I just got the new Kindle Fire tablet and was interested in seeing if I could use it to play chord charts. Churches are starting to use the iPad for charts but it’s $300 more than the Fire.
I’ve read just about every Kindle Fire review out there and here’s my summary: it’s no iPad, but it doesn’t want to be. The Fire is a media consumption device. I love the size of it – similar to a paperback book – and the iPad seems big to me in comparison.
It isn’t as elegant as an iPad – menus and screens are a little touchy but I assume this will improve as the software is refined (Amazon’s own version of the Android operating system.) I’ve wondered why anyone would ever need a tablet, then I found myself lying on the couch for an hour here and there reading news on my large screen Sprint Evo phone. The Fire is great for reading news as well as magazines, books and video. Games are beautiful. And it’s only $199.99 (the sales guy told me they’re selling like crazy.)
The smaller size makes it ideal to stick in your coat pocket, but is it big enough to read charts?
I took it to band rehearsal and church last week to test it out. I created a single PDF file of all our charts for last week, saved it to Dropbox, then opened them from the Dropbox app on the Fire (you have to “side load” the Dropbox app onto the Fire since it isn’t in the official Amazon App Store – Google “Kindle Fire Dropbox” for easy instructions – it only took a minute.) Holding the Fire in portrait mode will show the full chart but it’s too small to read. Landscape mode worked nicely but only about half the chart will display.
The stock Fire PDF reader is lousy. With a little research I found good reviews of the ezPDF Reader and bought it for $2.99. ezPDF let me navigate the charts easily – tapping the bottom of the screen scrolled to the bottom of the chart, tapping on the top of the screen scrolled to the top of the chart. Tapping left or right let me switch charts.
PraiseCharts.com’s new ChordShark feature lets you create chord charts in a 2 column format, allowing you to fit more info on the smaller Fire screen.
The small footprint of the Fire was perfect to sit on my keyboard. I also purchased the rooCASE Dual-View Multi Angle Leather Folio Case which has a stand built-in (see pics below of the Fire propped up on my keyboard.) It’s best to perch on a keyboard – guitarists might as well use an iPad on a stand.
The Fire wouldn’t work for sheet music but for charts it was pretty good. Praise songs aren’t rocket science and I usually have the songs memorized, but just having the first verse/chorus appear on the Fire screen as reference helped keep me on track.
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I’ve was able to get an HP Touchpad when they went on a fire sale and I use that for my music. The bigger screen works very nicely for chord charts and sheet music. I though as a guitarist it wouldn’t be all that easy because I’d have to stop strumming to “turn the page”, but it’s actually easier because it’s a quick finger swipe. All I have to do is make sure I plan where I’ll be swiping so I don’t miss a build up or a chord change.
If you can find a ipad sized device with android (or an OS) that’s cheap, I say get it. Plus, you’ll never need book lights to read your music during your Christmas Eve service (and if you ever lose power on a Sunday morning you’ll be good to go)
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Hey Don,
Thanks for the article. I am all for using technology in worship services. We use ableton live, loops and clicks in our services and it’s great. Personally, I do not like the whole trend of iPad’s and Kindle Fire or any other device being used for displaying chord charts. I know that for myself, if I have something in front of me while leading worship, I look at it. A lot. I am not engaged and focused on leading, I am focused on my music. The sad thing is, even if I have the music memorized, I look at the music on the stand. I think that memorizing is the way to go, which I have seen you post about in the past. It helps you focus on other things, like worshiping, leading and engaging and not about what chord comes next.
Jeff
Don,
Thanks for posting this. I’m evaluating several 7″ tablets, including the Kindle Fire, and this has been one of the things I would use it for.
I hadn’t heard of the ChordShark feature – that might be worth checking out. Also, I wonder how well a 7″ tablet would do if you used it just for lyrics (perhaps with some notes or comments) instead of a full chord chart. A lot of times I’m good with the chord changes; it’s the lyrics that I need in front of me.
Again, thanks for posting this – very timely!
Peace,
Jay
We use Planning Center Online’s ipad app called Music Stand that taps into our weekly plan and automatically has our PDFs and you can make annotations on top of them. The guitar player has a Bluetooth foot pedal for turning pages.
Thank you for this article! I used an iPad with an iklip for my music and it worked amazingly well! Unfortunately my car burned to the ground with my iPad inside it
insurance on the car won’t pay for it and I can’t afford a new iPad…but I think I could swing 200! I already dearly miss having my music backlit and in viewing range!