Ear Trainer vs Piano Notes Pro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ear Trainer
This app is designed to enhance your musical listening skills. It offers a comprehensive set of over 260 exercises across nine study areas, plus custom exercise creation. Suitable for all levels, it helps musicians and students improve their ear training.
- Over 260 built-in exercises
- Nine areas of musical study
- Custom exercise creation
- Interval, chord, and scale identification
- Melody and chord progression training
- Progress tracking and statistics
- Virtual piano and note view
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With an overall 4.8 out of 5 rating in it is a must to try out this ear training app. What our users says: Awesome ear training app ***** One of the most in depth apps out there for ear training and a easy to use interface. You can even make your own exercises. I wish you could undo a note entry in the melodic exercises, a lot of the times iv just pressed the wrong note because of my fat fingers but I guess it’s part of the challenge to not make a mistake(wish you could change it in the settings or something). Still a must buy for ear training. Guy ***** You guys deserve 1000000 stars thank you Everything You Need **** It took a while for me to appreciate this app. It wasn't until I had a bit of ear training done that I could see the limitations in other apps and how this one would take me further and teach more of what I could actually use versus simpler apps. Once I could hear intervals up to an octave and major vs minor chords, this app had plenty more for me to study. Great app. ---- Listening is the most important skill in music, and this app will help you to listen better. Ear Trainer is an educational tool designed for musicians, music students and anyone interested in improving ones musical ear. It has over 260 individual exercises that are conveniently placed into nine different areas of study. It is also possible to create custom exercises so that you can practice exactly what you need. No need to be an expert, Ear Trainer is suitable for all users from beginner to very advanced. No matter what level your musical hearing skills are, Ear Trainer will help to hone them. * Built-in Exercises * - Interval Comparison (48 different exercises) - Interval Identification (30 different exercises) - Chord Identification (48 different exercises) - Chord Inversions (24 different exercises) - Chord Progressions (25 different exercises) - Scales (24 different exercises) - Note relative to chord (18 different exercises) - Relative Pitch (12 different exercises) - Melody Exercises (38 different exercises) Each exercise has a short description of its purpose and optional preview. A virtual piano keyboard and note view in each exercise helps you visually understand and analyze the notes that have been played. To aid your progression you can compare the different options after answering. (You can even play the virtual piano if you like!) As you work through the exercises, statistics are collected so that you can see your progress. The questions in the exercises are randomly generated so you can do them over and over again as many times as you like to continue to hone your skills. * Custom Exercises * Users can create their own custom exercises to match their desired areas of study and/or skill level. The following areas are available for custom exercises: - Interval Comparison - Interval Identification - Chord Identification - Chord inversion - Chord Progression - Scale Identification - Note after chord * Share Custom Exercises * Custom exercises can be shared with friends and class mates through Email, AirDrop and iMessage. What our users says: ------ ***** Must Have!!! This is the best Ear Trainer of all I tried in App Store, everything works just perfectly. If you are interested in improving your musical hearing you must have it. ------ ***** Amazing I have been using this app every day for just about a year now and the result are simply amazing. ------ **** I'm in my second third semester as a music major and I have to say, this is a great app for any music major, or anyone looking for ear training. I like that I'm able to switch between different instruments, it makes hearing the notes on the instrument you're use to a bit easier for me. ------ For more information please see: www.dev4phone.com
Piano Notes Pro
This app helps users learn and practice reading piano music notes. It offers various modes, including a teaching mode and engaging game modes, to improve sight-reading skills. It's suitable for both beginners and experienced players looking to enhance their musical understanding.
