# Touch Notation — Musical score handwriting app

> Handwrite musical scores with touch gestures and playback. (iPhone/iPad app by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-notation/id890358046 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/448581784)
- Category: Music
- Price: $9.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 2.90/5 from 21 App Store ratings · 79 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 11.0 · 112 MB
- Languages: American English, Japanese
- Released: 2015-03-20
- Data updated: 2026-09-02
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-notation/id890358046/reviews.md

## What is Touch Notation?

Touch Notation is a powerful musical score creation app that allows anyone to enjoy writing music using touch gestures.

In Japan, Touch Notation was selected as one of the ‘App Store Best of 2014’ apps, and held the No.1 spot in the iPad Paid App index for music apps for over two weeks.

Up until now, musical score creation software has relied upon dragging individual notes from a palette onto staves.  By contrast, Touch Notation allows musicians to draw directly onto the score using a finger or touch pen, and have their work immediately appear as beautifully written notation, then played back using the app’s 30 built-in instrument voices.

-	A wide-range of functions accessible from a cleanly designed, intuitive user interface.
-	Ability to enter musical expressions for adjusting tempo and dynamics.
-	Layout functions such as page breaks.
-	Convenient transpose feature for raising/lowering the pitch of the entire score.
-	Output scores using Air Print, or save to Dropbox in PDF, SMF, MusicXML, and ScoreMaker formats.

Touch Notation allows the following musical symbols to be entered by hand:

-	Note, Rest (including dotted and double-dotted), Long Rest, Beam, Tuplet (Triplet)
-	Grace Note
-	Accidental, Tie, Slur
-	Accent, Staccato, Tenuto, Fermata
-	Trill, sfz, Arpeggio, Pedal, Senza
-	Metronome symbol
-	Crescendo, Decrescendo
-	Dynamics symbols (ppp~fff)
-	Octave symbol
-	Repeat brackets
-	Repeat marks (D.C./Fine/D.S./Segno/Coda/to Coda)
-	Clefs (Treble Clef/Bass Clef/C Clef/Percussion Clef)
-	Key signature
-	Time signature
-	Bar lines (repeat marks)
-      Abbreviation

Lyrics and other musical expressions (‘Dolce’, ‘Tranquillo’, etc.) can be added using text input, while comments and memos can also be written freehand directly onto the score.

* Drum notation is supported, but other types such as rhythm notation and tab notation are not supported.
* Older devices may experience stuttering when playing complicated scores with many simultaneous notes.

## Key features

- Handwritten notation input
- 30 built-in instrument voices
- Tempo and dynamics control
- Page layout functions
- Transpose feature
- Multiple export formats (PDF, SMF, MusicXML)

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $9.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sound Set: Full | $2.99 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Piano | $0.49 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Guitar/Bass 1 | $0.49 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Strings | $0.49 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Brass/Woodwind | $0.49 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Bell/Mallet | $0.49 | one-time |
| Sound Set: Vocal/Others | $0.49 | one-time |
| Core MIDI Output | $1.99 | one-time |
| Handwritten Font | $1.99 | one-time |
| Chord Name & Automatic Accompaniment | $3.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 79)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-notation/id890358046/reviews.md

### 3/5 — 価格の割に素晴らしいが...

*2026-06-21*

確認の割には機能的に素晴らしいが、とにかく使い方が複雑で、視覚的に操作しにくい。まずマニュアルを一通り見て基本操作を覚えないと勘だけでスムーズにやりたいことができずイライラが募る。慣れればある程度の事はできるので返金までは求めないが、ちょっと残念。もう少し価格を上げても良いので視覚的に使いやすくした方が良い。あと、itunesじゃなくてicloudでもバックアップ出来るようにしてほしい。

### 2/5 — 今度は新規作成が開けない

*2026-04-24*

アップデートされて反応は良くなったのですが
何と新規作成ボタンが全く見つからず💦

新しく追加された
×ボタンや画面の縮小ボタンなどと3つの赤と緑と黄色のボタンが新規作成の+ボタンの上に乗っかって見えないし、押せない
という非常事態です。

新規作成が出来ないのは困りますので
早急に対応お願いいたします。

### 3/5 — イラつく

*2026-04-06*

指先で入力はクセ強い。他のレビューと同じく反応おかしい！周りにやってられるかって使わない人いるし。
転調は改善歓迎。
でも基本的な入力に対する反応なんとかしないとコチラもヒマでないので他のアプリとの出会いを求めて浮気するかも。

### 1/5 — 初代iPad Airで動かなくなった

*2026-04-03*

1.2.6にアップデートしたら全く起動しなくなりました。

### 4/5 — ここが惜しい....

*2026-03-19*

有料追加コンテンツのコードネーム、自動伴奏の機能がありますが自動伴奏のデフォルトスタイルはドラムでメトロノームのような音が鳴ります。純粋なF♭などのコードの音と音符を聴きたいだけなのに！

