setting, for example to accommodate your vocal range
Pitch – The section marked Pitch at the bottom of the screen allows you to make fine pitch adjustments. For details see Fine pitch control.
Percussion and drums: If the music has one of more 5-line staves with the percussion clef (also known as the drum clef or the neutral clef), an additional volume control for percussion will be shown at the bottom of the Play and MIDI settings screen.
PlayScore normally plays music at the standard pitch of 440 Hz for the note A4. However it is sometimes necessary to change the pitch, for example:
- So that PlayScore can play with an instrument tuned to a pitch other than A=440
- To play at lower pitches often used in early music
PlayScore can adjust the pitch by about a tone in either direction from A=440. On the Staves screen [add icon] the pitch control is located at the bottom. The current pitch is shown. To change it, tap the Custom button.
You can select from the three most common pitches used in music, or set the slider to any pitch between 380 and 466 Hz.
Document settings contains options and settings applying to a score. At the top of the Play screen, tap the cogwheel or pull down the horizontal bar just below the song title.
Title – you can type a title for your song here. If it is a PDF, the name of the PDF will appear here by default
Composer – if you add a name here you will be able to search by composer in the Documents screen
Status – this tells you the processing status of your score. If it indicates that there is a problem, try tapping the rescan button
Rescan – to the right of the Status is a circular recycle icon. This rotates to show when scanning is in progress. You can rescan the music at any time by tapping this icon
Dynamic range – this tells PlayScore 2 how much to vary the volume according to markings like f, p, crescendos, diminuendos, accents etc. If you slide it to the right you will hear the full dynamic range in the music. All the way to the left causes the music to be played without dynamics
Play repeats – this tells PlayScore 2 to observe repeat markings in the music. NB when you capture a page of music with the camera, PlayScore 2 plays the page through once so you can check the photo. This initial play-through plays without repeats. If the photo wasn’t perfect you can swipe left to recapture.
Note that this does not affect MusicXML export which always reflects any repeats
Auto transposition – turn this on to set transpositions appropriately for transposing instruments in mixed-instrument scores. For example, if your piece is for clarinet and piano, and the clarinet is in Bb, auto-transposition will make the clarinet part play at the pitch a clarinet would have done. See Transposing instruments and transposition for more information
Split staves – turn this on if you want to separate parts printed two to a staff. It allows you to set the volume for upstem and downstem parts separately
Swing/inégales – turn this on if you would like to hear the music in swing style, or French baroque inégales.
This video shows the use of the Swing feature with French baroque music in inégales style.
Jazz fonts (beta) – Some modern scores use music fonts designed to look handwritten. These fonts are called Jazz fonts and have not traditionally been supported by music scanners. The Jazz font feature aims to improve results for these scores.
Jazz fonts is a beta feature which means that it is still in development. Please let us know if you have found it helpful, or if you haven’t, and please send us any problem score.
Varying bar lengths (iOS and Windows only) – Most music begins with a time signature setting the time for the music. After the time signature all the measures have the same length until the time signature changes. Certain kinds of score have measures which vary in length. This is known as polymetric music and can be found in some church music, as well as elsewhere.
Lyrics and Text, D.S./D.C. – This setting causes PlayScore to recognise text as well as music. Text is needed mostly in the context of MusicXML export:
- Song lyrics
- Other text such as instrument names
- Directions such as Allegro, or con espressivo.
- Chord names such as Am or G7
Lyrics and Text, D.S./D.C. is also needed if you want the following to be acted on in playback:
- D.S., D.C., Fine, and symbols such as and
- Multi-measure rests
- Scores such as vocal scores in compressed format. Compressed scores are scores that miss out voices or instruments that aren’t playing for a while. For example if the altos are silent for a few bars the score might not show their staff. It will reappear once they come back.
For PlayScore to keep track and join up the right staves it helps if it can read the instrument names.
Bar numbers – bar numbers are added to the score at the beginning of each system. Bar numbers are counted from the first bar of the music in the document.
MusicXML page layout – normally when you export music using MusicXML to notation editors such as MuseScore and Dorico the music will be laid out as the notation program decides is appropriate for the page size and other settings. This is similar to the way an editor renders text: it reflows to fit the page. However if you want the layout to follow system and page breaks in the original music then set MusicXML page layout.
Pedal scroll – this allows you do set up an 
page turning Pedal. To use AIRTURN you will first need to connect using Bluetooth. For more information, see the instructions that came with your AIRTURN pedal.
In PlayScore 2 you can set the instrument for each staff independently. Try out new orchestrations and see how your music sounds with different combinations of instruments.
