# Scale-Master

> Musician's tool for practicing and improving intonation and scale recognition. (iPhone/iPad app by Gil Estes.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scale-master/id496736994 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Gil Estes](https://appshunter.io/developer/349882768)
- Category: Education, Music
- Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 23 App Store ratings · 30 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 8.0 · 13 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2012-02-20
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scale-master/id496736994/reviews.md

## What is Scale?

Scales are central to music. Intervals are central to scales. Tuning intervals is a complex process that must constantly be refined by the musician.

Scale Master was designed by professional musicians and educators and developed by experienced software consultants and is a tool providing transparency to intonation deficiencies so that tuning is faster and more accurate.

Through the use of "droning" sounds across various intervals, Scale Master provides a means of practicing intonation.

Who can use Scale-Master?

- Musicians (Professional and Amateur) striving to further perfect their tuning ability
- Student Musicians just starting to come to grips with the challenges of Just Intonation within the ensemble
- Band, Orchestra and Choral Directors looking for a way to help their ensembles "HEAR" what "In Tune" is
- Music Theory, Music Appreciation and General Music teachers wanting to demonstrate scales, intervals, patterns and intonation

How it works:

Using Equal Tempered tuning, select a root pitch and octave, then select the scale interval above the root pitch and select "Play". The generated droning sound will be a real-time interval based on Just Intonation producing the greatest resonance.

There are a total of 780 droning renderings available for the first release.

Beyond simple drones, you can also select a scale mode to display. The corresponding intervals will be high-lighted allowing easy, visual recognition of scale patterns. Scales included are:

- Chromatic
- Major
- Natural Minor
- Harmonic Minor
- Blues
- Whole Tone
- Major Pentatonic
- Minor Pentatonic

There is also a scale "Auto-Play" function that will play the droning root and the corresponding scale interval in half notes at quarter=60bpm allowing the musician to work with tuning and harmonizing in real-time.

There are a total of 420 scale configurations available for the first release.

What Others are Saying:

"I think your app will be widely useful, better and more convenient than the typical tuner.  It also will be a good companion tool for users of my 'Breakfast' Intonation practice booklet." 
     David Schwartz

"This new app looks wonderful to me, Gil!!  A great teaching tool not only for trombonists but also for music theory and many more applications for musicians.  Great idea!!"
     Tom Senff - Trombone Professor and Trombonist with Stan Kenton Orchestra

"WOW! I like this a great deal. I teach AP Music theory. I think this would be tremendously helpful with drilling intervals."
     Rob Optiz - High School Band Director

"When my students use this, they seem to adjust automatically in the correct direction."
     Private Trombone Instructor

## Key features

- Droning sound practice for intonation
- Visual scale pattern highlighting
- Supports various scale modes
- Scale auto-play function
- Real-time interval generation
- 780 droning renderings
- 420 scale configurations

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $1.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jazz Modes | $0.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 30)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scale-master/id496736994/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Great intonation workout

*2025-08-21*

I’ve been using this app for years to practice intonation using slow scales. I only wish they could go even slower than half notes at 60.

### 1/5 — Only 1 octave.

*2022-06-13*

As is it’s pretty useless. Plays only one octave. Good idea, but the developer evidently has pretty much abandoned the app anyway.

### 5/5 — Excellent

*2021-10-31*

I’m very happy with this program because it does what I need it to do: figure out what key a song is in!

### 4/5 — Volume

*2021-01-30*

I do wish the drone was a bit louder.

### 3/5 — Practice tool

*2020-03-05*

It’s a great practice tool. Scale visual gets out of sync with the corresponding notes.  it would be nice to be able to play two octaves.

### 5/5 — Love the Drones!

*2019-10-14*

I love using the drones when practicing.  This has helped my intonation so much.

### 3/5 — Decent but could be way better

*2019-01-26*

First, scales freeze at times and needs to shut down before it works again.  Should include whole notes and wider metronome range. Two octave scales would be great. Otherwise, helpful for intonation practice.

