Comparison

Connecting The Dots vs Guitar Sight Reading

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

Head to head
About

Connecting The Dots

Learn to improvise jazz music with progressive exercises designed for musicians of all levels. Develop musical vocabulary, understand chord changes, and practice with play-along backing tracks. This app simplifies complex concepts through a call-and-response method.

Highlights
  • Play-along backing tracks
  • Call & response exercises
  • Progress tracker
  • 169 exercises in 12 keys
  • Instrument-specific transpositions
  • Integration with iReal Pro
Features
Read full description

Connecting The Dots (CTD) is a fun and effective series of progressive exercises that will get musicians of any level improvising immediately! The program allows aspiring soloists to quickly develop vocabulary, understand voice leading, and successfully navigate chord changes. And the best part? It’s so simple you can get started today! Powerful features include: · Play-along backing tracks · Call & response exercises · Progress tracker · 169 exercises in all 12 keys · Range specific transpositions for 11 instruments · Tempo and zoom controls · Integration with iReal Pro Learn improvisation the same way you learn a language - in small, understandable pieces. Ideal for students and educators alike, Connecting The Dots (CTD) uses call and response exercises which utilize the “bones” of the chords - the arpeggio notes - to help you understand how the vertical chords and horizontal melodies relate in music. CTD teaches voice leading principles and how to apply them to chord progressions. The exercises are organized into three sections: One Chord, Two Chord and Twelve Bar Blues. They demonstrate simple voice leading from the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th degrees of one chord to another, using seventh chords and their inversions. Simple tunes and improvisations by Jeff using the material presented are featured at the end of each section. The app includes range specific transpositions in all 12 keys for tenor, alto & baritone sax, clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone, bass, piano, vibes & guitar. All exercises have an iReal Pro backing track, the user can play along with the in-app audio or open the backing track in iReal Pro with one tap. Learn from the best! Play along with Jeff Coffin, creator of Connecting The Dots. Jeff is is a globally recognized saxophonist, composer, educator, and is a member of the legendary U.S. rock group, Dave Matthews Band. You may also know him from his 14 years, and 3 Grammy Awards, with the genre-defying Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. Jeff fronts numerous groups when not touring with DMB and has released 15+ solo CD's on Ear Up Records. “An educator asked me during a clinic presentation what information I wish I had when I was first learning about improvisation…I told him, ‘Everything in the Connecting The Dots app’. I feel this information and these exercises clarify and connect so many elements dealing with the fundamentals of improvisation. I created this easy to use app to help players of all genres & styles, classical players, jazz players, rock players, novices, educators, weekend warriors, soloists, ensembles, etc… Anyone can use this and they WILL benefit from it. Everyone can improvise!!” - Jeff Coffin

About

Guitar Sight Reading

Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Tie all the scale shapes, notes on the fretboard and notes on the staff seamlessly. With this app not only will you learn the notes, you will find new very musical ways to travel around the fretboard instantly every time you practice. Learn to read and play notes easily on your instrument. Learn to hear the notes when you see them on the staff and be able to play them by hearing their sound in your head. This builds upon our revolutionary method of learning instruments by ear, allowing you to become musically literate in the way that is much more effective as is done through imagining sounds that you are going to play when you see a note - not mere mechanical playing. And all that without too much thinking - you just will learn to sight-read and play with our app.

Screenshots

Connecting The Dots4 screens
Guitar Sight Reading4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Guitar Sight Reading at $4.99 against Connecting The Dots's $9.99. Guitar Sight Reading also leads on chart position (#185 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.1). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Connecting The Dots costs $9.99 and Guitar Sight Reading $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Connecting The Dots ships an update every 3 months, Guitar Sight Reading every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Connecting The Dots versus Guitar Sight Reading: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterConnecting The DotsGuitar Sight Reading
Price$9.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.8 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank—#185 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.111.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size224 MB105 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJeff Coffin LLCOleg Sokolov

In-app purchases

None

Connecting The Dots

No in-app purchases

None

Guitar Sight Reading

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Connecting The Dots free?
Connecting The Dots costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Guitar Sight Reading free?
Guitar Sight Reading costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Connecting The Dots or Guitar Sight Reading have ads?
Neither Connecting The Dots nor Guitar Sight Reading shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Connecting The Dots or Guitar Sight Reading?
Connecting The Dots ships an update every 3 months, and Guitar Sight Reading every 5 months. Most recently, Connecting The Dots was updated on November 3, 2026 and Guitar Sight Reading on November 7, 2026.

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