• Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Music Therapy
    • What We Offer
  • Services
    • All Services
    • Summer Camp
    • Music Makers
    • Courses
    • Apps & Reviews
  • Blog
  • Songs
  • Contact

GG Blog Posts

19
SEP
2011

There’s An App For That: OnSong

Tags : Adapting Chords, Adapting Lyrics, Apps, Chord Sheets, iPad, Lead Sheets, Music Therapy, Transposing
Posted By : Bonnie
Comments : 20

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing some of my favorite iPad music apps for supporting hand-eye coordination, creativity, relaxation, communication, and attention to task in music therapy.  Now you may be thinking, “Wow, pretty cool. Supporting therapeutic goals using technology is great, but what about me? How can the iPad support all the things I do as a music therapist?”  My response, “I’m so glad you asked!” :)  The iPad has proven to be an incredible tool for supporting my client’s therapeutic goals but it has also been a great resource for dozens of tasks that I do as a music therapist and business owner.  So, this week’s recommendations will focus on three apps for compiling, storing, editing, reading and sharing music.  First up, OnSong.

OnSong

Cost: $4.99

Read the Review: iTunes Review

Description: As a rule, I try not to spend more than a couple bucks (if any!) on apps, but I promise, this one is worth the five buckaroos. OnSong is THE must-have app for creating, organizing and editing chord sheets. Simply choose the source you want to import the song from (ie: internet, Dropbox, MobileMe, iTunes) then type in the song title and click import. Watch as the lyrics and chords appear on your screen. Need to make some changes to the lyrics or chords? No problem! Choose from an array of options to edit lyrics, lyrics size/color/font and chord size/color/font. You can even transpose or create repeats/codas with a flick of your finger. Once the song is edited to your liking share it via Dropbox, MobileMe or email. Want to see OnSong in action? Check out my demo below!

Demo Video:

How about you? What is your go-to app for creating, organizing and editing chord sheets?
Enhanced by Zemanta

About the Author
Bonnie Hayhurst, MT-BC is the owner of The Groovy Garfoose, a music technology nerd, songwriter, pianist and professional greyhound snuggler.

Social Share

    20 Comments

    1. Laura C. September 19, 2011 at 4:30 PM Reply

      Not to mention the organizing and business aspects that technology brings! Like google calendar, etc. How do you discover all these great apps?
      Laura C. recently posted..A Child of the 60′s Kind of MusicMy Profile

      • Bonnie September 19, 2011 at 5:55 PM Reply

        Great point Laura! It is easy-peasy to sync your google accounts with mail on the iPad. :) Typically, I find all my apps by reading reviews on the app store and following the app store on Twitter. That keeps me up to date on all the ‘new’ stuff that is out there. I also read the app reviews of MacWorld and Computerworld online.

    2. Pingback: Making Your Music Work For You | Music Sparks

      • Bonnie September 20, 2011 at 5:44 PM Reply

        Thanks for linking my post JoAnn! =)

    3. Ashley Lundquist September 20, 2011 at 4:38 PM Reply

      This is an amazing app! I have had this since I purchased my iPad in March and I have nothing but great things to say about it. It definitely made my life so much easier!
      Ashley Lundquist recently posted..Hello SongMy Profile

      • Bonnie September 20, 2011 at 5:47 PM Reply

        Thanks for sharing Ashley! I agree. I love it’s convenience and my muscles love schlepping one iPad versus a bunch of fake books! =)

    4. Meghan September 21, 2011 at 12:25 AM Reply

      The transposition component is awesome. Gonna play around with this one tonight!
      Meghan recently posted..Exploring Gratitude through DrummingMy Profile

      • Bonnie September 21, 2011 at 6:51 PM Reply

        I know! It is one of my favorite features along with the editing tools for the actual chords/lyrics. Such a time saver! =)

    5. Pingback: There’s An App For That: Dropbox and Musicnotes — The Groovy Garfoose

    6. Pingback: “12 Apps of Christmas: 9th Day” — The Groovy Garfoose

    7. Elizabeth Cochrane December 11, 2011 at 2:31 PM Reply

      Hi! I just got an iPad recently and am trying to find all the good MT apps, so I really appreciate your tips. I have a couple of questions, though. If I scan hard copy lead sheets and chord charts, would I save as a PDF or as a jpg? Would the transposing and other features still work on a song that I import from a hard copy like that? If you are playing a song and need to scroll down or to the next page, do you have to do that with your finger or is this app compatible with something like the Air Turn pedal?
      Also, when you download an app for your business, how do you obtain a receipt for your tax records? I haven’t yet paid for any apps because I don’t know how to get a receipt. Thank you!

