PlayScore 2 Reviews

by Ben In San Diego

Downloaded a clean bass part from Berlioz Symphony Fantastique. Playback missed accidentals and mangled note lengths and count. Some rests were played as notes.

Music OCR programs I’ve used, even from 20 years ago, provided a display of what the program thought the notes were and you could edit and correct the derived scores. Here I only see the original pdf. The only corrective options I see are to delete and reload the pdf and hope for the best, or export as midi or xml and edit in another program.

App also sorely needs a metronome function to keep you oriented during the rests if you’re going to use this as a practice aid.

by Michael Lowry (US)

NOTE: I’ve lowered my rating from 5 to 2 stars because a recent update to PlayScore2 removed existing features and demanded a paid subscription to re-enable them.

PlayScore 2 represents a big step forward in optical music recognition (OMR) on iOS. The quality of recognition is really impressive. Some areas for improvement that the developers have promised me they are already working on: • Control of dynamic range • Better recognition of tied notes • Support for double whole notes (breves) • More MIDI instruments I’m a singer but I’m not terribly good at sight-reading. So when I practice, I practice mostly by listening or playing on the piano and singing along. Now I can import my sheet music into PlayScore 2 and begin practicing by listening right away, without needing to go sit at the piano. It’s a big time saver!

by Hsiskdbiddjbdjdksnsosozn

Now, PlayScore2 is fine. Just fine. It can actually scan sheet music (I’m impressed) however it doesn’t do it very well. For example instead of having the Treble and Bass clef play at the same time it just makes it do a line of Treble clef, then a line of Bass clef. And since the piece I’m trying to scan sometimes has notes in the Bass clef play first you just get a weird silent space between notes in Treble clef. Also, it completely misses a bunch of notes. I don’t really know why, as the lighting is even throughout the picture and none of the notes are faded or anything. The angle’s also fine. So I don’t really understand, why is it missing notes? But anyway, yeah. I really don’t want to be rude but it just doesn’t work well. Have a great day ✌️

by Password-incorrect

Right from the moment you open PlayScore2 , the Home Screen shows users both a “Help” button and a “?” icon. One opens a horrendous pdf with missing images and the other highlights the question mark button you tapped (along with two others) and explains that it is the help toggle. I know. I just. Tapped it. It’s clear the devs had their hearts in the right place here, but as someone with a background in interface design, the more I use PlayScore2 the more I wish they would hire someone—anyone—to help them overhaul the interface. The functions of PlayScore2 are rock-solid (aside from occasional crashing), but the confusing interface and visuals really drag the experience down for me and take away from what could be a purely magical experience.
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As a note specifically to the devs: I’m pretty sure this UI is is the single biggest reason for all the one-star reviews. A number of people keep saying PlayScore2 is a “scam” and that’s because it pretty much looks like junkware. On top of that, despite having help menus, it seems like the way you’re presenting information to users is confusing because 90% of negative reviews are just people complaining because they scanned the music wrong. Both of these issues are rooted in the interface. If you have questions about the areas of PlayScore2 people are confused by or want to discuss potential solutions, contact me! I use PlayScore2 a bunch and wouldn’t mind helping out at all!

by Very Old Chap

I tried to use PlayScore2 to play a couple of hymns printed in 1953. It couldn’t read them properly and mostly skipped a lot of notes, or played only 1 of the 4 notes of a chord. I emailed the producer from the contact form on their website, and he wrote back in minutes. He asked me to send him my files. When he saw my files, he immediately wrote back and said PlayScore2 can’t read such an “ancient” style of hymn book! So, zero stars for usefulness but 5 stars for customer service, well, let’s make it 3 stars as a compromise. Meanwhile I don’t have time to learn to read music so I guess I shall give up on hearing these hymn tunes this afternoon!

by PEWWWWWDIECRY

Opened up PlayScore2 cause the idea seemed great for tempo and how certain notes should be played. I'm a complete beginner but wanted to know how to sight read.

Went to open the tab in my files, and it wouldn't load. Just straight up greyed out. I thought, "that's weird, I'll just close out PlayScore2 and open it back up." So I did that. No change.

Tried to take photos of the tab as well, only to have them fail. I do wish there were other options such as Google drive or Dropbox import so that I could try out other methods, but in the same breath that shouldn't be a problem to begin with. Haven't reached out to support yet, which is why it's 3 stars instead of 1. Will update once they get back to me I guess.

by Operatigger

This is a great app for learning music. I studied voice and opera in college but I don’t play the piano, so this is a great app to use when I’m learning music. However, PlayScore2 has its problems. For instance, when I’m learning a piece of music (vocal music), PlayScore2 will be playing the vocal line and piano part like it’s supposed to, but the next line it will only play the vocal line and not the piano part. PlayScore2 will then go back and repeat that same line it only play the piano part, skipping the vocal line. Other times PlayScore2 will speed up real fast halfway through a line, or sometimes it will slow down. Other times it will skip a line altogether. Developers please fix this problem.

by Ratonasurfboard?

