Comparison

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer vs Solo

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

Head to head
About

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

Enhance your music reading skills with this app, focusing on fretboard note identification and positional playing. It offers various practice modes, supports numerous scales and tunings, and tracks your progress. Ideal for guitarists looking to improve their ability to read sheet music.

Highlights
  • Note identification on fretboard
  • Positional playing focus
  • Practice and test modes
  • Key signature and scale support
  • Customizable fret groups
  • Alternate tuning support
  • Left-handed guitar support
Features
Read full description

Sight-reading skills open the door to reading written music and familiarizing yourself with various music styles. Sight-reading is not a daunting task, and with sufficient practice, anyone can develop this valuable skill. Our app is designed to help you quickly identify notes across every part of the fretboard, with a special focus on positional playing. By enhancing your sight-reading abilities, you'll find it easier to focus on other musical aspects like harmony and rhythm. Features: PRACTICE & TEST MODE - Four different modes of use: 1. Locate notes on the fretboard based on the notes in staff. 2. Locate notes on the fretboard based on note name and pitch. 3. Find the names of notes on the staff (without the fretboard) 4. Identify the names of notes presented on the fretboard. - Automatic detection of problematic notes. KEY SIGNATURES & SCALES - Key signature support, from 1 to 6 sharps or 1 to 6 flats. - Automatic selection of the enharmonic notes for each scale to prevent double sharps or double flats in the key signature. - Scales include major, minor, melodic minor, harmonic minor, blues, pentatonic, and all modal scales. FRETS, STRINGS & NOTE SELECTION - Frets are grouped to limit the number of notes to practice and test. - Predefined fret groups, e.g., 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 0-12, 13-17, etc. - You can define custom fret groups. - The highlighted fret group is displayed on the fretboard. - Your sight-reading progress is tracked per fret group. - The longest streak record per fret group measures your sight-reading accuracy. - You can select specific strings for the highlighted area. - Test notes can be limited to naturals or notes from a selected scale. READ AHEAD - Reading ahead is a crucial skill for effective sight-reading. - You can adjust the number of notes to read ahead. OTHER - More than 15 alternate guitar tunings e.g., drop D, NST (new standard tuning) and all fourths tuning. - Support for left-handed guitars. - Option to display the fretboard in perspective (in landscape mode). - A universal app compatible with iPhone, iPhone Duo, iPad. - Supports all screen sizes. - No ads or in-app purchases. - Dark mode support (iOS 13+). - Tested on iOS and iPadOS 27

About

Solo

Master your guitar fretboard with this interactive trainer. Learn note names, intervals, chord changes, and scales through guided exercises. Designed by professional guitarists, it offers customizable workouts for all skill levels.

Highlights
  • Fretboard visualization
  • Note name trainer
  • Interval shape memorization
  • Chord change outlining
  • Scale practice
  • Interactive fretboards
  • Customizable workouts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Solo is the ultimate practice App for mastering fretboard visualization, designed by world renowned guitarists Tom Quayle and David Beebee. Four powerful fretboard trainers allow you to work intuitively on each aspect of the visualization process; learning note names, memorising interval shapes, outlining chord changes, and practicing scales. Solo asks you to find intervallic functions against one root note, chord symbol or scale at a time, listens to the notes you play, and doesn’t move on until you’ve correctly found each note by its intervallic function in the specified order. Practice with Solo and finally learn your note names, master interval shapes, confidently play through chord changes and break out of scale boxes with intervallic functions. Start transforming your playing and confidence on the fretboard today! NOTE TRAINER The Note Trainer is perfect for beginner and intermediate players getting to grips with note names on the neck - the foundation of solid fretboard knowledge. ‣ Solo shows you random root notes to find and listens, waiting for you to get it correct. ‣ Slide on the interactive fretboards for helpful diagrams and to study alternative options. Choose from 6 string guitar (standard and 4ths tuning), 7 string guitar, 4 string bass & 5 string bass. ‣ Optional practice suggestions offer challenging ways to limit and test yourself. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session. INTERVAL TRAINER The Interval Trainer will help players at all levels work on interval shapes with intervallic functions - the key to unlocking true freedom on the fretboard. ‣ Choose any combination of intervallic functions to practice. ‣ Create custom interval groups or choose the intervals for ANY chord type or scale. ‣ The Interval Trainer will randomise your chosen intervals and ask you to find them against either a fixed or random root note. ‣ Slide on the interactive fretboards for helpful diagrams, showing you where all of the interval shapes are across the neck, and to study alternative options. Choose from 6 string guitar (standard and 4ths tuning), 7 string guitar, 4 string bass & 5 string bass. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session. CHANGES TRAINER In the Changes Trainer you find intervallic functions, using single notes to outline different chord types or sets of chord changes, a key skill for learning to improvise through chord changes. ‣ Practice outlining intervallic functions through over 100 common chord progressions and single chord exercises. ‣ 50 intervallic function levels. Go from simple chord tones to complex melodic structures and scales. ‣ Solo intelligently maps out the correct intervals over each chord and listens for you to play each intervallic function in the specified order. ‣ Powerful workout options provide almost limitless ways to challenge yourself. ‣ Transpose the key of any progression or exercise. ‣ Choose to randomly transpose the progression (or single chord exercise) each time it repeats. ‣ Work on voice leading chord tones through single note lines. SCALE TRAINER The Scale Trainer contains a vast array of scales and powerful workout options, allowing you to finally break out of the box and develop a much deeper understanding of how scales are constructed on the fretboard. ‣ Practice finding scales on the fretboard using intervallic functions. ‣ Over 50+ Scales and modes. ‣ Powerful workout options provide almost limitless ways to challenge yourself. ‣ Melodic sequence options let you focus on starting from any chord tone within the scale. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session.

