FAQ

Q: What's the best way to START using Note Prompter?

A: We recognize that it CAN be overwhelming the first time you pick up your instrument and have Note Prompter start playing a song at full speed! We strongly recommend starting this way:
1. Start with the first Major scale (tap the 'Load' button and scroll down to the 12 included Major scales), load it.
2. Then when it's playing MUTE it (tap the yellow button under the instrument name in the top highlighted tab... tapping on the round button will mute the track).
3. Also SLOW IT DOWN all the way by sliding the Tempo slider (right side of screen) all the way left!
In general, we tend to use it by muting the instrument we are playing. You can mute a track but still have that track's note fingerings shown. It's great to be able to hear a whole song with all parts playing in Note Prompter, but when you are ready to play along yourself, we find it's best to mute the part you are playing! :)
You should also investigate the 'Section' tab, which accumulates notes from the music playing so you can view a sequence of notes at one time rather than seeing only one at a time. View a section of the song and work on it at your own pace, then scroll down to see more.

Q: When playing a long song that I've imported into Note Prompter, after 2 minutes my screen starts to go dark, then locks and the music stops. How can I change this?

A: Great question! This is because of a setting outside of Note Prompter. It's very easy to fix by going to the general iPad settings and simply changing the setting for 'Auto-Lock'.
1. Open iPad settings app
2. Tap 'General'
3. In the fifth section down tap on 'Auto-Lock'. By default this is set to 2 Minutes. Change to '5 Minutes' and you are good!

Q: So how do I use this app?

A: When the app launches for the first time, it automatically loads one of the pre-installed music files. Simply press the 'Play' button and you will hear that song play--and see the oboe fingering diagram for each note so you can play along! You can press the 'Load' button on the title bar of the app to load a different file. Files shown there include blues progressions in all keys, major scales in all keys, minor scales in all keys, and any user-installed song files. You can import your own song files easily! When surfing the web if you come upon a MIDI file (with the extension .mid) you can tap on the link to it and a pop-up window will appear. To import that MIDI file into the Oboe Prompter app, simply click on the Oboe Prompter app's icon in that pop-up! The file will be imported, the app will launch, and the song will start playing automatically! You can also import MIDI files from your e-mails. If someone e-mails you a MIDI file, open the e-mail on your iPad, click on the attachment, and choose the Oboe Prompter's icon from the pop-up window to send the MIDI file attachment to the Oboe Prompter. All files you have imported to the Oboe Prompter app will appear in the Load menu, in the bottom section. You can play them at any time by choosing them from that menu. You can also delete any imported files that you no longer want, by swiping your finger to the right across the name of the song in the Load menu. A 'Delete' button will appear to the right of the song title. Press that button to delete the song! (Only songs whose titles appear in blue letters are deletable.)

Q: How can I view larger note fingerings?

A: In the song player screen, you can expand the note fingering diagram (and associated staff notation above it) by simply tapping on the diagram. The Play and Stop buttons will remain visible. To shrink the fingering diagram back down to its original size, simply tap again. NOTE: Expanding the note fingering digram is only possible in the song player screen--not in the note browser screen.

A: This is a reference tool. Use the -/+ stepper control (located below 'Browse note fingerings') to choose the note for which you would like to see the fingering diagram. The note browser only displays notes within the oboe's range, so it will eventually not let you continue clicking to higher or lower notes outside that range. But within the oboe's range this screen will show you the note on the musical staff, the fingering diagram (or in some cases there may be two or three different fingering diagrams that produce the same note), the note name, the concert note name (see next question), and the note MIDI value. The note MIDI value may not be of interest to most users, but is shown for the benefit of musicians that may care to see it.