Comparison

Hooktheory II vs Sonofield Ear Trainer

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

Head to head
About

Hooktheory II

This app helps you understand and create sophisticated music by teaching advanced chord progressions and melody techniques. Learn from interactive exercises and audiovisual examples inspired by popular artists. It's designed for musicians looking to enhance their songwriting skills.

Highlights
  • Learn seventh chords, embellishments, and secondary chords
  • Master minor harmony, modes, and modal mixture
  • Discover songwriting tactics from famous artists
  • Interactive exercises and audiovisual examples
  • Compose chords and melody in various scales
  • Utilize chord inversions and complex chord types
Features
Read full description

Continue on your musical journey! Build on the foundation you learned in Hooktheory I, and discover an intuitive and deep understanding of richer, more sophisticated music. Unlock the songwriting tactics used by The Beatles, Bowie, Queen, Michael Jackson, and more. Learn about seventh chords, embellishments, secondary chords, minor harmony, modes, and modal mixture. Validated by over 30,000 hobby and pro musicians like you, the Hooktheory Book Series is the best-selling how-to series for musicians for a reason. Hooktheory II isn’t like other music theory books. Hooktheory teaches with an easy-to-understand music format that emphasizes chord and melody function. Rich audiovisual animations play along as you learn. We dissect popular songs and show you how the pros do it. Immediately practice concepts and tactics with our companion musical sketchpad, Hookpad. There is nothing else like it! Fun to read. Easy to understand. Full of practical knowledge. Learn from 84 interactive exercises and 228 audiovisual examples from artists like The Beatles, Elton John, Queen, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, Coldplay, Van Morrison, Adele, Ariana Grande, John Mayer, and many more! In Hooktheory II, you’ll learn the following skills: • Composing chords and melody in minor (and other scales). • Using chord inversions (reordering chord tones) to create effective bass lines. • Using complex chord types (e.g. 7th chords, extended chords, suspended chords, and “add” chords) to enrich your chord progressions. • Using secondary chords (chords based on a different key) to create tension. • Combining melody and chords from multiple scales (modal mixture). • Utilizing songwriting techniques like energy control, deception, and harmonic scope to control listeners' expectations. Benefits: • Simple piano roll notation (sheet music knowledge not required). • Every concept + technique demonstrated through an actual song. • 228 audiovisual examples from artists like The Beatles, Elton John, and Queen. • Reinforce learning at every step with 83 exercises. • Designed to be used with Hookpad Music Making Software. Hookpad lets you immediately practice every concept and tactic you learn in the books. To sum it up: Hooktheory II will teach you all of the essential techniques for crafting effective and compelling chord progressions and melodies. Reading Hooktheory II doesn’t require the ability to read sheet music or any music knowledge outside what was covered in Hooktheory I. On average, it takes about twelve hours to read (but more to fully absorb) so it isn't a huge time commitment. Dedicate only a few days to absorbing this book and gain a lifetime of skills that will give your music that professional edge.

About

Sonofield Ear Trainer

This app helps musicians develop their ear by focusing on the feeling of individual notes within a key, rather than traditional interval training. It uses sustained drones and offers various modes like identifying scale degrees, melodies, and singing exercises. The app adapts to your skill level with an intuitive interface and progression path.

Highlights
  • Feeling-based note recognition
  • Scale degree identification
  • Melody recognition training
  • Singing exercises
  • Hands-free training mode
  • Interactive exploration instrument
Features
Read full description

Sonofield Ear Trainer (SET) is a revolutionary ear training app designed to help you intuitively play the melodies you hear and imagine. Instead of relying on traditional old methods like intervals, SET focuses on helping you feel the unique character of each note within a key. By using sustained drones to create a tonal foundation, you’ll learn to recognize scale degrees based on their *feeling*, not just how they sound. The app offers a variety of ways to train: * Degrees Mode - Identify individual notes against the drone by feeling. The heart of SET. * Melody Mode - Identify short melodic phrases, preparing you for real music. * Voice Mode - Sing the requested scale degree into your microphone. * Pocket Mode - Hands-free training for when you're on the go. * Free Play - An interactive instrument for exploration. With its intuitive, color-coded interface, thoughtfully designed progression path, and multiple difficulty levels, SET adapts to your skill level while keeping practice engaging. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced musician, SET is your guide to unlocking true musical fluency through intuitive, feeling-based ear training. No ads or forced payments. The free version contains full foundations for feeling-based ear training. Download the ear training app now!

Screenshots

Hooktheory II4 screens
Sonofield Ear Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sonofield Ear Trainer at Free against Hooktheory II's $19.99. Sonofield Ear Trainer also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (376 vs 28). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Sonofield Ear Trainer is free to download; Hooktheory II costs $19.99 up front. Hooktheory II sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sonofield Ear Trainer sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. 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 — 4.8 for Hooktheory II against 4.9 for Sonofield Ear Trainer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sonofield Ear Trainer has 376 ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of Hooktheory II's written reviews are positive against 89% of Sonofield Ear Trainer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hooktheory II ships an update monthly, Sonofield Ear Trainer every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Hooktheory II versus Sonofield Ear Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHooktheory IISonofield Ear Trainer
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (28 ratings)4.9 (376 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.0% of reviews — better88.7% of reviews
Number of ratings28376 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB105 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHooktheory LLCSonofield Ear Trainer Education Ltd.

Customer experience

Hooktheory II

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.0%

Sonofield Ear Trainer

All ratings376 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews151 reviews
Positive88.7%
Neutral6.6%
Negative4.6%

Bugs and requests

Hooktheory II

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Sonofield Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • None reported

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to switch between 12TET and just intonation
  • Ability to reduce octave range
  • Incorporate more timbre options for drone and notes
  • Tracking and visualization of progress and learned skills
  • Add interactive tutorial for level 1

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Hooktheory II

One-time1
  • Full Version$19.99
4 purchases

Sonofield Ear Trainer

One-time4
  • Lifetime Pro$14.99
  • Lifetime Pro$17.99
  • Lifetime Pro2 variants$19.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Pro$24.99

Questions

Is Hooktheory II free?
Hooktheory II costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Sonofield Ear Trainer free?
Sonofield Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hooktheory II or Sonofield Ear Trainer?
Sonofield Ear Trainer is rated higher. Hooktheory II averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Sonofield Ear Trainer averages 4.9 from 376 ratings.
Do Hooktheory II or Sonofield Ear Trainer have ads?
Neither Hooktheory II nor Sonofield Ear Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hooktheory II or Sonofield Ear Trainer?
Hooktheory II ships an update monthly, and Sonofield Ear Trainer every 9 days. Most recently, Hooktheory II was updated on October 8, 2026 and Sonofield Ear Trainer on October 17, 2026.

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