App Games

Here are some of the apps we use in the studio and that I recommend to parents for home use, sorted by type.

Note Reading

Note Rush

Note Rush is one of the few apps that requires a piano. It can be used with any type of piano, acoustic or digital. It has various levels or you can custom create your own, which I often do with just the notes in a specific song that a student is playing. It shows notes on a staff that the student can play. It times them and keeps track of their high scores.

Flashnote Derby

This app allows you to select exactly which notes to practice every time you play. Students race against another horseman, getting more ahead for each correct note or more behind for each wrong one

Staff Wars

This one allows you to choose between multiple instruments and staves. You can choose what range of notes to practice. The idea is to blast them off the staff as they come in succession. The longer you play, the more you level up and the faster it gets.

Rhythm

The Most Addicting Sheep Game

This is the most elemental of rhythm games. Its purpose is to tell students feel and tap to the steady beat. Often beginner students can grasp different note values but have a hard time playing along to a steady beat. For this game, you have to tap the screen to make the sheep jump to the steady beat. If you tap before or after the beat, it will fall off!

Rhythm Swing

For this app, students have to tap the rhythm correctly to avoid being eaten by an alligator! It ranges from very basic note values to advanced. It has both a practice and play mode so students can first practice without the stress of trying to not be lunch!

Rhythm Cat

For rhythm cat, students unlock progressively difficult levels by tapping the beat on the screen. It has a range of son with different tempos and note values. Students can redo a level as many times as they need to master it and move on. They can miss up to three notes before they must try again.

Ear Training

Ear Cat

The relaxing and fun app trains students to hear and identify the distance between notes and what notes they hear. Every five levels they play a song by ear, starting out with very short and familiar tunes. They earn points they can use to buy food and toys for a little cat called Echo that lives in the app.

Many Skills in One

NinGenius

This app has both practice and test modes for multiple instruments and skills! For piano, students can practice finding the correct keys from a given note, note identification, and rhythm. No piano required! After each round they earn a different colored ninja belt depending on their performance. When they answer correctly, a little ninja kiais and kicks a board. It's one of my favorites to use in the studio!