Guitar Sight Reading Trainer app for iPhone and iPad
4.8 (
3808 ratings )
Music
Education
Developer:
Rolfs Apps
1.99 USD
Current version:
6.06, last update: 3 months ago
First release : 13 Sep 2010
App size: 10.25 Mb
Sight-reading skills open the door to reading written music and familiarizing yourself with various music styles. Sight-reading is not a daunting task, and with sufficient practice, anyone can develop this valuable skill.
Our app is designed to help you quickly identify notes across every part of the fretboard, with a special focus on positional playing.
By enhancing your sight-reading abilities, youll find it easier to focus on other musical aspects like harmony and rhythm.
Features:
PRACTICE & TEST MODE
- Four different modes of use:
1. Locate notes on the fretboard based on the notes in staff.
2. Locate notes on the fretboard based on note name and pitch.
3. Find the names of notes on the staff (without the fretboard)
4. Identify the names of notes presented on the fretboard.
- Automatic detection of problematic notes.
KEY SIGNATURES & SCALES
- Key signature support, from 1 to 6 sharps or 1 to 6 flats.
- Automatic selection of the enharmonic notes for each scale to prevent double sharps or double flats in the key signature.
- Scales include major, minor, melodic minor, harmonic minor, blues, pentatonic, and all modal scales.
FRETS, STRINGS & NOTE SELECTION
- Frets are grouped to limit the number of notes to practice and test.
- Predefined fret groups, e.g., 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 0-12, 13-17, etc.
- You can define custom fret groups.
- The highlighted fret group is displayed on the fretboard.
- Your sight-reading progress is tracked per fret group.
- The longest streak record per fret group measures your sight-reading accuracy.
- You can select specific strings for the highlighted area.
- Test notes can be limited to naturals or notes from a selected scale.
READ AHEAD
- Reading ahead is a crucial skill for effective sight-reading.
- You can adjust the number of notes to read ahead.
OTHER
- More than 15 alternate guitar tunings e.g., drop D, NST (new standard tuning) and all fourths tuning.
- Support for left-handed guitars.
- Option to display the fretboard in perspective (in landscape mode).
- A universal app compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
- Supports all screen sizes.
- No ads or in-app purchases.
- Dark mode support (iOS 13+).
- Tested on iOS and iPadOS 17.
Pros and cons of Guitar Sight Reading Trainer app for iPhone and iPad
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer app good for
With the new landscape mode, this is a great app for learning guitar notes at sight. The best Ive seen so far!
Nicely thought out application. As a lefty, I really appreciate the support for left-handed players. Theres plenty of customization available so you can focus on problem areas of the fretboard/staff. Areas for improvement?
1) Allow settings to be saved and restored. My daughter is a righty and just learning guitar. It takes me a good few minutes to reconfigure the settings to suit her needs. Being able to restore a group of settings would be great.
2) Better visualization of stats. Look at typing tutor programs for inspiration.
3) Frequently get the same note twice in a row. Suggest tweaking the random generator to avoid this.
4) On a similar point, I dont feel like the app is concentrating on problem notes. #2 might help with this.
Enough reviewing though, going back to earn gold circles on the 9-12 position ...
This is an excellent app! However, I wish double stops and chords could be included in future versions.
Well worth the price!
This is a great app for learning individual notes of the fret board. Ive known lots of finger shapes to play chords but always wished I knew the note named in those shapes! This app made that wish come true (with alot of practice) Thanks for a great app.
This app is extremely useful for brushing up on single note site reading or focusing on some weaker positions on the fretboard. The interface is excellent and very simple to use.
A great feature is the ability to reduce the "think time" (time to name the notes). Another is the ability to zero in on a couple of frets.
Areas for improvement -
1. the app is limited to single notes. It would be great to use sheet music to learn how to actually sight read. Combine it with your rhythm trainer and you would have the total package.
2. A stand alone chord trainer using the principles of this app would be excellent.
3. A real guitar interface would allow the user to use his guitar to play the notes.
This application is very helpful, especially for the serious guitarist who wants to advance their music reading skills, and note knowledge of the fretboard.
I made a feature request for this and another app of the same developer, he was very receptive and implemented the features as promised. Recommended!
Some bad moments
I have played guitar for many years, and always used TABS and chords to figure them out. Now I am ready to advance to sight reading and wish I had done this when I first began. This little tool is very handy for drilling the notes on the fret board. In a few minutes, I had improved my knowledge noticeably. Its easy to understand, and, given the constraints on my iPod (small screen and big clumsy fingers), is well designed.
Only dificulty is that when designating a note, you must touch the close to the fret rather than area behind the fret where my finger would actually land when playing the note. The point where the app decides which fret you are designating seems to be halfway between frets and when I touch where my finger would really land, it could select the fret above or below. This isnt too dificult to get the hang of . . . . and not a deal killer for me deciding to buy this.
Its not loaded down with fancy features and does what its supposed to do. Its a great application to hone skills while waiting at the dentist, airport, or on a break at the office. Others my argue that it might not be worth the 2.99 that I paid, but for me, it is a bargain. Heck, I would have thrown in another penny to make it an even $3.00. The only reason that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is just a tool and I dont want to mislead others into thinking this is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I love this app. Been trying to learn guitar for years. I know the value of being able t sightread music and this app ties it together. The app is a bit of a no-frills app, as there is not much customizing you can do. For example I would like an option to leave the sharps and flats off. Also if it had a "review" type lesson that would show you the notes on certain strings. Practice mode is close but you just pick what note you want to see. Still if you want to learn music and the notes on the guitar I reccomend this. If you cant sightread at all you might check out another app to learn that first. I suggest iReadMusic app it rocks. But then get this app too.
I used this app for 5 seconds, and have seen quick improvement already. Keep working on this! Features maybe like a melody trainer would make this perfect. Also, please make it easier to touch the open string options; it can be a pain at the moment.
This app is great for learning and all you need instead of a ten dollar guitar book! Great app but should include chords too
The app does what it is supposed to do and quite well. Im a little astonished actually. My guitar sight reading has improved 150% in less than 24hrs! I went from 30% accuracy to 75% in less than a day. In all fairness, I was warmed up with an app called NoteBrainer though. Like that app, this app could use a game and scoring option. So you can at least compete against yourself for a predefined set of time. Check out Notebainer to see what Im talking about.
Other improvements: better sound quality and is there an option to learn scales? Other than that i cant believe Im site reading guitar! Fantastic job. Keep up the good work.
Does exactly what it says it will. For beginning guitarists (like me) its a great tool for learning your way around the fret board. Even for seasoned guitarists it can serve as a good refresher course. Totally worth it if you really want to learn note positions on the guitar.