hahaha you will still need virtuoso pianists if you want to hear sheet music played ‘correctly’, if at all. Which PlayScore2 was not able to accomplish in its entirety. The 4-stars is because I like the concept, but they have a very long ways to go before I will not be able to stump it with the Rachmaninoff Liszt Mozart Bach and Chopin books lying around the general vicinity of my pianoforte. IF YOU want people to pay money to upgrade to play 2 staves at once like concerto accompaniments... you might want to get your app performing ONE staff correctly... firstly. Same advice I give to my..... oh dear... piano students :\ NOT A PIANO TEACHER REPLACEMENT :) Stick with ME long enough, and I will have you humming every note on ANY page you wish to hear using no electricity or apps ON PITCH, any staff ;)

by Stc2828

This could have been a five star app, since it does the job close to perfectly when you have all the settings right.

The “Error Correction” option is absolute garbage. When it was turned on (by default), PlayScore2 output sheet which make no musical sense, that I was about to ask for a refund. Then I thought I should try turning off the error correction, and everything works properly instantly.

Also the PDF process quality option is confusing. You would imagine you get best result when you have the performance bar maxed, but no. If your input image quality is not very high, scrolling performance to somewhere around the middle actually yield better result.

by AliceWo

Hi!

I’m a string orchestra conductor and have been successfully (until recently) using PlayScore 2 as a method of allowing students to learn their parts. I give them a score in PlayScore format and have taught them how to adjust volume levels so that they can learn their own part, play with other sections, and play with the whole orchestra. I have students with the Professional, the Productivity and the Free version.

Recently, students with the Free version have mentioned that there are locks preventing them from adjusting the volume. Your website states that with the free version, someone should be able to play and interact with any PlayScore playable score. Isn’t this part of the interaction that should be available?

The PlayScore file that I’m sending is unlocked. Is there a new feature that I’m missing to allow people to adjust volumes?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Oh, and this is an amazing app! Playing during a pandemic would have been much more difficult without your app!

by CandaceDS

I teach at a musical theater school and some of the piano accompaniments go beyond my playing skills. PlayScore2 did a pretty good job of scanning the scores for playback. It sometimes missed ties so I had to make corrections but it definitely saved me having to put the whole thing into Finale. It did less well when I tried to scan choral music of 4 or more parts because I had to go back and fix too things. So if the accuracy of the notation is important it’s less reliable, but it’s great for making audio files.

by Jfire383

You have to follow the instructions! If the music sounds odd, retake the photo. I highly recommend taking the photo on clean sheet music before you start marking it up. My favorite feature is that it allows you to turn on and off different staves which is huge when you’re learning new pieces and need to isolate parts. PlayScore2 is a great tool and I highly recommend. I don’t need the paid version but am buying it anyway just to support the developers. Nice work!

by SingsongNG

I love PlayScore2 , and I recommend it to all of my students! It can actually read and play your sheet music! I am a voice teacher in a BFA musical theatre conservatory, and I find PlayScore2 to be invaluable! I keep most of my music on my iPad in Dropbox or ForScore, and this app can find my pdfs, lets me choose which pages I want to download, and then play whichever parts I want to hear. I can adjust the tempo and the key, and I can even mask bars to make cuts. I think the full subscription is well worth the annual price! Students can hear just the accompaniment or just the melody, and the can balance them however they wish. I find that PlayScore2 can read about 98% of the sheet music I have. If it is a really bad scan or handwritten, that can cause some trouble, but the success rate is really high overall. I have used a cheaper app that could read and play sheet music, but the success rate was only about 50%, and it didn’t have the masking feature or transposition feature. this app even a “swing” option for tempo in the cogwheel. PlayScore2 is a total winner!

by Ivoryleague

I am amazed at how good this works. I used screen shots from a few books I had and it was really easy to use. I was able to easily load four and five page pieces and it played them beautifully. The slider bar for tempo is also cool. You can slow down or speed up tempo. Well worth the small price. I will have all my piano students that have iPhones or iPads install this so they can play pieces I email them- another great feature.
Cheryl Wiker
The ivory League Piano Studio

by Rjse

PlayScore 2 is the kind of app, that you might hear someone say, "what is this magic?" because it does feel exactly that… magical.

There are so many ways to use PlayScore2 especially if you are a teacher! Use it for a listening assignment, sight-reading, an accompaniment, additional support for learning a piece, breaking out certain parts in a score, etc.

