Comparison

Functional Ear Trainer vs Music Rhythm Trainer

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

Head to head
About

Functional Ear Trainer

Develop your musical ear by learning to recognize tones within the context of a specific musical key. This app helps you understand the function of each note, improving your ability to transcribe, improvise, and play music by ear. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, with just 10 minutes of daily practice.

Highlights
  • Recognize tones in musical key context
  • Understand note function
  • Improve transcription skills
  • Enhance improvisation
  • Develop perfect pitch
  • Daily 10-minute practice
Features
Read full description

Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.

About

Music Rhythm Trainer

Master essential rhythmic skills with fun, field-tested exercises. Improve your sight-reading and ear training by practicing daily. This app offers a more efficient and exciting alternative to traditional metronome exercises.

Highlights
  • Master rhythmic skills
  • Sight reading practice
  • Ear training exercises
  • Metronome beat training
  • Learn to repeat rhythms
  • Develop sense of rhythm
Features
Read full description

Rhythm Trainer is a series of fun field-tested exercises for mastering your essential rhythmic skills no matter what instrument you play. Practice 15 minutes a day in an individual session. Test your rhythmic skills. Get hang of the metronome beat. Learn to repeat different rhythms. Improve your sight reading skill. It won’t take long to see that the app is much more efficient and exciting compared to conventional exercises along with a metronome. Whether you practice alone or with a teacher, Rhythm Trainer will help you to: • Develop a sense of rhythm. • Sight-read rhythm notation. • Accurately play a rhythm from notes. • Hear mistakes in a rhythm by ear. Rhythm is the heart of music. Learn the skill once, play rhythmically forever. SUBSCRIPTION PRICING & TERMS The Rhythm Trainer offers an auto-renewing subscription for 4.99 USD per month. Terms: - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase. Read more about our terms and conditions here: - Terms of service: https://rhythmtest.online/terms - Privacy policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/47478545

Screenshots

Functional Ear Trainer4 screens
Music Rhythm Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Functional Ear Trainer at free with in-app purchases against Music Rhythm Trainer's subscription. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on review sentiment (96% vs 72%). Music Rhythm Trainer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 7 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Music Rhythm Trainer sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Functional Ear Trainer against 4.8 for Music Rhythm Trainer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.7K and 5.1K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 72% of Music Rhythm Trainer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, Music Rhythm Trainer every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Functional Ear Trainer versus Music Rhythm Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFunctional Ear TrainerMusic Rhythm Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (3.7K ratings) — better4.8 (5.1K ratings)
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews — better71.9% of reviews
Number of ratings3.7K5.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB114 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSerhii KorchanGuitar Tabs LLC

Customer experience

Functional Ear Trainer

All ratings3,749 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews612 reviews
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.0%

Music Rhythm Trainer

All ratings5,050 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews398 reviews
Positive71.9%
Neutral13.1%
Negative15.1%

User reviews

Functional Ear Trainer

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Effective ear training
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Customizable exercises
  • 🎉 Noticeable improvement with regular practice
  • 🎨 Visually appealing design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional audio glitches
  • 💡 Lack of support for other instruments besides piano
  • 💡 Desire for more advanced features (e.g. chord recognition)

Music Rhythm Trainer

From 5.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for improving rhythm skills
  • 🚀 Effective rhythm training
  • 💡 Customizable difficulty levels
  • 🎨 Visually appealing interface
  • 📈 Noticeable improvement in rhythm

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Strict timing requirements
  • 🔇 Lack of audio feedback when tapping
  • 🕰️ Automatic tempo changes can be disruptive
  • 🤔 Limited time for free usage

Bugs and requests

Functional Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Keyboard display issues when selecting all chromatic notes
  • Inconsistent note resolutions in some exercises

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for multiple notes/chords at once
  • Implement a mode for training key recognition
  • Provide more customization options for exercises
  • Include voice input to play the notes
  • Add support for German/Norwegian key names

Music Rhythm Trainer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Rhythm not registering correctly
  • Bluetooth connectivity issues
  • App freezing or crashing
  • Inconsistent feedback on performance

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to set custom tempo
  • More time signature options
  • Sight reading exercises with no pre-hearing
  • Metronome volume adjustment
  • Progress tracking and statistics

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Functional Ear Trainer

One-time1
  • Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
1 purchases

Music Rhythm Trainer

Subscriptions1
  • Full version$4.991 Month

Questions

Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Functional Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Music Rhythm Trainer free?
Music Rhythm Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Functional Ear Trainer or Music Rhythm Trainer?
Functional Ear Trainer is rated higher. Functional Ear Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Music Rhythm Trainer averages 4.8 from 5.1K ratings.
Do Functional Ear Trainer or Music Rhythm Trainer have ads?
Neither Functional Ear Trainer nor Music Rhythm Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Functional Ear Trainer or Music Rhythm Trainer?
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, and Music Rhythm Trainer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Functional Ear Trainer was updated on September 22, 2026 and Music Rhythm Trainer on September 22, 2026.

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