Discover all the powerful features of Smartsheets in this complete tutorial.
Smartsheet FAQ's
Find answers for frequently asked questions regarding Smartsheets.
Q. What is the difference between PWJ Lesson Sheets and PWJ Smartsheets?
Q. Where do I find Smartsheets?
Q. How do I listen to playback of a Smartsheet?
Q. How do I change the key of (transpose) a Smartsheet?
Q. How do I change the playback tempo of a Smartsheet?
Q. Can I "loop" a section of the Smartsheet for continuous playback?
Q. How do I listen to Smartsheet playback while watching a viewable piano keyboard?
Q. How do I adjust the playback volume separately for each hand?
Q. Can I convert a Smartsheet piano score into a lead sheet or chord chart?
Q. Can I print a hard copy of the sheet music from the Smartsheet notation?
Q. Should I use Smartsheets in portrait or landscape orientation?
Q. Why am I having trouble with scrolling on Smartsheets?
Q. What is the difference between PWJ Lesson Sheets and PWJ Smartsheets?
A. Lesson sheets are downloadable PDFs that accompany our Courses and QuickTips with sheet music examples. Smartsheets are an interactive digital notation tool that uses a software called Soundslice.
Smartsheets allow you to do the following:
- Listen to playback of the music notation
- Transpose the sheet music to a different key
- View an listen to playback on a digital keyboard
- Loop audio playback for any section
- Play with a metronome
- View one hand at a time
- Download or print the sheet music (Premium and copyrighted songs are separate)
Q. Where do I find Smartsheets?
A. Smartsheets resources are included with your PWJ membership. However, you must be "logged in" to use them.
There are three ways to navigate to Smartsheet resources:
- To browse our entire Smartsheet catalogue, click or tap Library from the PWJ homepage and a pop up menu appears with the four resource types along the left column: Courses, Lessons, Quick Tips, and Sheet Music. Click or tap on Sheet Music to view all available Smartsheets. Use the filter to locate specific resources by arrangement type, skill level, music style, learning focus or arranger.
- Use the search field found in the top navigation bar next to the Piano with Jonny logo to search for Smartsheet resources by a specific keyword or phrase such as a title, topic or musical style. If necessary, use the Content Type filter to show Smartsheets search results only.
- If you are currently viewing a Course or Quick Tip that features a Smartsheet companion resource, the word Smartsheet will appear in the navy blue Member options box below the lesson video. Click or tap on the word Smartsheet to navigate directly to the Smartsheet companion content.
Q. How do I listen to playback of a Smartsheet?
A. The Play button ▷ is located on the left side of the Soundslide control bar.
Q. How do I change the key of (transpose) a Smartsheet?
A. The transposition feature is located in the Settings panel. Access Settings by clicking or tapping on the Settings icon ⚙ on the right side of the Soundslice control bar. Once the Settings panel appears, locate Transposition and drag the horizontal slider right to raise the key or left to lower the key.
Q. How do I change the playback tempo of a Smartsheet?
A. The current tempo is listed under the letters "BPM" near the center of the control bar. Click or tap the + or - to increase or decrease the tempo in increments of 5 BPM (beat per minute). You can also tap or click directly on the current tempo number to type in a specific tempo.
Q. Can I "loop" a section of the Smartsheet for continuous playback?
A. Yes, the Loop icon ⟲ is located in the Soundslice control bar and allows you to select specific measures or score portions for repeated playback. When you click or tap on the ⟲, you will see two cursors. Drag the cursors until the section you want to loop is enclosed. To play the loop with a count-in, tap or click the "..." on the terminal cursor and select "Play with count-in."
Q. How do I listen to Smartsheet playback while watching a viewable piano keyboard?
A. Click or tap on the keyboard icon in the Soundslice control bar to toggle the keyboard visualizer on or off.
Q. How do I adjust the playback volume for separately for each hand?
A. Click or tap the volume icon to view independent volume sliders for each staff. You can also change the playback instrument sound from this menu.
Q. Can I convert a Smartsheet piano score into a lead sheet or chord chart?
A. Yes, if you don't desire a grand staff piano score, you can create a lead sheet or chord chart by adjusting the Instrument appearance in the Settings panel. Access Settings by clicking or tapping on the Settings icon ⚙ on the right side of the Soundslice control bar. To create a lead sheet, click or tap "solo" on the top row. To create a chord chord only, tap the notation icon ♫ on both rows so that they appear grey—however, be sure that the chord symbol icon in the top row remains orange.
Q. Can I print a hard copy of the sheet music from the Smartsheet notation?
A. Yes, most PWJ Courses and Quick Tips can be printed from the Settings panel. Access Settings by clicking or tapping on the Settings icon ⚙ on the right side of the Soundslice control bar. Then, click or tap on Print to launch the print dialogue box. For some resources, the Print menu does not appear on the Settings panel—these resources cannot be printed due to publisher's restrictions.
Q. Should I use Smartsheets in portrait or landscape orientation on iPad Pro?
A. Smartsheets will work in both portrait and landscape orientation on Apple's iPad Pro and other tablets. For most applications, we recommend using landscape orientation because it maximizes the size of the Soundslice window.
Q. I have trouble reading sheet music because of my eyesight. Can I resize or zoom in on the Smartsheet notation?
A. Yes, Smartsheets are resizeable! In fact, corrective lens are designed to help you see near or far, but the distance of a piano's music rest is somewhat of a "no man's land." Smartsheets allow you to resize the notation so that it is comfortable for your eyes. Simply follow these steps:
- Click or Tap the Settings icon ⚙ on the Soundslice control bar
- Under Layout, click or tap "Fluid"
- Under Zoom, drag the slider right or left until the notation is comfortable to read
- To reset the notation to its default size, click or tap "Paged" under Layout
Note: on iPad you can also pinch with two fingers directly on the Soudslice notation to enlarge or decrease the notation size. However, if the layout is not set to "Fluid", then zooming in will cause some of the music to expand outside of viewable area.
Q. Why am I having trouble with scrolling on Smartsheets?
A. There are two different "zones" on a PWJ Smartsheet and each zone has its own scroll fuctionality. Another way to understand this is that the Soundslice notation is a "window-within-a-window."
The Inner Zone / Soundslice Window: the inner window can be scolled vertically on a mobile device (smartphone/tablet/iPad) by tapping and dragging directly on the music notation. To scroll the Soundslice notation vertically on a desktop broswer, be sure your cursor is hovering on the Soundslice winw before attempting to scroll.
The Outer Zone / Entire Webpage: On a mobile device (smartphone/tablet/iPad), be sure to touch above or below the Soundslice notation to scroll the entire webpage. On a desktop browser, make sure your cursor is not hovering on the Soundslice notation if you want to scroll the entire webpage to view content above or below the the Soundslice window.