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PLAYER for iOS teaches you how to play your music library
MiQ Limited has announced PLAYER, a free iOS app that analyzes songs from your device's music library and then shows you how to play those songs with chords, keys and song structure. PLAYER uses a streamlined interface and attractive UI to display song structure and chords in real-time as a song from your iOS device is played. The idea is that you see the correct chords that correspond to the song as it's being played, which teaches you to play along with the song. If you don't know a particular chord, PLAYER displays chord finger positioning for guitar, piano and ukulele at the top of the app. Before you start, the song is first sent to MiQ for analysis, which takes a few seconds. Additional features include a Discover section that allows you to see the Top Charts of songs used by PLAYER in iTunes' music library. The charts give you a taste of sample chords played in a given song as well as the option to tag a song for later purchase. PLAYER also lets you compile a set list of songs for rehearsal to save you digging around for individual songs you want to practice. Finally, a nice touch is a feature that allows you to slow down the playback of a song you're playing along to. It's a great tool for when you're first learning a song and everything's a bit too fast for you to keep up with. Regarding song analysis, unfortunately no app is going to correctly predict and place all the chords of a given song. And PLAYER is no exception. Your mileage will vary depending on the style and production of the song you're listing to. For best results, you need to give as much attention to listening to the musical makeup of a song as you do looking at the chords being displayed in the app. In short, PLAYER is an easy to use, well designed app. It's a wonderful tool for anyone wanting to learn and develop their musical playing skills for guitar, piano and ukulele, especially beginners. As a side note, PLAYER is developed by the same company that developed Jamn, an app that teaches you the musical theory of the relationship between notes, scales and chords.You can read my review of it here. Finally, if you like PLAYER, but want a bit more detail and control of the manipulation of the song you're learing, check out Capo for Mac, which I reviewed here.
Jamn for iOS makes learning to play guitar visual, easier
Jamn (US$1.99) is a universal iOS app that visually communicates the relationship between musical keys, chords, scales, notes and the audio an instrument produces. Having spent some time teaching music to young students, I know all too well how difficult it can be to communicate the relationship between music theory and the sound that an instrument produces. Inevitably, it involves me scribbling endless analogies on a piece of paper until the penny drops. And while there are helpful visuals out there, I've not come across one as clear and as simple on the iOS App Store as Jamn. Through Jamn's intuitive and interactive Jamn wheel, the relationship between theory and sound is made visual, helping to connect the dots for beginners and those wanting to learn more. For example, by selecting the key of C in Jamn, the wheel will clearly identify all relevant major and minor chords for that key. Turn the wheel and the key changes to reveal the next appropriate chords. You can also hit play to hear exactly what each note and chord sounds like. It's a simple premise, but has the potential to make a big difference in the learning process. Each note and chord is also represented on a virtual guitar fretboard, displaying where each finger should be placed to make up the chord. The same can be done by swiping the fretboard to ukulele or piano mode. In guitar mode, tilting your iDevice will put the app in eHands mode, giving you a literal hand position representation of what your hand should look like when playing the chord. The app comes with 10 of the most common hand positions, a further 200 can be purchased via in-app purchase for $1.99. Additional features include an in-key chord finder, a scales library, a tuner and tutorial videos to get you started. There really is a lot in Jamn to get you learning, understanding and playing your instrument. If you've already got the basic principles of playing, for example, the guitar, Jamn will be a fantastic tool to help you develop and progress in your musicality. But if you're a teacher, I can see Jamn being particularly useful in providing a creative and interactive way to teach students the fundamentals of playing the guitar, ukulele or the piano. Jamn is certainly worth checking out. What apps have you used to help you learn or teach an instrument? Let us know in the comments below.
Futulele goes live for iPad, ukelele serenades just went multi-touch (video)
Futulele has come a long way since we saw it in March; it's now on the App Store and has put on a lot of sheen in return for slipping past the original April release target. Along with a few more flowers to reinforce the Hawaiian vibe, Amidio's definitive ukelele app has since gained the requisite support for the new iPad's graphics and a fully automatic mode, just in case you're not yet a virtual Jake Shimabukuro. If your ambitions do involve playing for yourself, you still have access to the promised maximum 132 chords (12 per set) with the flexibility to adjust chorus, delay, EQ and reverb in addition to recording those plucky creations. We're still waiting on the Futulele Remote app (and matching case) to choose chords more like we would on the real deal, but you can do it all on the iPad for now if you're willing to spend a fiver at the App Store. A flower necklace and an impressionable young lover are optional.
The ukulele's future is now with 'Futulele' iPhone, iPad app (video)
Nothing quite says "check me out" to the ladies like riffing on a frickin' pink ukulele -- until now. For folks rocking both an iPhone and an iPad, Touch DJ app maker Amidio Inc., is releasing its latest magnum opus, the "Futulele." Ah, be still, your beating heart. This dual-device ukulele synthesizer connects the aforementioned iOS devices via Bluetooth, creating a virtual four-string strummer on which to throw down a soulful rendition of "Tiny Bubbles." Users get their groove on by touching the iPhone to select up to 12 chords per song and using the iPad to strum; chord sets also can be changed on the fly. Amidio says the app should drop sometime in April, and will be optimized for the iPad 3, to boot. Sure, a regular ukulele might be cheaper, but who are you to argue with the future? Speaking of the future, check it out in all its cheerful glory with the Futulele video posted after the break, as well as some not-so-futuristic PR.
More Zelda music!
Since the string quartet was received with such enthusiasm, we thought we would bring you Zelda via Ukulele. This guy is pretty badass and pulls off some tough cords. We were impressed. What do you all think? Worthy to be posted four months after its conception? Or should we have stuck with the quartet? [Via QJ Net]
Happy Zelda music day
Today is Friday, and you know what that means. That's right, it's time for a bunch of videos of people playing Zelda music! This ukulele performance (found via Wonderland) is pretty impressive, but continue reading for an equally impressive piano medley (from Video Game Pianist Martin Leung) and a little ditty played on a real ocarina!
