Since becoming an iPhone owner I discovered the world of Apps. Actually I new about apps when I got an iTouch at school. After some time I have grown to appreciate the multitude of tools available for free or at least very inexpensive with just a few clicks. As a band director I find tuners and metronomes all too often lacking in my students cases, or backpacks, or anywhere! BUT...iPhones and Droids are not lacking! Connecting students with good tools to help them develop as musicians is one of my goals this year. So many are free, so there's no excuse that I don't have the money to buy an expensive tuner. I have one by ClearChannel that cost $2.99, it's chromatic and displays pitch in 3 ways, including hertz. The dial is easy to read, and there is the classic view as well. Metronomes are available as well, and some are free. Multitrack recorders are available, as well as pitch pipes and drum machines.
WARNING: I'm not a fan of getting music for free in an illegal fashion, so don't share apps that can steal other peoples livelihood, please.
The variety is very cool, so...
...this is the place to share your apps that are useful as a music teacher or musician. What say you!?
Top iPhone apps - click here to see some cool music apps!
Tuner - Cleartune makes a terrific app for around $2.99. This tuner allows calibration, transposition, equal temperament, stretched tuned guitar, violin family, pythgorean, pythagorean just, standard just intonation, meantone options, well tempered options, and French options. Needle damping, frequency display, pitch pipe waveform in sine, triangle, sawtooth, or square wave. As you can see, it offers more than most of us will ever need, but everything you'd ever need.
ReplyDeleteI like the aesthetics of the face because of the traditional tuning dial, but the additional Hz or octave view at the top of the screen. I find it extremely precise and very smooth in its function. Great for students that have iPhones, iPods, iPads, or any device they already own without having to spend $30 on a separate tuner!
Music Dictionary 101 - powered by Music Theory HD, and VirtualTEK, this app provides a large database for musical terminology. Highly useful for students and teachers needing definitions found on music that they might not know on the spot. This is a FREE app that will greatly expand the musical vocabulary of your students, and maybe yourself. While this app provides the most common terms used daily, it is not comprehensive in its database. But for FREE, its excellent and very convenient!
ReplyDeletechordchanger.scorelessmusic.com - definitely handy for transposing a song in your choir that is too high or low for your members. This app provides a keyboard view with numbers on the keys displaying chords, i.e. the 4 chord in F will find a number 4 on the Bb, and pressing the pitches on the left side of the screen sounds the chord as played on a piano. Pressing the number on a key will instantly modulate the chords to the new key. Very handy if your chordal transposition is rusty. Also a FREE app!
ReplyDeleteMetronome - old school wind up "wooden" metronome with the swaying arm and weight adjustment. Simple, not very loud, but a good tool for tempo reference, and...FREE!
ReplyDeleteGuitarChords - Tablature for guitarists. VERY helpful for visual display of Tabs that most young guitarists do not know. I have used it in my jazz band to show guitarists how to Tab major 7ths, minor 7ths, augmented, diminished, powerchords, 6 chords, dominant 7ths, dominant 9ths, major 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, sus chords and more! Super easy design and function that provides instant success. One more thing...FREE! Amazing at the quality of design that is gratis to the public. Very humbling indeed!
ReplyDeleteKARAJAN- Music & Eartrainer for iPhone & iPod Touch - www.appsolute.de
ReplyDeleteinterval recognition training app that addresses chords, scales, pitch, tempo, key signatures and more. The basic version is FREE, and then a small cost to upgrade to the full version which expands on the lessons and exercises. Wonderful tool for extracurricular practice, as well as in class training.
Ocarina.smule.com - this is an electronic ocarina that you play right on your iPhone or iPod touch. It's amazing! Blow into the mic and play a fairly accurate sounding ocarina with fingerings on the screen. A crazy component is that you can press the antenna on the bottom of the screen and it will display the globe with melodies streaming from folks that have just played the ocarina somewhere, anywhere in the world! Can run a line out of the headphone jack to a sound system and have a new electronic ensemble literally at your fingertips. Try creating an ocarina ensemble at school! Duets, trios, or whatever you can imagine. It costs $0.99...hardly gonna break the bank!
ReplyDeleteI Am T-Pain, also by smule, is $0.99 and gives instant auto-tune! This was made popular by the artist T-Pain some years ago, and actually overused, but still a favorite among students. Includes original beat module, songs for purchase to sing with, global playback of folks singing (like the ocarina), custom tuning, and available for the iPhone. Great for discussing how pitch manipulation works and the degree and need for pitch correction when singing, or playing an instrument. Rated for 12+ years of age due to some lyrics content.
ReplyDeleteMusic Theory Pro by Joel Clifft - $0.99 - sight analysis and identification of pitches, key signatures, intervals, chords. Aural identification of tempos, intervals, chords, and scales. Assessments provided so students can improve their listening skills. Another fantastic tool to elevate young students musical skill sets.
ReplyDelete