In PlayScore 2, instrument selection affects the sound only. If you choose the horn for example you will hear the notes on that staff as a horn. If a real horn player were to read the same notes the music would come out transposed – because the horn is a transposing instrument. But in PlayScore 2, instrument selection affects sound only. PlayScore 2 also has extensive facilities for accommodating transposing instruments which is discussed below.
From the Play screen tap the Staves icon
lower leftIn the section for each staff, pick an instrument
Tap Done
You might find you have to adjust the volume sliders for different combinations of instruments to make the sounds blend, or to make a solo part stand out.
You might need to use PlayScore’s transposition for several reasons:
These situations are all different:
The score has transposing instruments (with different key signatures)
Normally PlayScore 2 assumes that all staves have the same key signature. This assumption helps PlayScore 2 read poor quality scores, but it doesn’t work when there are transposing instruments. To handle transposing instruments correctly.
From the Play screen tap the cogwheel
In the Document settings, set the Auto transposition switch to on
Also (optionally) in the Document settings turn on Lyrics and text *
PlayScore 2 will reprocess the music.
* Lyrics and text is only necessary when PlayScore needs to read text to the left of the staff naming the instrument and possibly its key, see below.
Solo parts
If you are using PlayScore to hear your part (single-staff music showing just your part), then you should set the transposition directly. Go to the Play and MIDI settings screen 
and set a transposition using the +/- controls. For example if you play the B flat clarinet, set the transposition to -2.
Making music sound higher or lower
Suppose you want to make the music play in a different key:
To play a piano accompaniment intended for the violin work with a transposing instrument such as the clarinet
So that it will suit your voice better
From the Play screen tap the Staves button
lower leftUse the Transpose controls to move ALL the staffs up or down by the same amount
Tap Done
As an example, suppose you have a song with piano accompaniment but you want PlayScore 2 to accompany you on your Bb clarinet. Because every note on the Bb clarinet sounds a tone lower than written, you should transpose the music down by two semitones. Then the piano, played by PlayScore 2 will accompany your clarinet in the same key. Note that the music still looks the same. PlayScore 2 just plays a tone lower to match your Bb clarinet. (in this example you would also need to mute the voice part so the PlayScore 2 plays just the accompaniment)
Changing the written key
This is different from the example above. In this case the aim is to transpose the notation for the music, for a human to play. The best way to do this is to export the music as it stands as MusicXML, and use SeeScore or a notation editor like MuseScore or Dorico to transpose the music. One advantage of using SeeScore is that you can do everything on your mobile device.
Use PlayScore 2 to scan the music or import a PDF
From the Play screen tap the share icon
and choose Save as MusicXMLOpen the MusicXML file in SeeScore or your favourite notation editor
Use the notation program’s transposition function to change the key as desired
Setting transpositions from the printed instrument names
To do this turn on Lyrics and text under the cogwheel as described above.
Most scores have the names of the instruments, and any transposition written to the left of their staves. PlayScore can use this information to:
PlayScore also uses instrument names to help match up staves between systems written in compact format (where instruments sometimes drop out for a while)
Transposing brass
In traditional classical scores and some others, certain instruments are written without a key signature. Horns for example prefer music where key accidentals are written as they arise, rather than in a key signature. To set the correct transposition for these instruments (e.g. horns and trumpets), PlayScore must read the text to the left of the staff giving the instrument’s key, for example Horns in F.
To do this turn on Lyrics and text under the cogwheel as described above.
Guitar and other instruments that transpose at the octave
Some instruments (eg piccolo) transpose at the octave. A piccolo, seeing a notated middle C plays the C one octave above. In the case of the guitar the transposition is the other way. A written middle C played on a guitar sounds one octave lower.
So that PlayScore can observe these octave transpositions be sure to turn on Lyrics and text under the cogwheel. Your score will then play and export correctly.
If your music does not have the names of the instruments printed, or you don’t turn on Lyrics and text, you can set octave transpositions manually from the Staves screen. In this case, if you export the score to a music editor such as MuseScore or Dorico you will also need to set the transpositions in the music editor.
With Lyrics and text turned on, everything is automatic.
NB: The instrument dropdowns on the Staves screen let you set the instrument used as the sound for each staff. These are simply for setting the sound used. They do not imply any transposition. This lets you try out different sounds without changing the the pitch.
Masking allows you to cover up portions of a page and make them invisible to PlayScore 2. For example, if a song in a songbook ends half way down the page and you don’t want the beginning of the next song to play you can mask it off.
Another use for masking is to hide any part of a page that is preventing correct recognition. For example, some vocal scores begin with an indication of the voice part ranges. If this causes a playback problem just mask it off.
