SuperScore: FAQs

SuperScore Music is a free app for the iPad. Click or tap here to it from the iOS App Store.

SuperScore Music is a free app for the iPad. Click or tap here to it from the iOS App Store.

At the present time, SuperScore is only available for iPad. Click or tap here to it from the iOS App Store.

SuperScore music is currently available as an in-app purchase. Just start up SuperScore on your iPad and then tap the Shopping Cart icon. This will take you to the in-app Store where you can purchase the various SuperScore products that are showcased on this website.

If you are a composer or arranger who is working with a publisher, please ask your publisher to contact us. We welcome new content from publishers.

If you are a self-published composer or arranger, please contact us directly to discuss your aspirations.

If you are a general user of SuperScore, you can import your compositions into SuperScore as PDF files. (Be sure to purchase the PDF import feature.) As mentioned elsewhere on this site, PDF files have a display that is fixed, not liquid, and do not contain playback information.

Yes! Just purchase the PDF import feature and you’re all set.

Techniques for importing and using PDF scores are discussed in the SuperScore documentation. Tap the ? [question mark] button in SuperScore to learn more.

Yes. There are two ways to restore your in-app purchases:

1. Go to the Store in SuperScore and tap the button to “Restore Purchases.” All of your purchases will be restored. Be sure that you are using the same Apple ID as before!
2. Go to the Store in SuperScore and repurchase the music that you bought previously. If you are using the same Apple ID as before, Apple will recognize that you have purchased the music previously and will not charge you again.

Pretty much any keyboard with MIDI In and Out will work with SuperScore. Handy features to look for include:

• A built-in MIDI interface
• Complete General MIDI (GM) sound set for playing orchestrations.
  NOTE: XG, GS, and GM2 are sound sets that include GM

If your MIDI keyboard does not have GM sounds, you can use SuperScore’s built-in tone generator, in which case your keyboard only needs to supply MIDI Out.

SuperScore supports:

• iPad 2 or later
• iPad mini
• iPad Pro

In all cases, iOS 9.0 or later is required.

Please refer to our special guide: MIDI Connections for iOS Devices.

Yes. Find this feature in Settings : MIDI Setup.

Yes. If your iPad supports Bluetooth MIDI LE, you can use Bluetooth MIDI with SuperScore.

Compatible iPads include:

• iPad Pro
• iPad 3rd gen or later
• iPad mini

SuperScore is compatible with a large library of SuperScore music that was composed or arranged for learning purposes. The repertoire includes:

• music for pre-readers
• piano methods
• folk songs
• graded albums of piano solos
• technical exercises and etudes

When probing the SuperScore Music Store, be sure to use the filters to locate the level of repertoire that applies to your situation.

To use the interactive MIDI features of SuperScore, be sure to purchase SuperScore Music products that include MIDI playback.

If you have established a MIDI connection between your iPad and your keyboard, you might want to consider applying those interactive features like this:

1. Listen to the music you are about to learn. Do using Normal playback. If there are backing tracks, listen both with and without the accompaniment.
   Note that there is a special button in the lower right corner of the main SuperScore window for muting accompaniment tracks.
2. Start learning the notes slowly. Turn off playback of the accompaniment and use LEARN mode. You may practice with either one hand at a time or both hands. SuperScore will wait for you to play each note correctly.
3. After you are comfortable with basic note-reading, move on to JAM mode. Turn on the accompaniment tracks. In Jam mode, you’ll have to keep up with the accompaniment. SuperScore will wait for your to play your first note and then will keep going. You have to keep up!
   You may want to choose a slow tempo and gradually increase as you improve.
4. In many cases, you may want to work on short sections. Engage SuperScore’s Loop feature so that you can practice a brief section repeatedly. Start slowly, then gradually increase the tempo as you improve.
5. When you are ready to play the piece expressively, close to normal tempo, use Perform Mode. Perform mode gives you the flexibility to speed up and slow down (rubato), and makes sure the score and the accompaniment follow you as you play.
6. Any time you engage an interactive Play mode, SuperScore makes a MIDI recording of your performance. At any point you can choose the feature to “Play back the recorded performance” and listen to your own playing objectively.

