Editor guide
How to use the editor
Every button and control in ScoreInk, explained. No music degree required.
The basics
Click / Tap
Click anywhere on the staff to place a note. The pitch is determined by where vertically you click — higher on the staff = higher pitch.
Right-click
Delete the note you right-click on.
Tap to select
Tap an existing note to select it (it highlights amber). Then press Delete or use the 🗑 button in the top bar to erase it.
Auto-save
Your score saves automatically to your browser. No account required to save — just don't clear your browser data.
Top bar
Title field
Click the title text to rename your composition. Saves automatically.
↩ Undo
Undo the last action. Shortcut: Ctrl+Z (or ⌘Z on Mac).
🗑 Delete
Appears when a note is selected. Deletes the selected note. Shortcut: Delete or Backspace.
Clear
Erases all notes from the score. Asks for confirmation first. Staves and settings stay intact.
+ Bar
Adds one empty measure to the end of the score.
− Bar
Removes the last measure from the score.
Duration — how long each note lasts
W — Whole
Fills an entire measure (4 beats in 4/4). The longest note. Shortcut: 1
H — Half
Lasts 2 beats. Two half notes fill one measure in 4/4. Shortcut: 2
♩ Quarter
Lasts 1 beat. The most common note — four per measure in 4/4. Default selection. Shortcut: 3
♪ Eighth
Half a beat. Eight per measure in 4/4. Good for faster passages. Shortcut: 4
16 — Sixteenth
Quarter of a beat. Very fast notes — 16 per measure in 4/4. Shortcut: 5
Tip: The active duration button stays highlighted amber. Whatever is selected when you click the staff is the note you get.
Modify — dot, triplet, rest, tie
· Dot
Makes a dotted note — adds half the note's value. A dotted quarter = 1.5 beats. A dotted half = 3 beats. Toggle it on before clicking the staff. Shortcut: D
3 — Triplet
Places 3 notes in the time of 2. Adds a bracket with "3" above the group. Click three notes in triplet mode to complete the group. Shortcut: T
Rest
Switches to rest mode — clicking the staff places a silent rest instead of a pitched note. The rest matches the current duration (whole rest, half rest, etc). Shortcut: R
~ Tie
Connects two notes of the same pitch into one long tone — the second note isn't re-struck, just held. Click the first note, then the second note of the same pitch to tie them. A curved arc draws between them. Shortcut: X
Accidentals — sharps, flats, naturals
♯ Sharp
Raises the note by a semitone (one piano key up). The sharp symbol appears before the notehead. Shortcut: S
♭ Flat
Lowers the note by a semitone (one piano key down). Shortcut: B
♮ Natural
Cancels a sharp or flat — forces the note to its plain, unaltered pitch. Shortcut: N
How it works: Select an accidental before you click the staff. The symbol will be applied to the note you place. Toggle it off to go back to normal.
Instrument selector
The toolbar shows a compact Instrument dropdown — a single button displaying your currently active instrument (e.g. ● Piano ▾). Click it to open the picker, choose any instrument, and the flyout closes automatically. Notes placed after switching go to that instrument's stave.
● Piano ▾
Click this button in the toolbar to open the instrument picker. The colored dot reflects the active instrument's color.
Select instrument
Click any instrument in the flyout. The picker closes and all new notes go to that instrument's stave. Each instrument has a unique color-coded dot for quick identification.
26 instruments across 5 categories
Keyboard
Piano
Strings
Guitar
Ac. Guitar
El. Guitar
Bass
El. Bass (bass clef)
Ac. Bass (bass clef)
Violin
Viola
Cello (bass clef)
Harp
Woodwinds
Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon (bass clef)
Saxophone
Bagpipes
Brass
Trumpet
Fr. Horn
Trombone (bass clef)
Tuba (bass clef)
Percussion
Drums
Xylophone
Chimes
Cymbals
Bass clef instruments (Cello, Bass, Trombone, Tuba, Bassoon, El. Bass, Ac. Bass) display on a bass clef staff. All others use treble clef.
Staves — adding instruments
+ Stave
Adds a new stave (staff line) for the currently selected instrument. Use this to add a second piano part, a guitar part, a violin line — whatever you need. Each stave plays back independently and stacks vertically.
