How to use Violin Spark
Violin Spark helps violin students read a score, hear an example and follow first-position fingering guides.
Your first practice
- Choose a score. Start with a tune you know, such as Lightly Row or Ode to Joy. Use Open to import a MusicXML, compressed MusicXML (.mxl), MIDI or Violin Spark score Markdown (.md) file.
- Tune your violin. Open Tuner and check G3, D4, A4 and E5. Tap a string’s reference note to hear it. The reference is A4 = 440 Hz.
- Read at your own pace. Use the arrows to read note by note. Double-tap a measure to play from its beginning; double-tap empty space to pause. On phones, Play is in the bottom bar.
- Listen. Use Play to hear an example. Choose a sound and reduce the tempo if needed. Playback sounds change the example; fingering guides remain for violin.
- Play along. Pause the example and follow the highlighted note and fingering guide at your own pace.
Read the fingering symbols
A · 2▼ = A string, low 2nd finger
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| G / D / A / E | Violin string |
| 0 | Open string; no finger stops the string |
| 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | Index, middle, ring and little finger |
| ▼ Low | Lower placement toward the nut and scroll |
| ▲ High | Higher placement toward the bridge |
Low and high describe placement along the string. They do not describe string height or hand pressure. Both low and high 2nd finger are shown explicitly.
Automatic fingerings suggest 1st position with standard G–D–A–E tuning, in the range G3–B5. They often favour open strings. Fingerings written in your score take priority. Follow your teacher’s advice for shifts, extensions and other fingerings.
Finger position reference
Open View finger position beside a note’s fingering to see its landing point. Finger position reference in the annotation controls opens the first-position overview, even without a score. All finger positions shows twenty notes and their frequencies. Selecting a note focuses on its string; a crosshair and labelled pointer identify the fingertip position. The six examples follow the selected string. Score note returns to the score’s pitch; All finger positions clears the target. An open string marks only the nut, with no finger pressing there.
The four tapes mark finger 1, high 2, normal 3 and normal 4. Low 2 lies between the first and second tapes: fingers 1–2 are a semitone apart, and 2–3 a whole tone apart. High 2 lies on the second tape: fingers 1–2 are a whole tone apart, and 2–3 a semitone apart. Low 1 is before the first tape. High 3 and low 4 share a point between tapes 3 and 4, but use different fingers; keep the fingering written in your score.
Selected notes, landing-point labels, finger comparisons and examples show fixed-Do syllables: C = Do, D = Re, E = Mi, F = Fa, G = Sol, A = La and B = Si. Accidentals keep the score’s spelling, such as Do♯ for C♯ and Mi♭ for E♭.
The diagram preserves relative string-length positions. Neighbouring fingers use the usual tape positions as an explicit comparison, not a complete hand pattern inferred from the score. Close fingers still have separate landing points. Tape and finger width vary; listen to adjust intonation. The diagram is not a millimetre ruler.
Learning aids and score layout
Settings has five categories: Score, Audio, Appearance, Tools and General. Score groups browsing, import, MIDI tracks, transposition and export. Audio groups sounds, effects, tempo and the score metronome. Appearance includes score layout, annotations, colors and background. Tools combines the tuner, independent metronome, Home screen tools and step reading. General contains language and Restore settings. Help remains available within settings.
In Tools, Open a tool starts the tuner or independent metronome. Show on home screen separately controls the Tuner, Metronome and Tone shortcuts; tapping a name or switch only changes visibility. All three shortcuts are shown by default. Sounds and effects stay in Audio, including when Tone is hidden. The home metronome follows the score and keeps its Stop button visible while running. Your choices are saved on this device.
Appearance has four tabs. Overall layout controls paper width, note spacing and line spacing. Annotations controls learning aids, label size and placement. Colors controls string colors and the highlighted note. Background changes the reading backdrop. Reset affects only the current tab; Background has its own Remove action. Changes are automatically saved on this device.
All labels below is the default placement and the result of resetting annotations. You can also choose Fingers above · names below, or adjust each vertical offset with Fine-tune positions. Placement does not change paper width, note spacing or label size. Guide symbols and words follow the finger number. Your custom placement is saved on this device.
Fingering symbols are enabled by default. Fingers hides or shows automatic fingerings; Guide cycles through symbols, words and off. Notes shows written pitches, including flats and sharps from the score. Fixed Do is optional and uses C = Do and B = Si in every key. The numbered notes in More note details also use C = 1.
Use Layout to change label size, vertical offsets and line spacing. String colors help you distinguish strings, while the letter and finger number remain readable without color. On phones, these options are in the controls menu. Full screen shows the score full-screen; use the exit button or press Escape to leave.
A dense measure may need wider paper to keep its notes and fingerings readable. Swipe or scroll sideways when the score shows a sideways-scrolling hint. Moving to the next note keeps the highlighted note in view.
Find a score
The score picker shows Recent and Favorites. The book-shaped Library button opens your scores and folders in one view. Browse all scores, recent scores, favorites or a folder, and search within that location. List and Shelf show each score file separately. Folders have one level; use Batch actions to move several scores at once. Changes save directly. Deleting a folder keeps its scores, favorites and practice records.
The star saves the exact score version. Recent keeps up to twelve successfully opened scores. Imported originals, organization, favorites and practice settings are saved on this device. Importing identical bytes reopens the existing entry; different contents remain separate even with the same filename. Organizing never changes the original file. Device storage is not a backup or account sync.
Choose a playback sound
Choose an instrument and sound source. Fine-tune adjusts the selected sound; these adjustments are remembered separately for each voice. On iPad, Sound opens a spacious panel with large controls.
Preview plays the same short phrase for each sound so you can compare sources. It keeps your reading position and restores the score tempo. Closing sound settings, switching sounds or leaving the page stops the preview. Pause score playback or close the tuner before previewing.
Microphone practice and games are unavailable in this version.
Export and background images
PNG saves the complete displayed score with your enabled annotations and a fingering legend. PNG · ≤3× requests higher resolution. Large images automatically fit the export limits; the result shows the actual pixel size. MIDI saves the note sequence for playback in other music tools. MIDI contains note pitches, so enharmonic spellings such as A♯ and B♭ are not retained as written notation.
Background images are decorative and stay outside score exports. Select a JPEG, PNG or WebP under 12 MB, 16 megapixels and 8192 pixels per side.
For microphone, sound or file problems, see Support. Read how local data is handled on the Privacy page.