The Moving Playhead is a vertical line that moves across the sheet music at the speed you've set – bar by bar. It shows you exactly where you are in the piece.
You can also highlight whole bars, either instead of or in addition to the playhead. The bars light up one after another, making it really clear where you are.
Both make it a lot easier to play along: the Moving Playhead shows you exactly which note you're on, while the bar highlighting gives you a rough idea of which section you're in — with a bit more freedom in your timing.
Especially for beginners, this is a great way to get started reading music and not lose your place while playing.
You’ll find the options in the MIDI menu item or in the three-dot menu. By default, they’re already enabled. So when you hit Play, the playhead moves over the notes and the current bar gets highlighted automatically.
In scroll mode, the sheet music follows along automatically. In reading mode, you always see a whole page at once—and after the last bar, it goes to the next page for you.
No—these features are only available for our interactive sheet music.
Desktop: at the top of the menu bar
Smartphone: also at the top of the menu bar
Tablet: at the top of the menu bar
Smartphone: in the three-dot menu
Tablet: at the top of the menu bar
That can happen with older devices and older sheet music for technical reasons. We have to prepare every piece so the playhead works right.
If you notice anything off in a piece, just let us know—we'll fix it within 7 days.
Right now, there’s no way to connect OKTAV directly (for example via USB or Bluetooth) or indirectly (like with a microphone) to your piano or keyboard.
That means you can’t control the playhead, the bar display, or playback speed with your key presses just yet.
