# Guitar Sight Reading Trainer — with focus on position playing

> Guitar fretboard note identification and sight-reading trainer. (iPhone/iPad app by Rolfs Apps.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-sight-reading-trainer/id390881575 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Rolfs Apps](https://appshunter.io/developer/376191908)
- Category: Music, Education
- Price: $1.99
- Rating: 4.90/5 from 16 App Store ratings · 85 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.6 · 11 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2010-09-13
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-sight-reading-trainer/id390881575/reviews.md

## What is Guitar Sight Reading Trainer?

Sight-reading skills open the door to reading written music and familiarizing yourself with various music styles. Sight-reading is not a daunting task, and with sufficient practice, anyone can develop this valuable skill.

Our app is designed to help you quickly identify notes across every part of the fretboard, with a special focus on positional playing.

By enhancing your sight-reading abilities, you'll find it easier to focus on other musical aspects like harmony and rhythm.

Features:

PRACTICE & TEST MODE

- Four different modes of use:
  1. Locate notes on the fretboard based on the notes in staff.
  2. Locate notes on the fretboard based on note name and pitch.
  3. Find the names of notes on the staff (without the fretboard)
  4. Identify the names of notes presented on the fretboard.

- Automatic detection of problematic notes.


KEY SIGNATURES & SCALES

- Key signature support, from 1 to 6 sharps or 1 to 6 flats.
  
- Automatic selection of the enharmonic notes for each scale to prevent double sharps or double flats in the key signature.
 
- Scales include major, minor, melodic minor, harmonic minor, blues, pentatonic, and all modal scales.  


FRETS, STRINGS & NOTE SELECTION

- Frets are grouped to limit the number of notes to practice and test.

- Predefined fret groups, e.g., 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 0-12, 13-17, etc.

- You can define custom fret groups.

- The highlighted fret group is displayed on the fretboard.

- Your sight-reading progress is tracked per fret group.
  
- The longest streak record per fret group measures your sight-reading accuracy.

- You can select specific strings for the highlighted area.
  
- Test notes can be limited to naturals or notes from a selected scale.


READ AHEAD

- Reading ahead is a crucial skill for effective sight-reading.

- You can adjust the number of notes to read ahead.


OTHER

- More than 15 alternate guitar tunings e.g., drop D, NST (new standard tuning) and all fourths tuning.

- Support for left-handed guitars.

- Option to display the fretboard in perspective (in landscape mode).

- A universal app compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

- Supports all screen sizes.

- No ads or in-app purchases.

- Dark mode support (iOS 13+).

- Tested on iOS and iPadOS 26.

## Key features

- Note identification on fretboard
- Positional playing focus
- Practice and test modes
- Key signature and scale support
- Customizable fret groups
- Alternate tuning support
- Left-handed guitar support

## What do users think of Guitar Sight Reading Trainer?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Great for sight reading
- 👍 Helps with fretboard memorization
- 👍 Customizable settings
- 👍 Horizontal view is innovative
- 👍 Developer responsiveness
- 👍 Good for beginners
- 👍 Useful for intermediate players
- 👍 Good for jazz players
- 👍 Helps learn note positions
- 👍 Good for practicing away from guitar
- 👍 Well-designed interface
- 👍 Adaptable to progress
- 👍 Makes learning fun/like a game
- 👍 Connects staff to fretboard
- 👍 Supports left-handed players
- 👍 Good value for money

**Cons**

- 🤔 Limited to single notes
- 🤔 Sound quality not realistic
- 🤔 UI could be improved
- 🤔 Fretboard presentation not realistic
- 🤔 Fret grouping awkward
- 🤔 Can be monotonous

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Sound does not work (resolved by turning off mute)
- Bug for lefties: string isolation incorrect
- App does not launch on iPhone 3g

**Most requested features**

- Ukulele version
- See whole fretboard at once in landscape
- Disable timer altogether
- Choose any range of fretboard for testing
- Use sheet music for actual sight reading
- Standalone chord trainer
- Real guitar interface to play notes
- Option to see whole fretboard at once
- Pause button
- Smarter re-testing of weak points
- Play answers back on a real guitar without touching screen
- Generate short musical phrases for sight reading
- Add intervals mode
- Chords or double stops
- Scales mode
- Save and restore settings
- Better visualization of stats
- Tweak random generator to avoid repeated notes
- Concentrate on problem notes
- Moveable SOL-FA
- Option to only display note on selected string
- Melody trainer
- Easier to touch open string options
- Bass guitar version
- Fretless bass version
- Option to leave sharps and flats off
- Review lesson showing notes on certain strings
- Test on more than one note at a time
- Pick a key or scale to be tested in
- Dark mode
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Option to change fretboard presentation
- Bass guitar support (5 string)
- Switch to bass clef

## Recent user reviews (10 of 85)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-sight-reading-trainer/id390881575/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Very Helpful App!