Stave selector
Once you have multiple staves, colored buttons appear next to "+ Stave". Click a button to switch which stave you're editing. The active one highlights in that instrument's color.
Building an arrangement? Add a stave per instrument — Piano, Bass, Guitar, Drums — then switch between them to fill in each part. All staves play back together when you hit Play.
Score settings — time, tempo, key
Time
Time signature — sets how many beats per measure. 4/4 is standard (four quarter-note beats). 3/4 is waltz time (three beats). 6/8 is compound duple. Choose "Custom…" to enter any numerator/denominator. Changes take effect immediately across all staves.
BPM
Beats per minute — the tempo. Higher = faster. 120 BPM is the default (moderate). Range is 40–240. Click the field and type a number or use the up/down arrows.
Key
Key signature — adds sharps or flats to the beginning of the staff. Changing key doesn't alter existing notes, just the key marker displayed at the start. Choose from C major / A minor (no sharps/flats) through all 15 keys.
Playback
▶ Play
Plays back the score from the beginning using real audio samples. All staves play simultaneously. Shortcut: Space
■ Stop
The Play button becomes a Stop button during playback. Press it (or Space) to stop. The animated playhead (a vertical line moving across the staff) shows current playback position.
Loading audio
On first play, samples load from a CDN — this takes a few seconds. Subsequent plays are instant. You'll see a brief "Loading audio…" message while samples download.
Lyrics mode
♪ Lyrics
Enables lyrics mode. Click any note to type a syllable beneath it. Press Tab to advance to the next note, Enter or Esc to close. Shortcut to toggle: L
Syllable tip: Type one syllable per note. Use hyphens to show word breaks across notes (e.g. "hap-py" across two notes). Lyrics appear in PDF exports.
Articulations & ornaments
Select an articulation, then click a note to apply it. The articulation symbol appears above the notehead. Click the same button again to deselect it.
> Accent
Play the note louder with a sharp attack. The ">" mark appears above the note.
· Staccato
Play short and detached — the note sounds for less than its written duration. A dot appears above the note.
— Tenuto
Hold the full duration with slight emphasis. Opposite of staccato. A line appears above the note.
^ Marcato
Strong accent combined with a shorter duration. More emphatic than a regular accent. A caret symbol appears above the note.
▾ Staccatissimo
Extremely short and detached — even shorter than staccato. A pointed wedge above the note.
𝄐 Fermata
Hold the note longer than written — the performer chooses how long. A "birds-eye" arc symbol above the note.
tr~ Trill
Rapidly alternate between the written note and the note one step above. A "tr~" marking above the note.
∿ Mordent
A quick ornament: play the note, the note above, then return to the main note.
𝄔 Turn
A four-note ornament: above the note, the note, below the note, the note again.
≈ Vibrato
Expressive pitch oscillation — a gentle wavering of pitch while the note sounds.
Draw mode — sketch & annotate
✎ Off
Normal note entry mode. This is the default — clicking places notes.
𝅘 Sketch
Draw a small oval on the staff to automatically place a note at that pitch. Good for rough sketching with a stylus or tablet.
✏ Annotate
Freehand drawing on an overlay layer. Doesn't affect notes — use it for markings, fingerings, conductor notes, rehearsal comments.
Color dots
Choose the annotation pen color: red, green, blue, white, or amber.
Pen width
Three sizes: thin (2px), medium (4px), thick (7px). Shown as small circles.
⌫ Clear
Erases all annotations. Doesn't affect notes.
Export
Export PDF
Downloads a print-ready PDF of your score. Includes all staves, notes, lyrics, articulations, and key/time signature. Good for printing, sharing with bandmates, or keeping a record.
Export MP3
Renders the playback as an audio file and downloads it as an MP3. All instruments and staves are mixed together.
Export MIDI
Downloads a MIDI file you can import into any DAW (GarageBand, Logic, Ableton, Pro Tools, etc.). Each instrument is on its own MIDI track with proper program numbers.
Keyboard shortcuts — quick reference
1
Whole note
2
Half note
3
Quarter note
4
Eighth note
5
Sixteenth note
D
Toggle dotted
T
Toggle triplet
R
Toggle rest mode
X
Toggle tie mode
S
Sharp
B
Flat
N
Natural
Space
Play / Stop
L
Lyrics mode
Delete
Delete selected note
CtrlZ
Undo