Screenshots

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer4 screens
Solo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Guitar Sight Reading Trainer at $1.99 against Solo's $17.99. Guitar Sight Reading Trainer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). Solo's advantage is ratings volume (659 vs 16) and chart position (#56 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer costs $1.99 and Solo $17.99 up front. Solo sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Guitar Sight Reading Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solo has 659 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Guitar Sight Reading Trainer's written reviews are positive against 83% of Solo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer ships an update every 2 months, Solo monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer versus Solo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGuitar Sight Reading TrainerSolo
Price$1.99 — better$17.99
Rating4.9 (16 ratings) — better4.7 (659 ratings)
Positive reviews90.6% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings16659 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank—#56 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB231 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRolfs AppsTrio Software Ltd

Customer experience

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative3.5%

Solo

All ratings644 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews233 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.2%
Negative11.6%

User reviews

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

From 16 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for sight reading
  • 👍 Helps with fretboard memorization
  • 👍 Customizable settings
  • 👍 Horizontal view is innovative
  • 👍 Developer responsiveness

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Limited to single notes
  • 🤔 Sound quality not realistic
  • 🤔 UI could be improved
  • 🤔 Fretboard presentation not realistic
  • 🤔 Fret grouping awkward

Solo

From 659 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent practice tool
  • 👍 Helps improve fretboard knowledge
  • 👍 Versatile and configurable
  • 👍 Detailed video tutorials
  • 👍 Accurate note detection

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Note detection issues
  • 🐛 App crashes
  • 🐛 Lack of customization options
  • 🐛 Unintuitive for beginners
  • 🐛 Limited functionality for the price

Bugs and requests

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Sound does not work (resolved by turning off mute)
  • Bug for lefties: string isolation incorrect
  • App does not launch on iPhone 3g

Requested features

34 requests
  • Ukulele version
  • See whole fretboard at once in landscape
  • Disable timer altogether
  • Choose any range of fretboard for testing
  • Use sheet music for actual sight reading
Show 29 more
  • Standalone chord trainer
  • Real guitar interface to play notes
  • Option to see whole fretboard at once
  • Pause button
  • Smarter re-testing of weak points
  • Play answers back on a real guitar without touching screen
  • Generate short musical phrases for sight reading
  • Add intervals mode
  • Chords or double stops
  • Scales mode
  • Save and restore settings
  • Better visualization of stats
  • Tweak random generator to avoid repeated notes
  • Concentrate on problem notes
  • Moveable SOL-FA
  • Option to only display note on selected string
  • Melody trainer
  • Easier to touch open string options
  • Bass guitar version
  • Fretless bass version
  • Option to leave sharps and flats off
  • Review lesson showing notes on certain strings
  • Test on more than one note at a time
  • Pick a key or scale to be tested in
  • Dark mode
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Option to change fretboard presentation
  • Bass guitar support (5 string)
  • Switch to bass clef

Solo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when launching the app
  • Inconsistent note detection
  • Inability to save progress or settings

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add ability to create custom chord progressions
  • Integrate metronome functionality
  • Provide visual representation of intervals on staff
  • Add option to practice natural notes only
  • Implement option to hear chord tones in the background
Show 3 more
  • Allow randomization of scale order
  • Add support for non-standard tunings
  • Implement sound feedback when finding the correct note

In-app purchases

None

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Solo

One-time2
  • Custom Tunings$1.99
  • Custom Chord Progressions$5.99

Questions

Is Guitar Sight Reading Trainer free?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Solo free?
Solo costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Solo?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer is rated higher. Guitar Sight Reading Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Solo averages 4.7 from 659 ratings.
Do Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Solo have ads?
Neither Guitar Sight Reading Trainer nor Solo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Solo?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer ships an update every 2 months, and Solo monthly. Most recently, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer was updated on November 6, 2026 and Solo on November 7, 2026.

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