*2025-12-13, version 6.17*

Daily use of the quiz mode has definitely helped my sight reading. And the setting options are great. And I LOVE the horizontal option! When horizontal, the fretboard is slightly skewed to give it a perspective as if you were looking down while holding the guitar. It’s great!

### 5/5 — Revising prior review (Sound does not work)

*2021-10-24, version 6.01*

The developer quickly responded to me email and helped me resolve the problem. My iPad has a “mute” button that is separate from the volume control. Although all my other apps had sound, I had to turn mute off for this app, which now produces sound.

### 5/5 — Actually teaching boy the stave!!

*2021-07-03, version 5.96*

Wow - this app actually has my son engaged with trying to find the right frets. BRILLIANT.  Highly recommend this for newbies to reading music and playing guitar.

### 5/5 — Great for guitar sightreading and fretboard memorization

*2020-12-07, version 5.95*

This app was perfect for an intermediate guitar player looking to perfect sightreading. You’ll want to dive in to the options to set the keys that you want to learn and, if you’re like me, to set the mirrored view so that the low E string is on top. Easy to configure speed of testing.

### 5/5 — Love this APP!  How about making one for ukulele?

*2019-05-21, version 5.87*

Perfect for mastering guitar fretboard!!

Please make one just like this for ukulele!!!

### 5/5 — Great updates! Very useful

*2017-09-25, version 5.70*

I bought an earlier version and found it really was not useful...
But now, I dig it! I’m a jazz guitar player and this app is just what you need to gain some reading skills!
Keep up the good work!

### 4/5 — Excellent

*2017-09-18, version 5.62*

This is the best fretboard trainer I've found so far. Many features and very customizable. I would only request two minor additions: the option to see the whole fretboard at once in landscape mode, and to be able to disable the timer altogether. Nonetheless excellent and I use it exclusively.

### 5/5 — Great Trainer

*2017-09-08, version 5.62*

This is a great help at both learning to sight read and also learning the fretboard. When I am away from the guitar this is my go to practice tool.

### 5/5 — Well made App

*2017-04-22, version 5.6*

This is a well made app. I have improved dramatically in my sight reading in just one week. Thank you for a great app!

### 5/5 — Great way to learn

*2017-04-15, version 5.6*

Can work with different tunings and learn to read ahead. Imagine if you had to read the news one word at a time! 🙂

## Frequently asked questions about Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

### What does the Guitar Sight Reading Trainer app do?

This app is designed to help guitarists improve their sight-reading skills by focusing on identifying notes on the fretboard, especially with an emphasis on positional playing. It offers various modes to practice and test your knowledge of notes, scales, and key signatures.

### What are the key features of the Guitar Sight Reading Trainer?

Key features include four practice modes for note identification, support for various key signatures and scales (major, minor, blues, pentatonic, modal), customizable fret groups, tracking of progress per fret group, support for over 15 alternate tunings, and left-handed guitar compatibility.

### Is the Guitar Sight Reading Trainer app free or paid?

The application is a paid app. It does not contain any advertisements or in-app purchases, offering a complete and uninterrupted experience for users.

### What devices is the Guitar Sight Reading Trainer compatible with?

This is a universal app compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. It supports all screen sizes and runs on iOS and iPadOS.

### How can this app help me improve my guitar playing?

By improving your sight-reading abilities, you can more easily learn new songs from sheet music and understand musical notation. This allows you to focus more on other aspects of your playing, such as rhythm and harmony, and opens up the ability to play a wider variety of music.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 6.18 — 2026-03-26

Fixes a text display issue on iOS 26.4.

### 6.17 — 2025-09-12

- Updated for iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. 
- In iPadOS 26, the app supports proportional scaling. iPadOS saves your layout in both orientations automatically.

### 6.16 — 2025-08-08

- Fix for layout issue on iPhone in portrait mode.

### 6.15 — 2025-08-07

- iOS 18.6 adjustments.

### 6.10 — 2025-06-16

- iOS 18.5 adjustments.

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## More apps by Rolfs Apps

- [Guitar Interval Ear Trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-interval-ear-trainer/id376191905)
- [Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rhythm-sight-reading-trainer/id396302174)
- [Bass Sight Reading Trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bass-sight-reading-trainer/id450861224)
- [Slide to Freedom](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/slide-to-freedom/id1231022593)

All apps by Rolfs Apps: https://appshunter.io/developer/376191908

## Related topics

[guitar sight reading trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/guitar-sight-reading-trainer) · [rolfs apps](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rolfs-apps) · [note reader guitar](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/note-reader-guitar) · [reading music guitar](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/reading-music-guitar)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*