Comparison

Quartet 1 vs Progressions

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

Head to head
About

Quartet 1

Practice and perform jazz standards with high-quality backing tracks. Mute your instrument, change keys, adjust tempo, and loop sections. Features animated chord diagrams and playlist creation for an enhanced musical experience.

Highlights
  • Live jazz standards backing tracks
  • Mute your instrument
  • Change key and tempo
  • Loop practice sections
  • Animated chord diagrams
  • Multi-app playlist creation
  • Multitrack export
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Practice and perform jazz standards on another level with Quartet. And with a host of brand-new features plus an additional 50 new versions of the most played standards, the top-selling jazz play along apps just got even better. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. Yours to keep! Volume 1 now includes 200 stunning jazz standards recorded exclusively by 8 of the world’s best jazz musicians. All ‘live’ studio recordings with intros, endings and top line solos. Whether you play jazz piano, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums…simply mute your instrument from the Quartet for the ultimate jazz play along. And for jazz singers too, each edition of Quartet is an unrivalled collection of jazz backing tracks powerful enough to gig with. Change key on the fly. Speed up or slow down the audio seamlessly. Loop sections and slow them right down for practice. Select the number of repeats. Choose from preset mixes or create your own custom mix using the new onboard mixer. Arrange each song exactly the way you want it with the new automated ‘Arranger’ feature. Add a touch of reverb and you’re good to go. Improve your skills with full screen animated chord diagrams for Piano, Guitar and Ukulele. Search the entire Quartet song library (700 songs) by composer, style, BPM, associated artist and more. Build and share multi-app playlists and easily export PDF chord charts for every song. Export your stereo mix or export the multitrack if you want to develop the high quality separated parts in GarageBand or whatever DAW you use. Either way, all recordings are offered to you royalty-free giving you endless creative possibilities. The 200 jazz standards in Quartet Volume 1 include improvisations in the style of… ‘All Blues’, ‘All of Me’, ‘All The Things You Are’, ‘Autumn Leaves’, ‘Beautiful Love’, ‘Blue Bossa’, ‘Body and Soul’, ‘Caravan’, ‘Cherokee’, ‘Cry Me a River’, ‘Fever’, ‘Georgia on my Mind’, ‘Giant Steps’, ‘Girl From Ipanema’, ‘Have You Met Miss Jones?’, ‘Love for Sale’, ‘Rhythm Changes’, ‘Satin Doll’, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’, ‘Summertime’…and 180 more! Install Quartet on all of your iOS devices plus your Mac devices (M series only) at no extra cost. Ready to take your jazz standards to another level? Hear lots more and see the full song lists at www.quartetapp.com Featured artists Saxophones and Flutes Andy Panayi Credits - Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Seth MacFarlane, Elaine Paige, Salena Jones, Elvis Costello, Georgie Fame, Helen Shapiro, Madeline Bell, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove Dave O’Higgins Credits - Joey Calderazzo, Joe Locke, Eric Alexander, Max Ionata, Joe Lovano, Phil Woods, Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Kurt Elling, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gomez, Jamie Cullum, Stéphane Grappelli, Michel Legrand Graeme Blevins Recording and performing credits include Phil Collins, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Kyle Eastwood, Mark Knopfler, Quincy Jones, Mark Ronson, Tom Jones, Taylor Swift Guitar Nigel Price Credits - James Taylor Quartet, Van Morrison, Nigel Price Organ Trio. Voted ‘Best Guitarist’ in the 2016 British Jazz Awards Piano Graham Harvey Credits - Incognito (MD), Stacey Kent, George Benson, Hamish Stuart, Will Lee, Philip Bailey, Chaka Khan, The BBC Big Band, Madeline Bell, Jocelyn Brown, Mica Paris, Sir Cliff Richard Bass Geoff Gascoyne Credits - Jamie Cullum (MD), Sting, Van Morrison, Bill Bruford, Mari Wilson, Paloma Faith, Georgie Fame, Gloria Estefan, Guy Barker, Charlie Watts, Benny Golson, Jacqui Dankworth, Bob Dorough, John Martyn, Eartha Kitt Drums Sebastiaan de Krom Credits - Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, Phil Woods, Dave Holland, Jamie Cullum, Guy Barker, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Tim Garland Rod Youngs Credits - Gil Scott-Heron, Lee Konitz, Sia, Courtney Pine, Jon Hendricks, Hugh Masekela, Natalie Cole, Mica Paris, Juliet Roberts, BBC Concert Orchestra, Ronnie Laws, Jocelyn Brown

About

Progressions

Generate unique chord progressions beyond traditional scales using mathematical algorithms. Control complexity and freedom to explore new harmonic territories. Features include arpeggiators, strumming patterns, and humanization for expressive musical output.

