In the age of digital technology, musicians have a plethora of tools at their disposal to enhance their practice, performance, and overall musical experience. Whether you're a beginner seeking guidance or a professional musician looking to refine your skills, here are the top 5 must-have mobile applications for classical musicians. This list is my personal selection.
 
  • Perfect Ear: Music & Rhythm

    Perfect Ear is a free and enjoyable music education app that serves as a virtual music school. It offers high-quality ear training, rhythm training, solfège lessons, music theory, and note reading exercises. Whether you're a beginner or a professional musician, Perfect Ear provides a range of exercises to enhance your skills. Key features include customizable ear and rhythm training exercises, beginner-friendly music theory articles, melodic dictation, sight-reading training, absolute pitch training, and a comprehensive scale dictionary. The app is praised by music teachers worldwide, and users can practice with a piano, guitar, or MIDI keyboard. Perfect Ear is highly rated on the Play Store and aims to improve musicianship for users of all levels. 
     
    Why I like it: Although the app has many features, it is easy to navigate and the UI is beautiful as well. There are a lot of free exercises, if you need more, you can get a lot for the price of a coffee.

     
  • Tuner - Pitched

    The Pitched Instrument Tuner and Pitch Pipe is a versatile app designed by musicians for tuning various instruments like ukulele, violin, guitar, kalimba, and more. It is suitable for beginners with simple controls and clear visuals, while its responsive algorithms offer professional accuracy for advanced players. Features include multiple instrument tunings, adjustable reference pitch, transposition for non-concert pitch instruments, theme options, volume sensitivity adjustment, and a pitch pipe for tuning by ear. The app offers hands-free tuning and has two modes: Instrument Tuner and Chromatic Tuner. The instrument tuner displays target notes for selected instruments, while the chromatic tuner identifies the closest note played. The app uses a traditional tuner needle and dial to show frequency, nearest note, and error in cents. Additionally, it functions as a pitch pipe for tuning by ear.
     
    Why I like it: A tuner doesn't need a lot a features but has to be precise, fast and convenient. That is what this app offers.

  • Easy Metronome

    Easy Metronome is a precise and user-friendly app designed for musicians who need a reliable tool. It offers control over the tempo, customizable beats, and the ability to tap the beat for ease. The app is versatile, allowing customization of time signatures, subdivisions, and different sounds. Although it is being continuously updated, the app remains simple and easy to use.
     
    Why I like it: No ads, beautiful UI and great functionality. Clearly the best metronome app in my opinion.

     
  • TomPlay

    Tomplay is a comprehensive music application that provides thousands of classical, pop, and jazz sheet music accompanied by high-quality recordings made by professional musicians. Tailored for various instruments such as piano, string, wind instruments, drums, and vocals, users can play along with backing tracks and practice at different difficulty levels. The app also allows users to customize tempo, record and playback performances, add annotations to scores, print annotated scores, and focus on specific passages. Developed in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, Tomplay is trusted by over 1 million musicians in 157 countries, offering a versatile and high-quality music learning experience.



     
    Why I like it: I subscribed to TomPlay to use it with my students; however, I also discovered that I derive a lot of joy from playing with it. There are fantastic backing tracks available in various genres for every skill level. 
    enlightenedClick on this link to get 2 week subscription for free!

     
  • Tuning Charts

    Tuning woodwind instruments has long been a challenge, as many factors influence the intonation, such as the construction of the instrument, the mouthpiece or the reed. Comparing these factors with a traditional tuner is very time-consuming.
    Tuningcharts is an AI-driven web application that offers the fastest and most accurate solution to analyze pitch tendencies and timbre. All you have to do is play a chromatic scale and you will receive a personalized chart within seconds. There are many great features to come, such as personalized recommendations, public library and alternate fingering analyzer. 

     
    enlightenedSign-up now by clicking here and make your first charts for Free!

 

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Tuning Charts

Test your pitch tendencies with AI!

 

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  • Dolby On


    The Dolby On recording app transforms your phone into a powerful recording tool with advanced Dolby audio technology. It allows you to effortlessly record various audio content, such as songs, podcasts, rehearsals, and more, with high-quality sound. The app offers automatic studio effects, including noise reduction, spatial audio, EQ, and more. You can enhance and edit your recordings using the audio editor and share them on social platforms. Dolby On also provides powerful audio processing features like noise reduction, dynamic EQ, compression, and pro limiting. With intuitive sound editing tools, you can customize your recordings with various effects and styles. The app supports external microphones and allows you to import recordings from other apps for further editing. Overall, Dolby On provides a user-friendly experience for capturing and editing audio and video content with the benefit of advanced Dolby audio processing.

     
    Why I like it: much better sound quality compared to the built-in recorded. The additional effects (noise reduction, spatial audio etc.) come pretty handy for quick recordings. Easy-to-use UI.

  • Loopify - Live Looper

Loopify provides a convenient solution for those who prefer not to carry a loop station to every room where they practice. It also enables musicians to create quick multitrack recordings with easy yet powerful effects.

I have just tried it because live looping is a relatively new and interesting way of making music, especially with acoustic instruments. This is not sponsored content, but I couldn't find any other live looper for Android that is both user-friendly and offers such great features (built-in effects, collaboration, built-in calibration mode, USB Audio Interface support, easy and fast panning, cutting, overlapping tracks, etc.).

 

Which mobile apps do you use and why? Let me know in the comments!

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