Forscore Annotations: A Beginner’s Guide (Video)

Wondering how exactly making annotations in forScore works? Watch my Youtube video to watch me talk through each of the annotation features in the forScore app for iOS!

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Entering forScore’s Annotation Mode

There are a few different ways to access the annotation features. My favorite way is to just start writing with my Apple Pencil! The other option is to press the pencil icon in the top bar.

Moving to Another Page in Annotation Mode

To move to a different page, press previous page or next page in the gray bar. These buttons will take you to a different page, while saving what you wrote and keeping you in annotation mode.

Helpful Tip: Move the gray bar wherever you’d like by dragging on one of the three horizontal line icons in the top left or right. Then you can annotate the very top of the music!

Stamps

The stamps tool is the icon on the very left of the gray bar. Here you can add accidentals, dynamics, notes, and other musical symbols in your music without having to draw them yourself. Just select the stamp you need, choose a size, and then place it in your music!

Shapes

The shapes tool is to the right of stamps, and works exactly the same way. Here you can add slurs, brackets, arrows, and staves to your score.

Pens

To the right of the shapes tool are a few different colored lines. These are all pens that you can write with, and you can delete the presets and create your own if you’d like. There are so many customization options available. You can create a thin black pencil, and big yellow highlighter, or whatever will help you learn your music!

Add your own presets by pressing the blue plus sign towards the middle of the gray bar.

Ruler

Next we have the ruler! This is very helpful if you need to draw a straight line in your music.

Selection Tool

The selection tool’s icon is a dotted rectangle. With this tool, you can select either a rectangle or circle shaped area of the music, and copy, cut, or edit the selection.

Type

Next to the selection tool is the typing feature. Here you can use the on-screen keyboard or a bluetooth keyboard (if you have one connected) to write notes in your music.

Eraser

The eraser tool is to the right of the typing feature. With this tool, you can erase using your pencil. This erases only where you touch the pencil–it does not erase full lines like Goodnotes does.

Helpful tip: If you’re using the second generation Apple Pencil, just tap twice on the flat side of the pencil to switch from the pen to the eraser, and back again!

Undo/Redo

The left arrow is undo, and the right arrow is redo. These buttons are very useful if you accidentally erase something you didn’t mean to!

Layers

The layers tool can be very helpful. I like to use this feature when I score study before learning a piece. By adding a new layer, I can take notes while I listen, and then hide the layer once I start practicing the music. This keeps my music clutter-free without actually deleting anything.

Cancel

Finally, in the top left hand corner, we have a cancel option. This lets you exit annotation mode without saving anything. This can be helpful if you accidentally opened up annotation mode and drew a few lines, or if you just made a lot of mistakes and would like to quickly erase it all.

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What other forScore features would you like me to explore on my channel? Let me know in the comments!