Leave a Review iReal Pro
A perfect app
I’ve used this app forever. Like most of my adult life, 10+years. I used to play upright bass professionally. This app has got me through hundreds of pick up gigs- you know the type jazz musicians. All you hear is “Hey come play”, and when you show up to the gig they just start calling tunes from 100 years ago like you should have it in your blood. This app let me keep up and sound great with that kind of gig. A quick download and you have changes to a ton of standards at your disposal. Only way this could be better is if it had the melody loaded in.
For practice it’s great. The rhythm section can be pretty stale but for working your way through changes at various speeds, 😘👌🏼(chefs kiss). You can alter changes easily. And mixing out instruments is cool, I can practice walking lines.
I use it even when writing songs. It’s pretty easy to make a lead sheet off these, including exporting to pdfs in case you need to pass to a friend. It’s great to have a band at your disposal to hear your parts too. There are some good grooves as well.
Honestly the best money I’ve spent on an app as a jazz musician, maybe on any music tech stuff. Thanks guys for all the help over the years!Show lessKostastrudel
iReal Pro, a real winner!
I’ve been using iReal Pro for a couple of years now on my solo piano jazz gigs. Solo gigging can be a bit boring and tedious at times, especially when the music your playing is requested to be purely background music at corporate/special events.
IReal Pro has given me a bit of spice to my music for the average listener, in addition to working with a metronome type tool, which is always good way to improve your time.
I love the ease of downloading tunes and / or creating new tune arrangements with this app!
The ease of changing the key is convenient on the fly when needed.
Setting up play lists for special events is super handy in addition to having quick access to a singer’s song list that may have “out of the ordinary” keys.
There are many great reasons to use iReal Pro, but one great plus is the quick response to customer support (in real time) to questions one may have when using this great app.
Thank you, iReal Pro!Show lessIsland Jazz7100
Why not make it the best?
I love this app. It can use a few more features to put it as a very versatile tool. Tempo change on selected measures, style changes on selected measures, complete stop(no overtone) would make this the most used in practice session and gig. Why not add these simple functions. If anything the latest version has a more confusing interface.Show lesswill somebody answer!!
6 out of 5 Stars
Have to admit I’ve had the app for a few years, just diving into it but it is terrific. I’ve played in various groups over the years but starting a jazz team with a singer and me on piano.
Nice to have a variety of back up musicians for live shows. It is indeed terrific for practice and learning new charts but the back up music sounds great through a sound system.
Great performance and great value.Show lessUTFAN
Great App
It is a great app for sure, practice tool. I suggest to allow to write some rhythm notation very necessary for intros, for example: sometimes you have to play songs you have never played right on the spot, the rhythmic notation will do the miracle. My last suggestion all my students practice with this software but there is room to improve, we need that ireal be compatible with realbooks, again; "a song request we haven't heard", we need to playthe melody. Guys due respect, this is the 21th century and probably the last one. We need you to search for better software sound and more possibilities for the working musicians. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I believe you have released a great practice tool, and the best part there is lots of room for improvement…
Sincerely RBarak.Show lessbarakmusic
Performance tracks too!
I’ve used this app since the early versions and it always surprises me. First off it let’s me create simple, readable chord charts and share them effortlessly. The backing instruments give you flexibility to easily practice and rehearse. While most of my use of this app is as a practice or teaching tool - I also use it to create basic backing tracks for live performance. I play lap steel - so all I really need is a bass line, and a simple rhythm instrument to back me up as I play the melodies. Once I get a chart working live - if I want better quality for a show etc. I’ll do a more pro track in my DAW with real instruments. But for many songs, doing simple gigs - this app works fine. The endings are not great, and the bass lines get a bit boring - but overall it works ok. If you construct a good chart with proper repeats, and pick a good style for the song etc. - the tracks work really well. I like the Rhodes piano, vibes and bass along with the Jazz styles. Love being able to export .pdf to share charts with the band.Show lessNick-neighm
Excellent app
The Realbook cost about $45 when I first bought it in 1980. The IReal is very inexpensive for what it gives you. The developers covered all the items to make it versatile and user friendly. Forums and customer support are top notch. Don’t think about buying it- buy it. I’d pay $100 for this app if it cost that much.Show lesspianotennisman
Don’t like the “stereo piano” in this edition.
Please bring back the piano that you had before this update. The new “stereo piano” sounds distant and not as good. I will re-rate this if you can give us the option to use either piano at the least. I also note that some of the chords or inversions don’t sound quite right sometimes. Perhaps this can be looked into as well? Otherwise, I really enjoy the program.
Thank you for the response. Primarily, I’m not really happy with the “embellishment” feature. It seems to over embellish the jazz chords every single time the chord is played, if it was more randomized and had slightly better voice leading I think it would be a nice addition. Perhaps you could make it a sliding scale instead of “on” or “off”. Maybe it’s asking too much. The program is excellent regardless. I will re-rate to a 5 as I think it’s a valuable program for practicing songs. Thanks for listening.Show lessGuitaristFret
Developer Response
Thank you for your feedback! I'll pass it on to the developer. Could you send us an email with the chords/inversions you have issues with?Essential Tool For Jazz
iReal Pro is an essential tool for every jazz musician, from beginners to seasoned professionals! It offers musicians an opportunity to develop soloing chops, melodies, comping and supportive lines. The incredible flexibility offered by iReal Pro makes it an excellent platform to use both in the practice room and on stage. I use iReal Pro in my daily practice routine.Show lessBassist Vuyani
A great app with one flaw.
This is an essential app for students and professional musicians. And not only allows you to play nearly any tune in different styles and tempos and keys, but it is also handy for writing simple chord charts. The one real problem it’s with the chart writing function.
It is not possible in this program to indicate anticipated chords, which is essential in notating popular music. If this function were improved I would give the app five stars. Another welcome improvement would be the addition of more “styles”, for which many users would gladly pay extra.Show lesswgalison