### 5/5 — Excellent APP For scale practice

*2017-07-24*

Really love it. Please add multi-octave scales!

### 5/5 — Perfect

*2016-02-12*

...I would appreciate background playback, but other than that, it really is perfect. It could afford to be a little more visually appealing but of course that isn't the point here. Thanks for keeping this app alive; it's an incredible resource

### 5/5 — Super Awesome

*2015-01-10, version 1.7*

I use with sax and long tones to make music practice

## Frequently asked questions about Scale

### What does Scale-Master do?

Scale-Master is a music practice tool designed to help musicians improve their tuning accuracy and speed. It achieves this by providing droning sounds across various intervals, allowing users to practice intonation. It also visually highlights scale patterns for easier recognition.

### What are the key features of Scale-Master?

Key features include practicing intonation through droning sounds, visual highlighting of scale patterns for 10 different scale modes (including Chromatic, Major, Minor, Pentatonic, and Blues), a scale auto-play function for real-time tuning practice, and the generation of real-time intervals based on Just Intonation.

### Is Scale-Master free to use?

The application is free to download and use, offering a range of features. However, it does include in-app purchases, suggesting that some additional content or advanced functionalities may be available for purchase.

### Who would benefit from using Scale-Master?

This app is beneficial for a wide range of musicians, from professional and amateur musicians looking to perfect their tuning, to student musicians learning about Just Intonation. Band, orchestra, and choral directors can use it to help ensembles hear what 'in tune' sounds like, and music teachers can use it to demonstrate scales, intervals, and intonation.

### What kind of scales and intervals can I practice with Scale-Master?

Scale-Master offers practice with various scale modes, including Chromatic, Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Blues, Whole Tone, Major Pentatonic, and Minor Pentatonic. It also provides droning sounds for different intervals, with 780 droning renderings and 420 scale configurations available in the first release.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.81 — 2016-09-20

This update from Apple will improve the functionality of this app. No new features are included.

Minor internal tweaks...more coming soon.

### 1.8 — 2016-01-05

Audio adjustments to account for harsh note to note transitions.

Internal: Conversion to Swift development language.

### 1.7 — 2014-06-06

Note: Starting with this release, only supporting iOS 7 and above.

1. Tuning altered so that:
- Drones use Just-Intonation
- Scales use Equal-Tempered intonation.

2. Redesigned interface for Auto-Play and Drone selections.

3. Select Drone Mode to play tuning intervals.

4. Select Scale Mode to auto-play scales. In Scale Mode:
- Swipe up to reveal the full scale mode settings screen
- Play using half, quarter or eight note values.
- Select to progress through scales by  moving up or down by major or minor 2nds
- Repeat scale 1-5 times, or infinitely.
- Change to Jazz Modes directly from the primary scale settings screen.

### 1.6 — 2013-08-27

This is a BUG FIX for issues arising with the new In-App purchase for Jazz Modes. If you had a problem, hopefully you were able to resolve it by re-installing the app. This bug fix corrects the underlying issue.

Thanks...and more is coming soon...

### 1.5 — 2013-08-23

-------------------------
NOTE: There is a bug in the Jazz-Modes upgrade. If your app fails to run after purchasing Jazz Modes, delete and re-installing the Scale-Master app will resolve your issue. 
-------------------------

Enabling jazz modes purchase. 

Previous release put the pieces in place for purchasing Jazz Modes, now it's time to turn them on.

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## More apps by Gil Estes

- [Shift Calendar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-calendar/id355449249)
- [Metronome-Plus](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/metronome-plus/id369098797)
- [Shift Master Shift Calendar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shift-master-shift-calendar/id385155631)
- [Donithius](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/donithius/id1521159507)
- [ShiftPro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shiftpro/id1545225229)

All apps by Gil Estes: https://appshunter.io/developer/349882768

## Related topics

[estes4me](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/estes4me)

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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 2026-08-26.*