Highlights
  • Generate unique chord progressions
  • Adjust complexity and freedom levels
  • Block Chord, Arpeggiator, and Strummer modes
  • Supports open and closed chords with selectable voicings
  • Humanize chord and note timings
  • Integrated ARP and STRUM pattern editor
  • Sync multiple instances
Features
Read full description

Progressions is an AUv3 MIDI plugin for your favourite DAW. It can be used to generate a unique set of chords that are unrelated to traditional scales, which become predictable and repetative over time. Instead, Progressions uses a unique way of mathermaically generating a series of related chords using only a root note and mode (major or minor). Chord sequences are limited by the selected complexity and freedom levels, which mimic the way traditional composers of old would wander away from tonality and back again. The complexity level start off at Basic, which uses only the most common chords (I, IV, V and relative minor ii, iii, and vi triads). As you progress through the levels, you can add parallel majors and minors, sus and dom chords etc. At level 3 we start to introduce 6th and 7th chords, and then 9ths chords, all the way to 11ths, 13ths, Quartals and all their variations. The freedom level allows us to specify how far to drift away from tonality (the root), even allowing you to create never ending randomized soundscapes. Progressions allows you to quickly randomize a toolbox of chords, that can be played in a variety of modes (block chords, arpeggiated, or strummed). These can be synced to a host application, triggered remotely or pieced together into a song. Song mode allow you to change play modes on the fly as well as being able to control many features of the app in real time. Progressions supports open and closed chords with selectable voicings. It has an intelligent algorithm that attempts to align top notes of chords, add additional bass, and open chord padding to give equal weight to chords with only 3 notes. You can even play with rootless voicings. The Humanize section allows you to control chord and note timings, as well as set velocity variations to ensure things don't get too robitic. Progressions also features an integrated arpeggiator and strummming pattern editor. You can load up to 6 arp and 6 strum patterns at the same time and seemlessly switch between them manually, remotely, or using song mode. If you run multiple instances, Progressions allows you to sync your chord pads, song chain, arpeggiator / strum patterns between instances. Progressions can be loaded as a MIDI plugin or as an Instrument for those programs that don't support MIDI plugins (such as GB). Additionally when loaded as an instrument, you can use either internal sounds (soundfonts) or send MIDI directly to other MIDI instruments. Features • Block Chord, Arpeggiator and Strummer modes. • Supports open and closed Chords. • Varying complexity levels of chords. • Freedom levels control how far from the root key you can go. • Rootless voicing mode. • Open chord padding support. • Additional bass note mode. • Supports all common chord types. • Edit the preferred chord list to exclude certain chord types. • Input MIDI control for chords and play modes. • Automatic top note alignment of chords. • Hold Pedal support. • Built in ARP and STRUM editor. • Humanize options for chord and note velocity and timings. • Comprehensive Song Mode with 256 steps and looping. • Randomize chord progressions, arps and strumming patterns. • Route Chord/Arp/Strum modes & MIDI thru to any of 4 output ports. • Supports soundfonts when loaded as an Instrument plugin. • Sync multiple instances of Progressions. • AUv3 compatible MIDI plugin supporting Sync to Host.

Screenshots

Quartet 14 screens
Progressions4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Quartet 1 at 4.7 against Progressions's 4.1. Quartet 1 also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 67%) and chart position (#77 vs unranked). Progressions's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On ads 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

Quartet 1 costs $19.99 and Progressions $14.99 up front. Quartet 1 sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Progressions asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Quartet 1 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 155 and 34 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Quartet 1's written reviews are positive against 67% of Progressions's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Quartet 1 ships an update every 2 months, Progressions every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Quartet 1 versus Progressions: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuartet 1Progressions
Price$19.99$14.99 — better
Rating4.7 (155 ratings) — better4.1 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings155 — better34
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#77 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size706 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUK Music Apps Ltd4Pockets.com

Customer experience

Quartet 1

All ratings155 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral10.3%
Negative5.6%

Progressions

All ratings34 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative29.6%

Bugs and requests

Quartet 1

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Playlists disappear
  • Playlists replaced by old ones
  • Looping parts not saved
  • Edits wiped out
  • Cannot put song into desired key
Show 7 more
  • Abrupt endings with no turnarounds
  • Out of tune bass
  • Crash when making playlist changes
  • Doesn't remember key/tempo from last session
  • Clicks when using iPad OS
  • Double charge for app
  • No actual endings found

Requested features

29 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Tap tempo button
  • Ability to create own charts
  • Export to WAV and MP3
  • Export chord chart in different ways
Show 24 more
  • Drum-only option
  • Two versions of songs at different tempos
  • Metronome/click track
  • Pan tracks to left/right channel
  • Type in tempo directly
  • Slider for tempo change
  • Search within playlists
  • Cloud-based sync
  • iReal-type portrait display
  • Real Jazz Guitar chords
  • Global default for chord transpose
  • More variations in chorus repeats
  • Actual song endings with variations
  • MIDI out function
  • Split screen on tablet
  • Add tags to ends of tunes
  • Fix pitch shifting on drums
  • Lower price for stem export
  • Adjustable font size for chords
  • Vertical mode
  • AUV3 version
  • Edit tunes at bar level
  • Create new tunes within the app
  • More standards/tunes

Progressions

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Quartet 1

One-time5
  • Upgrade song$0.99
  • Buy 10 tokens$8.99
  • Buy 20 tokens$14.99
Show 2 more
  • Buy 50 tokens$22.99
  • Upgrade all songs$49.99
None

Progressions

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Quartet 1 free?
Quartet 1 costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Progressions free?
Progressions costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Quartet 1 or Progressions?
Quartet 1 is rated higher. Quartet 1 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 155 ratings, while Progressions averages 4.1 from 34 ratings.
Do Quartet 1 or Progressions have ads?
Neither Quartet 1 nor Progressions shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Quartet 1 or Progressions?
Quartet 1 ships an update every 2 months, and Progressions every 2 weeks. Most recently, Quartet 1 was updated on October 15, 2026 and Progressions on October 8, 2026.

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