forScore, in simple terms, is a PDF viewer specifically for reading sheet music files. What makes it helpful for the music teacher or performer is the way the pages within a PDF can be rearranged and annotated. You can also add to your score library by simply taking a photograph of your hardcopy sheet music. Alongside this you have an inbuilt metronome, tuner and audio recorder to capture ideas. If you want to get really technical you can even add a foot-controlled page turner which is powered via Bluetooth.

All in all, this is a pretty sophisticated and useful app for anyone who sight-reads music often.

Download forScore here

This week I've chosen an app that I use in teaching pretty much every single day. There are many metronome apps out there but I have found this to be simple and effective and importantly, it's free! It covers all the common time signatures - 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 6/8 etc; has an aural and visual emphasis on Beat 1 and also contains a "tap tempo" function. This is really useful if you're trying to calculate the speed of a song or note down a comfortable tempo when you're just starting out with your time-keeping.

Download Steinway Metronome here

Last week Apple launched a major update to GarageBand for iOS but also this new app "Music Memos". Basically it is a more musician friendly alternative to the app "Voice Memos" which allows the user to make audio notes in a quick and easy way from their phone or tablet.

More than that though, it could be seen as a useful new tool for musical composition. Recording begins by pressing record on the simple user interface, although in Auto mode the recording begins as soon as you start making a noise - singing or playing guitar for example. Once you have finished your recording, the software automatically splits your work into bars, beats and measures and detects the key and chords of your work. If this is not exact then you can go in and edit individual chords and trim the edges for a precise loop, if needed. 

Download Music Memos here