Tap the masking icon
on the left of the group of icons top right of the Play screenDrag the sliding upper and lower borders to mask off parts of the page
On Android devices – Tap the plus (+) button to create rectangular masks which can be sized and moved over any part of the page
On Apple devices – Drag your finger or Apple Pencil to draw a rectangle. This becomes a mask. You can move the rectangle around or expand and contract in either direction by dragging the corners.
on the left of the group of icons top right of the Play screenPlayScore 2 can separate parts in a score and play them at independently adjustable volumes, but it cannot generate separate notation for those parts that you can print or export. However our companion product SeeScore 2 can do this using the MusicXML exported from PlayScore 2. If you have a score but no parts, PlayScore 2 and SeeScore working together can generate them. SeeScore is an iPad ‘sheet music reader’ app, but because it understands MusicXML it combines some of the features of a notation editor:
If you have the SeeScore app you will see Copy to SeeScore as an option when you share a MusicXML file. SeeScore can create a fresh score from your scanned music as well as parts, and you can use devices to turn the pages.
Find SeeScore in the App Store.
Sometimes the best results are obtained by scanning music using a hardware document scanner. A scanner is usually better than the best camera, and it can be easier to get a good square image with even lighting.
You can create a multi-page PlayScore 2 document from scanned pages just as you can with other images and photos. If the scanned images are in your photos, go to the camera screen as if you were taking a picture, but instead of tapping the capture button, tap Photos instead. If your scanned images are elsewhere, eg iCloud then tap the import symbol.
When scanning with a desktop scanner always use 300DPI for music. Lower than 300 can lose detail, but higher will not improve results, just take longer.
Results are usually best with color or greyscale images. Use a medium brightness setting and avoid results that are very black of very light. Monochrome images will also work.
NB never use a scanner app with PlayScore 2. Images from scanner apps may look good but in fact vital information from the music is lost. PlayScore 2 has its own image processing internally and this is specifically designed for music.
PlayScore is regularly updated, and most updates include improvements to the app’s Optical Recognition engine.
When PlayScore updates itself, it does not normally reprocess your existing scores. That means you will only see improvements in documents you create after the update, not in those created before.
Mobile:
You can easily reprocess an existing document. Just open the document and tap the recycle symbol 
. After that, playback will reflect the latest updates.
Playback or export gives poor results
In many cases the two Document settings image adjustments can greatly improve poor results. These are easy to try. See Adjustments for poor images.
If results are poor, the problem us usually something to do with the image.
Poor recognition
This can be due to poor image quality, or it could be that you have one of the unsupported types of score. These are
handwritten music, or music printed in a novelty font designed to look handwritten. Some jazz fonts fall into this category, for example Real Books.
some small or old fashioned hymn books – old hymn books are sometimes printed in a way not seen in other music. These can scan poorly.
PlayScore does not support guitar tab. For music where a tab staff is printed under a music notation staff see the help on Guitar tab.
Processing fails
If there was a problem scanning a score, the score icon on the Documents screen will show an exclamation mark. Tap the document to go to the Play screen and see what’s wrong. Usually there will be a bubble indicating the problem. Problems are normally on a specific page. You can tell which page it is by looking for one showing an exclamation mark. If there is no exclamation mark, you can narrow down the problem page by selecting to process small groups of pages in turn. To do this tap the icon upper left – See Creating a playable PDF.
In case of scanning problems the Status tap the cogwheel will show more information.
If the problem is in a photographed score, the first thing to try is to recapture the page and rescan (tap the refresh symbol). If this doesn’t work, or the score is a PDF or from scanned images, try eliminating the page and rescan. Alternatively a different setting for the PDF Processing slider may correct the problem. Once localised to a particular page you can use masking to narrow the problem down even further to the measure, allowing the page to play.
You can always rescan at any time by tapping the rescan icon in the Document settings.
Ask us
We are very good at solving PlayScore 2 problems. Most of the time we fix the problem.
Please feel free to send us any score that doesn’t give good results (support@organumconsulting.com). We can often fix the problem or offer help.
The MIDI and MusicXML files generated by PlayScore 2 are for noncommercial use only. If you would like to make commercial use of PlayScore 2 files please contact us at support@organumconsulting.com.
SeeScore 2 is the perfect companion to PlayScore 2, and from the same makers. SeeScore is an iPhone/iPad ‘sheet music reader’ app, but because it understands MusicXML it combines some of the features of a notation editor:
If you have the SeeScore app you will see Copy to SeeScore as an option when you share a MusicXML file. SeeScore can create a fresh score from your scanned music; it can even create parts, and you can use devices to turn the pages.
Find SeeScore in the App Store.
The popular IMSLP site https://imslp.org offers a huge repository of public domain scores for free download. If you are looking for 18th, 19th or 20th century out of copyright music, try IMSLP.
