Functional Ear Trainer vs The Score Stack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Recognize tones in musical key context
- Understand note function
- Improve transcription skills
- Enhance improvisation
- Develop perfect pitch
- Daily 10-minute practice
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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.
The Score Stack
This app helps music groups collaborate by providing tools for sharing sheet music, practice tracks, and managing group members. It includes integrated messaging and a calendar for scheduling events and rehearsals.
- Group creation and customization
- Sheet music and practice track uploads
- Member roles and permissions
- Integrated messaging and announcements
- Event and rehearsal calendar
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Everything your chorus needs, in one app. Sheet music, practice tracks, the rehearsal calendar, and the group chat - together, on every singer's phone, and working offline when the rehearsal room has no signal. MUSIC AND PRACTICE TRACKS Scores and part-dominant learning tracks in the same place, so a singer can read and listen without switching apps. Everything downloads to the phone, so it still opens when there is no signal. DIRECTOR'S MARKINGS Mark up a score once and push it to the whole section. Everyone rehearses from the same breath marks and cuts. CALENDAR AND RSVPS Rehearsals and performances with attendance responses, plus a feed your singers can subscribe to in their own calendar app. MESSAGING THAT STAYS Group and section conversations that do not scroll away, with announcements that reach everyone. SETLISTS AND SHOWTIME Build the setlist for a concert and publish a live program page. Put a QR code on the printed program and the audience follows along. FOR BARBERSHOP CHAPTERS A built-in tag library with all four parts recorded, alongside your chapter's sheet music, section tracks and rehearsal schedule. GET YOUR SINGERS IN QUICKLY Share one QR code at rehearsal and the room joins at once, or read out the short join code for anyone who has to install the app first. WHO IT IS FOR Barbershop choruses and quartets, community choirs, church and worship teams, school and college choirs, and small ensembles of every kind. Free for groups of 8 or fewer. No card required.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Score Stack at none against Functional Ear Trainer's 1. The Score Stack also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 7 months). Functional Ear Trainer's advantage is ratings volume (3.7K vs 15). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. The Score Stack asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Functional Ear Trainer against 5.0 for The Score Stack. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.7K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 100% of The Score Stack's.
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, The Score Stack every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Functional Ear Trainer | The Score Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (3.7K ratings) | 5.0 (15 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 96.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.7K — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Serhii Korchan | Hunter John Adam |
Customer experience
Functional Ear Trainer
The Score Stack
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
The Score Stack
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Functional Ear Trainer
- Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
The Score Stack
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Is The Score Stack free?
Which has better reviews, Functional Ear Trainer or The Score Stack?
Do Functional Ear Trainer or The Score Stack have ads?
Which is updated more often, Functional Ear Trainer or The Score Stack?
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