What's New

Version 2.7

• Import PDFs as new songs: pick a bunch of PDFs or scans and LeadSheets reads each song's title and artist from the pages, ready to check and import. See Importing PDFs as new songs.
• Songbooks: one PDF with many songs is split into songs by their titles; pages of one song saved as separate files can be joined.
• The right musician: part names on the page ("Bass Guitar", "Tenor Sax") pick the musician, and every song gets one PDF per musician.
• Song from the PDF: adding or scanning a PDF in a song without a title suggests the title and artist.
• Edit Pages: rotate, reorder, delete, split and join PDF pages, or move and copy them to another PDF or another song. See The Song Editor.
• Fixes: Apple Pencil notes are no longer lost when you edit and save a song; on iPhone in landscape the song's buttons show in the top bar when there's room.

Version 2.6.1

• Import from another LeadSheets file: copy songs and setlists, with their scores, key, tuning and musicians, from one band file into another. Songs you already have: skip, replace or keep both. See Exporting and Sharing.
• Reliable saving with iCloud: a file is now always saved complete in one piece, so another device no longer opens it without your latest changes. Each file is fixed the first time it's saved with 2.6.1.
• Better pasting of chords from web pages: tabs and special spaces no longer move the chords.
• Pushed chords line up in the musicians grid, and Singer mode shows just the chord.
• Fixes: no crash when the file reloads or iCloud brings a newer version while a song plays; on iPad the file's name and menu stay in the top bar.

Version 2.6

• Tab for guitar, bass and more: show any string instrument as Notation + Tab or Tab only, with tunings for guitar, drop D, bass, 5-string bass, ukulele and mandolin, and a capo. LeadSheets finds the strings and frets; move any note to another string. See Tab.
• Guitar techniques: hammer-ons and pull-offs, bends and palm mutes, shown in the tab and heard in playback.
• Slurs and ties keep each other right: a slur on two equal notes becomes a tie and the other way round; notes under a slur play legato.
• Jumps with repeats: choose per D.C. or D.S. whether the repeats are played again after the jump.
• The right recording: songs are matched on title and artist, so songs with the same title play their own recording; when several fit, you choose once.
• Music size in Sheet Music view: larger or smaller notation with buttons or a pinch, also for printing.
• Sheet music as one PDF: export exactly the pages a musician sees, with their Apple Pencil notes.
• Your own palette order: drag the score editor's tool groups into the order you like.
• Fix: on iPad, the sidebar button no longer disappears after the file saves or syncs.

Version 2.5.1

• One Mixer for all playback: volume, mute and solo for every group, instrument and chord track, plus the chord rhythm, now in one place, also for a score with one instrument. The separate chord panel is gone. See the Mixer.
• Sounds in Instruments: each instrument's sound and the new Chord sound are chosen in the Instruments dialog; an instrument's own chords play with its sound.
• All tools on iPhone: the Tools button opens every palette tool in a half-height sheet.
• Rename setlists: swipe right or long-press a setlist.
• More natural guitar strums when you tap a chord diagram.
• Neater scores: slurs and ties no longer run into the next line.
• Fixes: on iPhone and iPad, changes such as new setlists and musicians are now always saved to the file; a single-instrument score keeps its name, sound and musician; the Settings window on Mac is laid out properly.