### 2/5 — 練習記号(練習番号)を入力したい

*2026-03-14*

このアプリで楽譜を入力してメンバーに渡しているのですが四角の中にA Bとか表示する練習記号(練習番号)を入力出来るようにして欲しいです。
合わせる時に、途中のどこから開始するかメンバーで共通して認識するのに使いたい。
なぜ機能がないのか疑問です。
強く強くお願いします。

2026年3月14日追記
画面を拡大して入力していて、入力ミスして一つ前に戻る矢印の操作などの上部サークルの操作を行うと入力画面が譜面の上部へ都度移動する挙動がする。今までこんな挙動はしなかった。ちゃんと動作確認してますか？直ぐ直して下さい。

### 1/5 — iOS更新で更に使いづらく

*2026-03-09*

数字や強弱記号の認識がされづらいのに加えて、最近iOS更新と共に更に使いづらくなりました。一手前に戻る↺ボタンを押すと、ページの上部に強制送還されます。毎回ストレスです。あと、マークアップ機能は商品説明に載っている写真のように使えたためしがありません。もっとか細い線で、消しゴム昨日もないので使えません。

### 3/5 — I REALLY wish y’all would upgrade this app

*2026-03-02*

Great music notation that got me through the years as a music student, the app was simple and not too complicated, but now it’s just glitchy. Kind of disappointing

### 1/5 — iPad を買い替えたら使えない

*2026-01-25*

iPadを買い替えた。このアプリは引き継がれなかったのでダウンロードした。するとほとんどの機能が使えなくなった。更新もできない。多分もうサポートしていないのだと思う。元の機能を回復する為に再購入しても良いと思うのだがそれもできない。古いiPadに作り込んだたくさんの楽譜が新しいiPad で使えないので困っている。

### 1/5 — 小節番号が邪魔

*2025-12-27*

ト音記号のだいぶ右に小節番号が自動で置かれてしまうのに♩♩♩機能で音価を整えると小節番号の上に高い音の音符が重なってしまい使い物にならない。これ考えた人本当にこれでいいと思ってるの？

## Frequently asked questions about Touch Notation

### What is Touch Notation?

Touch Notation is a powerful application designed for creating musical scores using intuitive touch gestures. It allows users to draw notes and symbols directly onto a staff, which are then instantly rendered as beautifully written notation. The app also includes playback functionality with 30 built-in instrument voices.

### What are the key features of Touch Notation?

Key features include direct handwritten input of a wide variety of musical symbols, the ability to enter musical expressions for tempo and dynamics, layout functions like page breaks, and a convenient transpose feature. Scores can be exported in PDF, SMF, MusicXML, and ScoreMaker formats.

### How much does Touch Notation cost?

The application is a paid app, meaning there is an upfront cost to purchase and download it from the app store. Specific pricing details can be found on the app's store page.

### What devices is Touch Notation compatible with?

The app is designed for touch devices, particularly optimized for iPads. While it supports drum notation, other types like rhythm notation and tab notation are not supported. Older devices may experience performance issues with very complex scores.

### What are common use cases for Touch Notation?

Common use cases include composing new music, arranging existing pieces, creating practice scores, and quickly jotting down musical ideas. Composers can easily experiment with different notations and playback options, and then share their work with others.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.6 — 2026-04-03

This update from Apple will improve the functionality of this app. No new features are included.

Minor fixes

### 1.2.5 — 2026-01-09

Minor fixes

### 1.2.004 — 2021-06-15

- Fixed a bug that the size of the file created by PDF export may become abnormally large.
- Fixed an issue where natural input might be mistaken for lyrics input.
- Various other bugs fixed.

### 1.2.003 — 2020-01-20

Fixed an issue that prevented lyrics from outputting when exporting to PDF or printing.

### 1.2.002 — 2019-12-26

- Added the ability to input lyrics.
- Added layout functions such as page break.
- When spacing with no measure selected, the vertical position of the staff and lyrics is now automatically adjusted.
- Various other bugs fixed.

## Apps similar to Touch Notation

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Symphony Pro - Music Notation](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/symphony-pro-music-notation/id412380315) | 3.8 (469) | $14.99 | Music |
| [Loopseque Mini](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/loopseque-mini/id406130470) | 4.0 (11) | $0.99 | Music |
| [Darbuka Beats: Tabla Drum Pad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/darbuka-beats-tabla-drum-pad/id6745232272) | 4.6 (29) | Free | Music |
| [Piano](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano/id304925021) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Music |
| [Air Synth](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/air-synth/id6746959898) | 5.0 (1) | $1.99 | Music |
| [Vinyl Record](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vinyl-record/id6448477385) | 4.5 (2) | $3.99 | Music |

## More apps by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

- [楽譜カメラ](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id448581781)
- [Touch Metronome](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-metronome/id685229133)
- [Touch Tuner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-tuner/id714823553)
- [Virtual Technician](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/virtual-technician/id948579667)
- [Sound Museum](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sound-museum/id1162511804)

All apps by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: https://appshunter.io/developer/448581784

## Related topics

[music notation score](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/music-notation-score)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*