Comparison

Better Ears Beginner vs Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)

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

Head to head
About

Better Ears Beginner

Enhance your musical skills and hearing with this comprehensive ear training app. It offers 13 diverse exercises, from interval recognition to chord progressions, with customizable training routines and instrument options. Track your progress and sync across devices for a seamless learning experience.

Highlights
  • 13 music theory and ear training exercises
  • Customizable training routines
  • User-created chords, scales, and progressions
  • Six instrument sound options
  • Pitch detection for vocal or instrument answers
  • Virtual keyboard and guitar fretboard
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Better Ears is the complete ear training and sight‑reading workout for musicians, students and teachers. Train your musical ear and master music theory — from interval recognition all the way to chord progressions and rhythm training. 15 exercises take you from absolute beginner to pro, at your own pace, with no rules and no pressure. NEW: RHYTHM TRAINING Sharpen your sense of timing with two brand‑new exercises. Hear a rhythm and clap or tap it back, or read rhythmic notation and perform it in time — with count‑in, metronome, triplets and time signatures like 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4. Clap straight into your device's microphone and Better Ears listens. YOU DECIDE HOW TO TRAIN There are no rules to follow. You decide when to start, what to practice and how often. 15 EXERCISES INCLUDED • Interval recognition • Scale recognition • Chord recognition • Chord progressions • Pitch recognition • Melodic dictation • Tempo recognition • Key signature recognition • Music reading • Interval music reading • Scale music reading • Chord music reading • Melody music reading • Rhythm recognition (new) • Rhythm reading (new) ANSWER WITH YOUR VOICE OR A REAL INSTRUMENT Built‑in pitch detection lets you answer by singing or by playing a real instrument (e.g. piano or guitar). Just sing or play the notes when the microphone button lights up red. CUSTOM CHORDS, SCALES & CHORD PROGRESSIONS The built‑in editor lets you add your own chords, scales and chord progressions. FOUR PRESET LEVELS + UNLIMITED CUSTOM LEVELS Start at Beginner, Easy, Normal or Professional — then build your own levels to focus exactly where you need to: church modes, those two pesky intervals, custom rhythms, whatever you like. 6 INSTRUMENTS & CUSTOM SOUNDFONTS Train with Acoustic Grand, Bright Acoustic Piano, Electric Grand, Drawbar Organ, Nylon and Steel Acoustic Guitar — or extend Better Ears with your own sounds via SoundFonts (.sf2). KEYBOARD & FRETBOARD Answer on a virtual piano keyboard or a virtual guitar fretboard. MIDI SUPPORT Route sound through an external MIDI device and even control Better Ears with a connected master keyboard. SYNC ALL OF YOUR DEVICES Keep your Mac, iPhone and iPad in sync via Dropbox. You choose what to sync: your own levels, your statistics, your settings — or all of it. STATISTICS Better Ears tracks your progress for every exercise and every question — right and wrong answers at a glance. WIKIPEDIA INTEGRATION The matching Wikipedia article is shown for each exercise, so the theory is always one tap away. REFRESHED DESIGN A modern, fully redesigned interface on iPhone, iPad and Mac — with full Dark Mode and crystal‑clear music notation.

About

Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)

This music training app helps beginners and intermediate players improve their sight-reading skills. It offers quizzes to match musical notes with instrument keys, enhancing musicality and performance. Practice various keys and challenge yourself with increasing difficulty levels.

Highlights
  • Note-to-key matching quizzes
  • Supports various musical keys
  • Adaptive difficulty levels
  • Hint system for assistance
  • Global high score competition
  • Expandable with in-app purchases
Features
Read full description

楽譜がすらすら読めるようになるトレーニングアプリです。 「五線譜に書かれている音符」と、「ピアノ、オルガン、キーボード楽器の鍵盤の位置」が合わせられない初心者〜中級者に向けた、音楽楽器演奏トレーニングゲームです。 気軽にこの音符のクイズ『Notes Quiz』で練習を積み重ねて以下の悩みを解決していきましょう。 *譜読みに手こずる *音感が悪い *初見で演奏が苦手 *ト音記号はまだいいが、ヘ音記号は特に苦手 *シャープやフラットが出てくるとわけが分からなくなる *C dur / a moll (ハ長調・イ短調)だけでなく、色々なキーでトレーニングしたい *ピアノやシンセサイザー楽器をうまくなりたい *音楽学校・大学の試験対策をしたい *毎日楽器の練習をする時間が作れない *楽譜に対する反射神経を鍛えたい *音感を鍛えたい *タブ譜しかよめないので五線譜読めるようになりたい 様々なキーで挑戦できたり、問題を解き続けていると、タイムリミットが短くなるので、上級者の方もお使いいただけるアプリです。 スコアを毎日 SNS やメールでメモしてみたり、GameCenter にログインしてハイスコアを全世界のユーザーと競ったりしてみて、トレーニングを楽しんでください。 プレイ回数に応じて、実施回数と達成スコアに応じて、自動的に出題範囲が広がる難易度調整が行われます。 ・シャープ・フラットが出現するようになる ・二本以上の加線部分の音階が増える ・出現する調が増加していく 難易度は保存されるので、難易度を落としたい・元に戻したい場合は、設定画面よりクリアすることができます。 -- ヒント機能 ・残り時間が半分になるとヒントが表示されます。 ・どの鍵盤がどの音がわかるように音階が表示されます。 -- 絶対音感の方へ ・設定画面から「Hint Sound on Start」を OFF にしてみてください。 ・問題出題時のヒント音を鳴らさなくすることができ、譜読みに集中できるようになります。 -- アプリ内で追加機能を購入して拡張機能をアンロックすると アルト、テナー(ハ音記号)用のトレーニングを行うことができるようになります。

Screenshots

Better Ears Beginner4 screens
Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Better Ears Beginner at 4.5 against Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)'s 2.3. Better Ears Beginner also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (67% vs 43%). Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)'s advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Better Ears Beginner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Better Ears Beginner holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Better Ears Beginner has 35 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Better Ears Beginner's written reviews are positive against 43% of Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Better Ears Beginner versus Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter Ears BeginnerNotes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (35 ratings) — better2.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews66.8% of reviews — better42.9% of reviews
Number of ratings35 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHfeb19

Customer experience

Better Ears Beginner

All ratings35 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive66.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative24.9%

Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral33.3%
Negative23.8%

Bugs and requests

Better Ears Beginner

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reverts to beginner version after phone update
  • Audio stops working after some time
  • Keyboard unresponsive on iPad
  • Chord spellings are incorrect

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments
  • Include rhythm training
  • Provide more customization options
  • Implement a game-like format
  • Add support for reading sheet music

Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Better Ears Beginner

One-time1
  • Unlock all functions$4.99
1 purchases

Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)

One-time1
  • 拡張機能を追加:特殊な音部記号を追加$0.99

Questions

Is Better Ears Beginner free?
Better Ears Beginner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) free?
Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears Beginner or Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)?
Better Ears Beginner is rated higher. Better Ears Beginner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) averages 2.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Better Ears Beginner or Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) have ads?
Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) shows ads; Better Ears Beginner does not.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears Beginner or Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ)?
Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, and Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) every 2 weeks. Most recently, Better Ears Beginner was updated on September 14, 2026 and Notes Quiz (ノーツクイズ) on September 25, 2026.

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