Version 2.5

• Full scores for the whole band: one notation score with every instrument, bars lined up, transposing instruments, groups you can fold, and a mixer with mute, solo and volume. See Full scores.
• Parts and the director's view: each musician sees only their own part, written for their instrument; the director sees the full score with large bar numbers, concert pitch and resting instruments left out. Print all parts as one PDF. See Parts and full score.
• Chord tracks: chords at their own place in the bar, also between beats or inside a long note, N.C., and own chords per instrument. See Chords and chord playback.
• Hear the chords: chord playback with a bass line in rhythms from held chords to walking bass and bossa nova, with six built-in sounds.
• Swing feel: swing 8ths or 16ths, light to hard, changing anywhere in the song, with swing playback. See Swing feel.
• Slash staves for the rhythm section, and copy and paste a whole section with all its instruments and chords.
• Tap a text to edit it: chords, lyrics, section names, comments and fingerings.
• Multi-part MusicXML: full scores to and from MuseScore, Sibelius and Dorico, with groups, transposition and sounds.
• Better printed pages: page turns where the player rests, a balanced last page and lines spread over the page.
• Tempo from the audio: the wand in Edit Song listens to the song and offers its tempo, half or double.
• Tuning: play along with a recording that isn't tuned to 440 Hz: set its tuning per song, and your band's A in Settings.
• Chord diagrams you can hear: tap a guitar diagram to hear it strummed.
• Interruptions: songs pause for a phone call or Siri and continue afterwards.

Version 2.2

• Page-turn pedals: turn pages hands-free with a Bluetooth or USB pedal (PageFlip, AirTurn and others), and move to the next song in a setlist. See Page-turn pedal.
• Text in columns in landscape: Chords & Lyrics, Singer and Drummer views show the song in columns side by side, each section kept together. See Viewing & Playing Songs.
• Whole pages in portrait: in Sheet Music view each page fits the screen, so you always see a full page.
• Fingering in notation scores: numbers or letters at the notes, above or below. See Chords, lyrics and text.
• Fixes: a PDF page could show twice in landscape, and on Mac a page could scroll inside itself.

Version 2.1.1

• End repeats with any count or a remark: repeat 2 to 99 times, and add a remark such as Vamp, ad lib or on cue above the :||.
• Endings over several passes: one ending for passes 1, 2 and 3 ("1.–3."), or any numbers up to 99, such as "1., 3.". Playback follows them.
• Multi-bar rests: empty bars in a row are shown as one rest with the number of bars above it. You can turn this off per score.
• Remove a score from a song: right-click or long-press it in the Song Editor, or use the trash button on Mac.
• Neater rests with two voices: long rests are split into quarter rests that keep clear of the other voice.
• Octave lines: 8va, 8vb and 15ma over a group of notes.
• Metronome during playback: a click on every beat, a higher one on the first beat of the bar.
• Tempo: type the tempo, or change it 1 BPM at a time (hold − or + to keep going).
• Transposing instruments: a score for B♭ trumpet, alto sax, bass guitar and so on plays back at the pitch the instrument sounds.
• Controls stay in view: Play, tempo, metronome and the other buttons above the score stay at the top while the score scrolls.
• Fix: Import MusicXML in the Song Editor now always makes a notation score; some files used to be added as a plain file.

Version 2.1

• Write with Apple Pencil (iPad): draw notes, rests, accidentals, ties and bar lines straight onto the score. See Writing with Apple Pencil.
• Repeat in the middle of a bar: split a bar in two, so a repeat sign can sit halfway through it. See Bars, repeats and layout.
• Drums in one voice: choose between hands up / feet down, or one voice where instruments played together share one stem. The touch keyboard's With key can now be held down. See Drums.
• Rename notation scores: tap a score's name in the Song Editor.
• Neater scores: trill lines and comments sit just above the notes they belong to, instead of on a fixed row.
• iPhone: the search field to add songs to a setlist is always visible, and the score buttons in the Song Editor show only their icons in portrait.
• Setlists: Help and Settings are also available while a song from a setlist is open.

Version 2.0

• Notation scores: write real sheet music (notes, chords, lyrics, drums, piano) right inside LeadSheets, assigned to a musician like any PDF score.
• MusicXML import and export: exchange scores with MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and others.
• Hear what you write: play a notation score while you edit it, and hear each note as you enter it.
• Transpose and slow down your own songs: bought songs downloaded on your device now play inside LeadSheets, so you can change their key and speed per song.
• Score order: the order you drag scores into in the Song Editor is the order they appear in Sheet Music view.
• Safer editing: Cancel asks before throwing away changes, and on Mac only one Edit Song window can be open.
• iPhone: more room on screen, with a single top bar.