Apps for the Musically Minded

I tend to flit from hobby to hobby. One of the hobbies that I keep coming back to is the classical guitar. Recently I have taken to surfing the App Store to look for apps that can be of use to me as an amateur musician. More recently (i.e. yesterday) I bought myself a cheap ukulele just to have some fun. These are just a few free apps that have been extremely helpful to me. FYI, the emboldened title is the exact name of each app.

Tuning Apps:

'Ukulele Tuner'

This is an extremely simple and useful app. Simply tap the four string buttons and it produces the audio clip required for each string. Unlike, its guitar tuner counterpart (mentioned below) this app has no issues with touch recognition.

'Guitar Tuner'

This app is similar to the ukulele app. However, instead of being able to touch buttons that correspond to certain strings, this app requires you to tap the string itself. This can be problematic because the touch recognition on this app is obviously flawed. Sometimes you will have to tap a string a few times before it emits the tone. However, for the price of FREE, I am not complaining.

Chord Apps:

'UkeFinger'

'FretBoard LE:Visualize Chords and Scales'

Both of these apps seem to be useful for anyone requiring a visual representation of any chord imaginable on the ukulele. However, I am quite impatient and have not been able (or bothered) to get to grips with their rather confusing interfaces. UkeFinger allows for up to three chords to be displayed at one time while FretBoard does not. Anyone who is willing to put in the time to understand how these apps really work will assuredly be rewarded with helpful and free ukulele chord-finding experience.

'Chord Master LE'

This isn't actually the app I use for my guitar chords, however, I can't track down the one I use on the App Store. It's name is simply 'GuitarChords' and if you find it, grab it. However, Chord Master LE is another free guitar chord app that is simple to use and has a really nice looking interface. As you can see from the picture, you can select the key on the upper slider and then the modifier on the lower slider.

Conclusion:

These sort of apps have really made playing my instruments easier. The tuners are especially useful in that they are dead-simple to use and the fact that most people keep their iPhone/iPod Touch nearby means that these apps are a must for any musicians.