Comparison

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer vs Guitar Scales

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

Guitar Scales

Visualize musical scales on your instrument's fretboard. Explore over 48 built-in scales, create your own, and customize tunings. Ideal for beginners and experienced musicians to learn theory and practice solos.

Highlights
  • Fretboard scale visualization
  • Over 48 built-in scales
  • Custom scale creation
  • Instrument tuning customization
  • Left-handed mode
  • Note playback and sound options
Features
Read full description

Guitar Scales + is the easiest way to see scales on the fretboard while playing guitar, bass and ukulele. You can choose from over 48 build in scales, create your own and customize the tuning of your instrument. With excelent playback support, you can work out solos, or just play around on the fretboard. Whether you are are a beginner, want to learn music theory, or are a veteran player, Guitar Scales +is the perfect app for you. FEATURES - Show any scale in any key on the fretboard - Supports guitar, bass and ukulele - See over 48 build in scales - Create your own scales - Choose different tunings or create your own - Support for tunings with more strings - Change to left handed fretboard - Dynamic number of frets - Show intervals and octaves for every note - Choose which accidentals should be shown - Play any scale by tapping the notes - Supports multiple guitar sounds (nylon, steel, clean, jazz, overdrive, distortion) - Supports multiple bass sounds (finger, pick, acoustic) - Support for dark and light mode SUPPORT Please feel free to contact me any time if you have questions or suggestions. Alos, leave a rating if you like the app, it means a lot to me! support@getstringtheory.com TERMS & PRIVACY https://www.getstringtheory.app/terms.html https://www.getstringtheory.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer4 screens
Guitar Scales4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Guitar Scales at Free against Guitar Sight Reading Trainer's $1.99. Guitar Scales also leads on iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.6). Guitar Sight Reading Trainer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (91% vs 75%). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Guitar Scales is free to download; Guitar Sight Reading Trainer costs $1.99 up front. Guitar Scales sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Guitar Sight Reading Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Guitar Sight Reading Trainer against 4.9 for Guitar Scales. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 33 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Guitar Sight Reading Trainer's written reviews are positive against 75% of Guitar Scales's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer ships an update every 2 months, Guitar Scales every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer versus Guitar Scales: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGuitar Sight Reading TrainerGuitar Scales
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (16 ratings) — better4.9 (33 ratings)
Positive reviews90.6% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1633 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.617.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRolfs AppsDenis Andrasec

Customer experience

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

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

Guitar Scales

All ratings33 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

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

Guitar Scales

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Guitar Sight Reading Trainer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Guitar Scales

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$17.991 Year

Questions

Is Guitar Sight Reading Trainer free?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Guitar Scales free?
Guitar Scales is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Guitar Scales?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer is rated higher. Guitar Sight Reading Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Guitar Scales averages 4.9 from 33 ratings.
Do Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Guitar Scales have ads?
Neither Guitar Sight Reading Trainer nor Guitar Scales shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer or Guitar Scales?
Guitar Sight Reading Trainer ships an update every 2 months, and Guitar Scales every 3 months. Most recently, Guitar Sight Reading Trainer was updated on November 6, 2026 and Guitar Scales on November 7, 2026.

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