- Full 88-key keyboard range
- Teaching and game modes
- Adjustable note range
- Multiple quiz types
- Support for all key signatures
- Tutor mode for beginners
- Colored keys as hints
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The Best Music Note Trainer on iPad "Great tutor for piano beginners !!" -- Zara56Mount, United States "Just checked out the tutor function and with enough practice I will be learning how to read notes! Yay! This is awesome, thanks!" -- Luucylu, United States "Great app. I use it for teaching piano every day. The kids love it. The updates have been thorough and often." -- r.constanzo, United Kingdom "Really good app and great value! Bought it for my 10 year old daughter who is learning the piano, but I have found it really useful myself and I've been playing for years." -- Eagle-20, United Kingdom "Amazing. One of the best self learning apps I've used." -- Yasin Bashir, United Kindom "It actually makes it addictive to learn. Every time you finish a session you just know you can do better. Great app!" -- music_dude, United States "I've been a piano teacher for many years and wished such a tool would have been on the market 20 years ago - would have saved lots of frustrated hours of repetitions..... Wonderful app to learn and train the notes and their names and where to find them on the piano." -- Carla12345, Germany ------------------------------ Whether you are a piano student looking for apps to help you on learning music notes, or you are a piano teacher who need a trainer app to help you in teaching classes, Piano Notes Pro is definitely what you need. With a wide range of level control, Piano Notes Pro is not only an interesting game for experienced piano players, but is also a great music note tutor for piano students. It certainly can help you learn and practice music notes effectively on your iPad. Piano Notes Pro is widely used and recommended by many piano teachers. It is the only professional choice for iPad! ------------------------------ FEATURES: - Full Keyboard Range: Cover all 88 keys of a piano. - Teaching Mode: Tap a key to show its note and pitch name. - Game Mode: Practice your sight-reading skill with games. - Adjustable Range: Your practice can be focused on particular notes by setting note range. - Quiz Types: 4 quiz types including Random, Ascending, Descending and Chords let you practice in different ways. Additional quiz types are available via in-app purchase. - All Key Signatures: 15 key signatures for treble stave and bass stave. - Help Modes: 3 help modes, including a Tutor mode for beginners. - Colored Keys: In game mode, colors can be applied as hints. This is especially helpful for beginners and kids. - Pitch Name Labels: White keys can be marked with their pitch names, 4 naming conventions provided. - Multiple Notes: Unlike other similar apps showing only one note at a time, Piano Notes Pro shows multiple notes simultaneously in game mode. This is very important for improving sight-reading speed. - Game Length Control: Each game quizzes you with up to 10 pages of notes. Both number of notes and number of pages are adjustable. - Achievements: Improve your skill with fun by gaining achievements. - Progress Report: Scores of all key-signatures of both clefs are clearly listed in a table. - Keyboard Size Control: You can adjust the keyboard size to fit your need. 3 different sizes are available. - Multiple User Profiles: With up to 40 user profiles, you can share the app with your friends or family members. This feature is also very useful for piano teachers to keep track of students' progress. - Gorgeous Sound: High-quality, real and beautiful piano sound. - MIDI Input: Support MIDI input with CoreMIDI (via Apple Camera Connection Kit and USB [to host] port on keyboard). ------------------------------ IMPORTANT NOTICE !! - Please disable 3-finger gesture in iOS Settings while playing chords. ------------------------------ App preview music by http://instrumentalsfree.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ear Trainer at 4.8 against Piano Notes Pro's 3.8. Ear Trainer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (1.2K vs 16). Piano Notes Pro's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $7.99) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On 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
Ear Trainer costs $7.99 and Piano Notes Pro $2.99 up front. Piano Notes Pro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ear Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ear Trainer has 1.2K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 86% of Piano Notes Pro's.
Ear Trainer ships an update every 4 months, Piano Notes Pro every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and August 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ear Trainer | Piano Notes Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better | 3.8 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.8% of reviews — better | 85.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 90 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | thoor software AB | Patrick Chan |
Customer experience
Ear Trainer
Piano Notes Pro
User reviews
Ear Trainer
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and effective
- 🚀 Accessible and easy to use
- 🚀 Customizable exercises
- 🚀 Comprehensive training
- 🚀 Steady progress and improvement
Room to improve
- 🐛 Incorrect note/interval spellings
- 🐛 Lack of melody dictation exercises
- 🐛 Limited chord progression exercises
- 🐛 Cumbersome note deletion in melody exercises
Piano Notes Pro
From 16 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Helps improve sight reading skills
- 💡 Customizable settings
- 👍 Engaging and motivating
- 🚀 Effective for beginners and experienced players
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional sound issues
- 🐛 Unreliable Bluetooth MIDI connection
- 👎 Confusing interface for some users
- 👎 Lack of actual music/songs to practice with
Bugs and requests
Ear Trainer
Reported bugs
2 issues- Incorrect chord quality identification
- Inconsistent note layout in some exercises
Requested features
7 requests- Add more chord types (diminished, half-diminished, etc.)
- Include more modes and scale types
- Implement MIDI connectivity for external instruments
- Add a random exercise mode
- Provide more detailed progress tracking and statistics
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Introduce a timed test mode
- Offer a dark mode option
Piano Notes Pro
Reported bugs
2 issues- No sound output on some devices
- Occasional freezing or crashing
Requested features
5 requests- Display notes per second metric
- Ability to display both treble and bass clefs simultaneously
- Option to record and play back user's performance
- Inclusion of actual musical pieces to practice sight reading
- Tracking of weak notes to focus practice on problem areas
In-app purchases
Ear Trainer
No in-app purchases
Piano Notes Pro
- 3 Quiz Types, Interval Finder & Scale Marks$0.99
Questions
Is Ear Trainer free?
Is Piano Notes Pro free?
Which has better reviews, Ear Trainer or Piano Notes Pro?
Do Ear Trainer or Piano Notes Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ear Trainer or Piano Notes Pro?
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