Many of IMSLP’s scores will play well in PlayScore 2, and in many cases, there are several alternatives to choose from. If so, try them and find the one that plays best.
PlayScore 2 recognises the following. It observes all symbols when playing back the score and when exporting to MIDI MusicXML. PlayScore 2 for Apple devices also recognises lyrics, text and (normally) guitar chords. PlayScore 2 for Android does not currently support text other than dynamics and fingering.
We love to hear from PlayScore 2 users. And we are very good at troubleshooting problems. So if you have an issue, or you just want to ask something please send us an email to support@organumconsulting.com. We usually reply the same day.
If it’s about a particular piece, please attach the PlayScore 2 Document. Go to the Documents screen and
iOS: tap Select, then tap your document
Android: long-tap the document
Now the export icon . The document contains PDF, photos and settings.
PlayScore 2 and PlayScore 2 documents do not collect any personal data. The only way we know about you is if you send us an email.
PlayScore understands most types of score published within the last 150 years, and we are constantly widening PlayScore’s coverage. Types currently not supported are:
A wide range of music no longer in copyright is available for free download online. Most of this is available as PDF scores, and is easy to open and play in PlayScore. Music composed recently and therefore subject to copyright is not generally available free.
A huge range of out-of-copyright chamber, orchestral and choral music can be found at:
IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download
Barbershop music can be found at:
Hymns are available at many sites, including these:
Free Sacred Sheet Music | 6000+ Free Arrangements
Center for Church Music – Songs and Hymns
The Open Hymnal Project – Freely Distributable Christian Hymnody for Today’s World
If your score is not playing well, one of these adjustments can often fix the problem.
Error correction – this is an auto-correction feature that can spot mistakes in a score or or recognition errors. In most music it works well, but in some music where there are false relations (notes played together on the same degree of the scale but with a different accidentals) Error correction may try to ‘correct’ these. If this happens, turn the setting off.
Sampling/PDF process quality (PDF scores only) this allows you to alter how the music is processed. Essentially this setting determines how densely the image is sampled. Some scores translate better at a lower or a higher setting and it is worth trying different settings for best results. For poor quality scores it is sometimes possible to find a ‘sweet spot’ where the music sounds best. For dense scores containing many staves results may be better at the + end of the scale.
Image this control can be used to compensate when an image or parts of it are very faint, or very black. The dark end of the scale(left) makes the image darker, the right lighter.
PlayScore 2 automatically adjusts to compensate for a wide range of image exposure, even when there are shadows. But in extreme cases this control can be helpful.
faint scores – scores produced by certain early music editors can have staff lines that are very faint compared to other objects. Other types of score have stems and lines so thin that render faint in the PDF. For faint scores generally try moving the slider left towards the dark end.
dark scores – where a score has an over-exposed look with thick lines and symbols merging into one another, try moving the slider to the right.
Subscriptions
PlayScore subscriptions are sold separately by Google, Apple and Microsoft. Each subscription applies to one platform only (Android, iOS and Windows) as these companies do not recognise each others’ subscriptions.
However, any PlayScore document you create with a subscription can be played on any device using the free PlayScore download. Without a subscription you won’t be able to create new documents, but you will be able to play any PlayScore document, adjust tempo, create loops and use the count-in/metronome.
For example you can have a subscription on your phone or tablet where you create new documents. Then you can email those documents to your Windows computer where you can play the music taking advantage of better audio and a bigger screen. You won’t need a subscription on the Windows PC as the free PlayScore download will always play any document, created by you or by anyone else
PlayScore documents are completely portable between devices. Any document can be opened on any platform, with or without a subscription. But note that the documents you see on the Documents screen on iOS and Android, or under Windows are not synced between devices. There is no central place your documents are held, and no central server. Your documents live on the device where they were created or where they were imported. You can always export your documents or email them to yourself on another device but this does not happen automatically.
PlayScore is sold by
To manage or cancel a subscription, go to the store for your platform. You can reach the correct store through the Store button in the PlayScore mobile app. Alternatively, you can go straight to the store from the App Store or Google Play app on your device. On Windows, you can reach your account by clicking on the Start button. In the window that follows you should see your profile picture. Click the picture and then choose My Microsoft account. On the page that follows. click Subscriptions.
Refunds
With a PlayScore 2 Productivity subscription you can:
With a PlayScore 2 Professional subscription you can:
Payments will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase.
The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period.
Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and show the cost of the renewal.
You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings on-line after purchase.
To cancel a subscription tap the store button in PlayScore 2 and choose ‘Manage subscriptions’.
PlayScore 2 is created in partnership by Organum Ltd and Dolphin Computing.