You may also wish to watch our video on this subject.

Start by tapping the markup button in the upper right area of the main screen in SuperScore. The icon looks like a document with a pencil. This will bring up the Markup feature. You’ll know that you are in Markup mode because there will be a pink stripe across the top of the iPad window.

In Markup mode, you’ll find two markup choices in the upper left area of the screen, represented by icons. Tap either choice:

1. The first choice will bring up the Symbol Palette. Swipe through the symbol palette and choose the symbol that you want to use. Then tap somewhere on the staff itself to place the symbol. Move the symbol around as desired. Use the Symbol Edit window to change the color or size of the symbol. When you are finished editing the symbol and its placement, tap outside the Symbol Edit window in order to dismiss the window.
2. The second choice will bring up the drawing feature. Tap that choice and then proceed to draw on the music. Be sure to draw, at least partially, on the staff itself. Once you have finished drawing, you can move the position of your drawing.
   When you are done drawing, tap the upper left area of the screen where it says, “Tap Here to Finish the Drawing.” This will bring up the Drawing Edit window. Use the features of this window to edit your drawing and then tap outside this window to dismiss it.

When you are finished with your markups, tap “Done” in the upper left corner of the screen in order to return to the main window.

NOTE: Markups are associated with specific places in the music itself. When the music is resized, the measures move around on the screen and the markups will move with the associated measures. If you want to place a markup in the space between 2 systems, it is important for SuperScore to understand to which measure the markup is attached. This is the reason why we recommend that you initially place your markup at least partially on the staff and then move it further away.

ALSO NOTE: Since markups are associated with just one location in the music, it is important to avoid creating drawings that encompass large areas of the screen. For example, if you want to circle three different notes in the score, make each circle a separate markup.

For more information about Markups, see the documentation that comes with SuperScore.

In order to import PDF scores, it is necessary to purchase the PDF Import capability. To do so, tap the Settings button on the main screen of SuperScore and then choose the option on the left side called “Import PDF Scores.” Follow the instructions provided.

Once you have acquired the PDF Import feature, you have a number of options for importing your PDF materials. These options are fully presented in the SuperScore documentation. On the main screen of SuperScore, tap the ? [question mark] button and navigate to the section of the documentation titled, “Importing and Using PDFs.”

A PDF consists of one or more graphic images that constitute the pages of the score. As graphic images, they do not contain musical information and therefore cannot be intelligently resized with a new musical layout.

A PDF consists of one or more graphic images that constitute the pages of the score. As graphic images, they do not contain musical information and therefore cannot be played back.

In order to import PDF scores, it is necessary to purchase the PDF Import capability. If you have used iTunes or iMazing to import your PDF files, those files have been installed in SuperScore’s Library. However, they will not be visible if you have not purchased the PDF Import capability.

To purchase the PDF Import feature, tap the Settings button on the main screen of SuperScore and then choose the option on the left side called “Import PDF Scores.” Follow the instructions provided.

Once you have acquired the PDF Import feature, you have a number of options for importing your PDF materials. These options are fully presented in the SuperScore documentation. On the main screen of SuperScore, tap the ? [question mark] button and navigate to the section of the documentation titled, “Importing and Using PDFs.”

Acoustic player pianos have playback latency. When a message to play a note has been received by the piano, the piano must move the key before you can hear the sound. The movement of the key takes time.

Many player pianos have an internal setting that delays the audible playback of all incoming MIDI data by 500 milliseconds, which is one half second. You can adjust SuperScore’s moving cursor to match this delay.

Tap the Settings button and then tap MIDI Setup. In the area to the right, look for the option to turn on the “500ms Playback Delay” and then turn it on.

NOTE: If you switch to an interactive playback mode (Learn, Jam, or Perform), be sure to turn off this feature. If you are using your acoustic player piano’s built-in tone generator for MIDI Output in SuperScore, be sure that you turn off your acoustic piano’s MIDI Input delay.