The pro version is chock full of really helpful tools. The looping feature is one of my personal favorites. Highly recommend!

by S-bro110W

Holy moly PlayScore2 is slick! Just snap a photo and then it will play the sheet music. It’s not 100% accurate, but it is pretty dang, darn good!!! I can’t believe it’s free. I’d pay $20 for this thing. I’ve been looking for something like this for the past...20 years. I tried other ORC notation software that sucked, bigly. In fact, all of it has been pretty rubbish. This only messed up part of one measure in two pages of music, the rest was 100% accurate, and even had dynamics. Plus you can slow it down to play along and work on intonation and perfect rhythm. Simply amazing!

by DugMoreTone

After trying out every other music scanning program I came across this one. It did the job much better than all the others - but it adds a level of complexity to the process of scanning music into Finale on my Windows machine from my iPhone - take picture, save as XML, email, import. Maybe there’s a better way. However once I got the hang of it I was impressed. And the support from Anthony has been great- unusually friendly and helpful. Scanning and recognizing music is quite a challenge and they’ve met it!

by Ptheoph

This is an amazing app. I’m no professional musician and recently joined our church choir. They sing (in 5-part harmony) music I am unfamiliar with. Downloaded the PlayScore app and scanned 20 pages of music. Through the apps very user friendly tools I was able to isolate my (bass) part which allowed me to learn it after playing it back a few times. I did have some questions, emailed PlayScore2 support team and received answers that same day. Customer support is the best I’ve encountered in a long time. Sent PlayScore2 to our choir directly. After she tried it she encouraged every one in the choir to download and use it. She described it as an invaluable tool. At just over $5 a month it’s something every one can afford. Other music scanning apps cost from $150 to over $500 and are geared for professional musicians. User friendly they are not. Can’t recommend PlayScore2 enough.

by RCEBirder

Using PDFs of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos to play violin parts I am learning, obtained from the IMSLP Petrucci database. Using the professional version which will read the PDFs. I especially like the feature where you bracket a passage and then it plays it back repeatedly at whatever metronome speed you want. Helps with timing, intonation, speed, sight reading. Very focused practice session. Can try different left had positions (eg 1st vs 5th) on a difficult passage ( for me) and see effect on intonation and speed. There are separate volume controls for 2 tracks. Works great usinh AppleTV to display score on TV. Multiple users could practice together. They are working on a version for the Mac, which I would also like because of the bigger screen. A I studied classical music 30 years ago and played Old Time, Irish, Country, Bluegrass since then. Returning to classical music to play with community chamber music group. PlayScore2 has really helped me get up to speed! I will share and recommend to other learners in the group.

by KSW3

PlayScore2, currently at revision 2.62, keeps getting better. The most important thing people want out of OMR (Optical Music Recognition) software is accuracy. PlayScore2 gives it to you in spades if the source material is good. Taking a picture of a book often doesn’t work well. But the same material that has been copied and then scanned (photographed) by your iOS or iPadOS device is amazingly accurate. Even complex piano pieces with crazy rhythms or complex jazz chords work well. If you need to modify or otherwise use the material, you can send the MusicXML to any other package that can import MusicXML, e.g. Finale, Dorico, Sibelius, StaffPad, etc.

It’s not perfect by any means-no software is- but for OMR software, especially for iOS and iPadOS, it’s pretty darn good. Some people are off-put by the subscription pricing- but for professionals that need this functionally, it’s well worth the price.

Be warned that it doesn’t do handwritten or handwritten-like fonts, but other than that, it does a great job.

by Runpedalpaddle

I just scanned in an entire book of fiddle tunes. Most of the songs are 16 measures, repeating each 8 bars. I’ve not looked at all 400 songs, but of the dozens I’ve perused, it rarely catches the repeat, drops a few notes in almost every scan, occasionally drops an entire measure, inserts repeats where there are none, and does not capture the chord symbols. OCR is difficult, but I expected OMR to be an easier task. Still, it probably saved me some time over entering notes, although not even sure of that because it is necessary to so closely examine each scan.

by Military Paul

I enjoy PlayScore2 a lot and as a teacher it helps students when they need to learn parts quickly. Unfortunately sometimes when you take a picture of the sheet music is will quickly read and skip the first staffs of the page and read the second or vice versa. I try to retake the image multiple times but it still does not work properly. Even with the light perfect or making sure it’s on a flat even surface. Any suggestions? Otherwise, I love this application. If those get fixed I would gladly give it a 5 star.

by Dhutsn237

I use it when it works, but there are some things I hope they’ll fix soon. It won’t let you import any documents, I have tried every format and as high a resolution as I can get but it won’t work. It skips some notes, it will be working fine but then it will skip a note or play the previous note too long. Also the bar that shows where it is playing is a measure too fast. But when I just need to figure out a section rhythm it’s the best (and really the only) app I could find that lets you take a photo.

by Tdsoares

It would be helpful to have a better way to organize scores. Even a list view of the titles, rather than the icons would be easier to browse. Folders would be useful, too.

Otherwise, I love PlayScore2 and find it very helpful for me when working on timing and for isolating difficult parts to play on repeat.

Thank you for your consideration this matter.

by ;)m!@

I’ve been playing trumpet for 5 years and this is a great app for those tricky rhythms and it also singles out your part in a song instead of having to listen to the original recording (although it’s important for you to listen to both) , with all of the instruments going at once making it harder for you to hear your part and to understand it.

by En1gma_

I was hesitant to download PlayScore2 after all the reviews of PlayScore2 skipping notes and such. However, I made sure to be extra careful with placing and lighting, and it worked really well! Yes, it did miss a key signature but as long as you know that it missed something, it’s quite nice. As long as you set it up correctly, it works more than adequately. Nice job, developers! :D