      • Bonnie December 11, 2011 at 3:58 PM Reply

        Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for stopping at the Groovy Garfoose and sharing such GREAT questions! OnSong works BEST with Word docs, but it IS compatible with PDF’s, jpegs, Tiffs and the like. However, it is limited in it’s ability to convert the files for editing purposes. It will not convert scores, handwritten chord charts or tab. I have written tons of songs in a lead sheet format on my computer, scanned them into my Dropbox app and imported them into OnSong for transposing/editing. OnSong is compatible with Air Turn…although I can’t speak to it’s usability as I have never tried it. As for receipts, start purchasing my friend! Whatever email you have set-up for your iTunes account is where your app receipts will be sent, just like when you purchase songs on iTunes. Hope this is helpful! =)

        • Emily Olschki December 14, 2011 at 6:31 PM Reply

          Can you still use OnSong to view songs you’ve scanned in from hard copies or scores, but just not edit or transpose them? Our songbooks are several hundred pages and I don’t necessarily need to be able to edit most of them, just view them on the iPad.

          One note on the iTunes receipts – it usually takes a few days for mine to show up in my inbox. I’m not sure why it isn’t as fast as other websites like Amazon, but the receipt will eventually arrive!

          • Bonnie December 14, 2011 at 7:15 PM Reply

            Yes, you can view hard copies/PDF’s/JPG’s etc in OnSong, Emily…just as you would if you uploaded songs using dropbox. You just cannot edit those types of files in OnSong.
            Thank you also for clarifying on the receipts. You are right. It does take a few days for iTunes purchases to come through. This goes for music and for apps alike.

    8. Esther Henderson June 6, 2012 at 5:57 PM Reply

      I just purchased on song and my new IPad this week. I hear that onsong converts word docs, but I’m not learning HOW to do it. Any tips or websites to refer me to? Thank you!

      • Bonnie June 16, 2012 at 5:21 PM Reply

        Hi Esther! Sorry it took a bit to get back to you, but I think you will find this link helpful in creating chord charts in word and then importing into OnSong. http://www.onsongapp.com/interface/viewer/filetypes/ Basically you need to put the chord in brackets like this: [D#] or {D#} in order to be able to customize the song later in OnSong. Hope this is helpful! =)

    9. Gabriel Hauber January 3, 2013 at 5:19 AM Reply

      Have you also tried SongSheet? (Disclaimer – I am a developer of the app). http://bit.ly/TtSVoY or http://www.songsheetapp.com

      It has easy editing of chord sheets (in a WYSIWYG environment, no inputting chords in [] or clumsy chord pickers!), set list management, etc. Also, we’ve built in the ability to automatic program verse changes which is handy if you are using a backing track, and even more handy if you are showing the lyrics on an external display!

      It doesn’t yet do everything that OnSong does (e.g. band follow mode), but we are working on improving it all the time and would love feedback from the community on what is most important to them to see in it next!

    10. Pingback: MT #techtips – SongSheet — The Groovy Garfoose

    11. Tammi Turner November 30, 2016 at 7:57 PM Reply

      I am going to buy an iPad Pro for my son who is graduating as a music therapy student. Do you think the larger 12in screen would be more useful with Onsong? The smaller 9in version may be easier to carry around so I am just wondering. Do you feel that cellular option is important or is wifi usually good enough?

      • Bonnie December 16, 2016 at 6:01 PM Reply

        Hi Tammi! Congrats to your son on graduating! The larger the screen the better with OnSong. :) Good luck to him in internship!

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    *
    *

    captcha *

    Show more posts

    Welcome to the GG Blog!
    It's here we share songs, music experiences, music therapy app reviews and much more! Thanks for reading, The GG Team


    STAY CONNECTED WITH GG

    RSS RSS LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Youtube Pinterest


    BONNIE’S IPAD CMTE COURSE

    SEARCH GG

    LIKE GG ON FACEBOOK

    LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

    FOLLOW GG ON TWITTER

    My Tweets

    FOLLOW GG ON INSTAGRAM

    Copyright © 2017 The Groovy Garfoose. All Rights Reserved.