Comparison

Music Theory Notes vs Trapezoid

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Music Theory Notes

Learn to recognize and notate musical pitches by sight or sound. Practice with various clefs and customizable note ranges. Includes a grade book to save and share quiz results.

Highlights
  • Pitch recognition by sight and sound
  • Piano keyboard and staff notation
  • Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clefs
  • Ear training mode
  • Customizable note range
  • Printable grade book
Read full description

Teachers, students and professional musicians: Recognize pitches (by sight and/or sound) and notate or play them on the piano. Includes a 'Grade Book' list of all saved results that you can print or send. • Play a note on the piano, or notate a piano key in a specific clef. • Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clefs. • 'Ear Training' mode hides the keyboard or staff during the quiz. Use a 'Middle C’ button to help you figure out the answer. • The note range is set by the ledger lines limits you set. The Grade Book is filterable by name. Grades include the name, date and time the quiz was taken, all relevant settings (clef, number of questions, etc.), and score (percentage and letter grade).

About

Trapezoid

This virtual instrument accurately simulates the sound and playability of a hammered dulcimer. It offers multiple tuning options, drag roll effects, and MIDI compatibility for a realistic musical experience. Designed for both beginners and experienced players, it fits right in your pocket.

Highlights
  • Authentic hammered dulcimer sound
  • Standard and Michigan tunings
  • Drag roll effects
  • MIDI keyboard compatibility
  • Velocity sensitive MIDI input
  • Note name display
Features
Read full description

Trapezoid is an amazing Hammered Dulcimer that can fit in your pocket. Written by an experienced Hammered Dulcimer player, this virtual dulcimer sounds and plays like the real thing! This app has the full range of a standard 12/11 style (9/9 style for 4:3 format iPads) instrument and supports both Standard and Michigan (octave) tunings. 12/11 means there are 12 bridges on the Treble (left) side of the instrument, 11 bridges on the Bass (right) side of the instrument. To play, just touch the strings on either side of the left (Treble) bridge or the left side of the right (Bass) bridge just like on the real instrument. To get repeated note "drag roll" effects, drag quickly horizontally across the strings. The sensitivity of the drag effect may be set on the settings screen. Touch the "?" to show the note names for the strings. Touch the "S" or "M" below the "?" to toggle between Standard and Michigan (octave) tuning. Touch the "Shhh" icon on the upper right corner to quiet all the strings. Touch the "i" to bring up the settings screen where you can set the overall volume, enable or disable the drag roll feature, and set the roll sensitivity for how far you need to drag to get the roll effect. The app also may be played from a MIDI keyboard connected to a hardware MIDI interface or other MIDI controller or MIDI file player apps. On the settings page you may select the MIDI channel number. When playing via MIDI, the app is velocity sensitive based on the velocity sent with the Note-on events. Lowest note is A2 (MIDI note 45). Range is full chromatic from A2 through D6. The app will respond to MIDI volume messages on the selected MIDI channel. To truly experience the full stereo spread of the instrument, plug in a set of headphones or amplified speakers. Playing Hint for Smaller Phone Users: On the smaller screen phones the strings are pretty close together. If you are having trouble hitting the notes you want, show the note names by touching the "?" and then, when playing touch directly on the note names for best playing accuracy. Audio samples of Wes Chappell's amazing dulcimer provided by Jesse Chappell from ThumbJam.com. The instrument was built by James Jones, from Bedford, VA. I have played and taught the Hammered Dulcimer for over 20 years. This app sounds and plays as close to the real instrument as I'm capable of doing on a touch screen. Be sure to visit the AppCordions.com website to watch the demo videos!

Screenshots

Music Theory Notes4 screens
Trapezoid3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Trapezoid at every 9 days against Music Theory Notes's every 36 months. Trapezoid also leads on price ($1.99 vs $2.99) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 26.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Music Theory Notes costs $2.99 and Trapezoid $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Music Theory Notes against 5.0 for Trapezoid. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Music Theory Notes ships an update every 36 months, Trapezoid every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Music Theory Notes versus Trapezoid: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMusic Theory NotesTrapezoid
Price$2.99$1.99 — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 36 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick Q. KellyMichael Eskin

Customer experience

Music Theory Notes

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Trapezoid

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Music Theory Notes

No in-app purchases

None

Trapezoid

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Music Theory Notes free?
Music Theory Notes costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Trapezoid free?
Trapezoid costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Music Theory Notes or Trapezoid?
Music Theory Notes and Trapezoid are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Music Theory Notes or Trapezoid have ads?
Neither Music Theory Notes nor Trapezoid shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Music Theory Notes or Trapezoid?
Music Theory Notes ships an update every 36 months, and Trapezoid every 9 days. Most recently, Music Theory Notes was updated on October 14, 2026 and Trapezoid on October 21, 2026.

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