*Updated* My Favorite Apps (for Musicians)

Click here to read my other post regarding apps for musicians.

SymphonyPro

($9.99) available on iOS

This app is only available on the iPad, but it is my favorite for composing and arranging music when I don’t have my laptop with me. It does cost money, but I think it is completely worth it. The app has most of the features of a full computer notation program, plus the touch screen gives it a very user friendly interface. You can create a score right in the app and you can choose from a bunch of instruments. Most contemporary orchestral instruments as well as voice, guitar, and possibly a couple others. You can write all instruments in concert pitch and then the app can transpose the parts accordingly when the piece is complete. You can change both the key and time signatures in the middle of a score, add repeat signs and first and second endings, and use various articulations. You can also change a track to a different instrument if you like, this is only for the entire piece. My favorite feature is probably the onscreen piano keyboard. It allows you to enter notes very easily and you don’t have to worry about inputting the wrong note.

NOTE: The three following apps are available on iOS in a bundle.

Music Journal

($6.99) available on iOS

This app is a good way to keep track of what and how much you practice each day. You can time yourself as you practice, or you can input an amount of time if you want to log your practice that way. You can add folders and different “songs”. I have a folder for each of my instruments and various songs for different areas of practice such as warm ups, technical exercises, and études as well as a track for each repertoire piece I have. In order to organize everything further, you can color code the different items you have. If you don’t have a metronome, there is one built into the app, and you can use that to track your progress with regards to tempo. I have never used this feature, however, because I have another app for that which you can find later in this post.

Do Re Mi Ear Training

($6.99) available on iOS

I have not used this app a ton yet, but it is great if you need to work on your aural skills. It plays a chord and then a single pitch in the key, and you have to correctly guess the note. You can have the app play between one and three (possibly more) notes in a row for you to guess. There are different levels of difficulty that you can choose from to practice and test yourself.

Do Re Mi Voice Training

($9.99) available on iOS

This voice training app helps you improve your pitch accuracy. You need to give the app permission to use the microphone so that it can detect the pitch of your voice and determine how close or far you are from a note. I have only used it once, but it is cool how the app knows what note you are attempting to sing. I plan to use this more in the future to help me with the sight singing part of my aural skills class.

NOTE: This ends the bundle.

MusiciansKit

(Free) available on iOS

This app is great to have on your phone, because it has a tuner, metronome, and voice recorder all in one. The tuner allows you to select whatever pitch you want to play, and it can sense the pitch of your instrument. With the metronome, you can set the tempo from 40-280. You can also set the number of beats from 1-16 and subdivisions from 1-8.

YouTube 

(Free) available on iOS & Google Play

YouTube is great for listening to recordings of pieces that you’re working on. YouTube is also a good place to promote yourself and your music.

YouTube Capture

(Free) available on iOS

If you post videos on YouTube for fun or as a way to get your voice out there, you should get this app. It allows you to post videos to YouTube very easily, but it still takes time for the video to go through the upload process.

A PDF Reader

Many are available on the different smart phones: search your app store.

The PDF reader to get depends on you and what you need. Some allow you to highlight and annotate documents, others are solely for the purpose of reading a document on your device. An app like this is good for viewing sheet music on the go or when you are at home. You can view the music for a piece you are working on and decide whether or not you want to download it. If you play flute, check out My Favorite Flute Sites where I list a few sheet music websites that I have used.

As you can see, most of these apps are for iOS. That is the platform I use for my phone and tablet, even though I do not actually use a Mac. I plan on going into more detail on what I like about iOS and how I use that software and Apple hardware in a post sometime in the future.
Thanks for reading!