The Chord Wheel vs Sonofield Ear Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Chord Wheel
This app provides a revolutionary tool for musicians to understand chord theory, improvise, transpose keys, and compose music. It helps users grasp how chords work together and allows them to hear chord progressions played back.
- Understand chord theory
- Improvise and solo
- Transpose keys instantly
- Compose music without reading notes
- Hear chords played back
- Select instrument and chord voicings
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The best-selling book is now an iPhone App at last. ***** THE CHORD WHEEL; The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians ***** The Chord Wheel is a revolutionary device that puts the most essential and practical applications of chord theory into your hands. This tool will help you: UNDERSTAND CHORDS - Know the 'when, why and how' different chords work together. IMPROVISE & SOLO - Talk about chops! Comprehend key structure like never before. TRANSPOSE KEYS - Instantly transpose any progression to any key. COMPOSE MUSIC - Watch your songwriting blossom! No music reading is necessary. "I have given this information in lectures for years, but it's great to just tell people to go to your website and buy this thing. It's an amazing way to understand tonality and harmony." - Bonnie Hayes, Songwriter “Have a Heart” and “Love Letter” from Bonnie Raitts’ multi-platinum, multi-Grammy ‘Nick of Time’ "This is the kind of device that players of any instrument can use to enhance their musical understanding. Chord and key relationships are inseparable, and learning these relationships is a must in becoming a successful musician." - Alan Remington, Orange Coast College Music Dept. The word of mouth from the first 100,000 customers as well as recommendations for countless teachers worldwide has made The Chord Wheel the most successful device of its kind. Countless testimonials from users (see Amazon.com for numerous examples) assure you that this will help you in your quest to become a better musician. This product is intended for beginners and intermediate students; if you can rattle off the chords of a ii-V7-I progression in the Key of Bb and know whether a C7 sound good in this key without thinking about it, you may not need it. For the rest of us, here is the answer. Though it's still primarily intended for musicians, the iPhone App version allows users to depress the wheel's cells and hear the chords played back in the instrument and chord voicing selected in the 'Settings' page. The result is an entertaining song composer that allows you to play chord progressions without any musical knowledge whatsoever. For musicians, it allows your ears to hear the relationships between chords and key.
Sonofield Ear Trainer
This app helps musicians develop their ear by focusing on the feeling of individual notes within a key, rather than traditional interval training. It uses sustained drones and offers various modes like identifying scale degrees, melodies, and singing exercises. The app adapts to your skill level with an intuitive interface and progression path.
- Feeling-based note recognition
- Scale degree identification
- Melody recognition training
- Singing exercises
- Hands-free training mode
- Interactive exploration instrument
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Sonofield Ear Trainer (SET) is a revolutionary ear training app designed to help you intuitively play the melodies you hear and imagine. Instead of relying on traditional old methods like intervals, SET focuses on helping you feel the unique character of each note within a key. By using sustained drones to create a tonal foundation, you’ll learn to recognize scale degrees based on their *feeling*, not just how they sound. The app offers a variety of ways to train: * Degrees Mode - Identify individual notes against the drone by feeling. The heart of SET. * Melody Mode - Identify short melodic phrases, preparing you for real music. * Voice Mode - Sing the requested scale degree into your microphone. * Pocket Mode - Hands-free training for when you're on the go. * Free Play - An interactive instrument for exploration. With its intuitive, color-coded interface, thoughtfully designed progression path, and multiple difficulty levels, SET adapts to your skill level while keeping practice engaging. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced musician, SET is your guide to unlocking true musical fluency through intuitive, feeling-based ear training. No ads or forced payments. The free version contains full foundations for feeling-based ear training. Download the ear training app now!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sonofield Ear Trainer at 89% against The Chord Wheel's 30%. Sonofield Ear Trainer also leads on price (Free vs $6.99) and rating (4.9 vs 4.0). The Chord Wheel's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). 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
Sonofield Ear Trainer is free to download; The Chord Wheel costs $6.99 up front. Sonofield Ear Trainer sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. The Chord Wheel asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sonofield Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sonofield Ear Trainer has 392 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of The Chord Wheel's written reviews are positive against 89% of Sonofield Ear Trainer's.
The Chord Wheel ships an update every 55 months, Sonofield Ear Trainer every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Chord Wheel | Sonofield Ear Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (15 ratings) | 4.9 (392 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 30.2% of reviews | 88.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 392 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 55 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 87 MB | 105 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chord Wheel | Sonofield Ear Trainer Education Ltd. |
Customer experience
The Chord Wheel
Sonofield Ear Trainer
User reviews
The Chord Wheel
From 15 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and quick
- 👍 Great for beginners
- 👍 Helpful for writing progressions
- 👍 Piano sounds are good
- 👍 Clear interface
Room to improve
- 👎 Old app, not updated
- 👎 Expensive for value
- 👎 Guitar chords out of tune
- 👎 Screen too small on iPad
- 👎 Stuck in portrait mode
Sonofield Ear Trainer
From 392 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent ear training tool
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly design
- 🎶 Effective for improving relative pitch
- 💡 Innovative use of drone and scale degrees
- 🎯 Helpful for aural skills development
Room to improve
- 🤔 Challenging for true beginners
- 💭 Desire for more customization options
Bugs and requests
The Chord Wheel
Reported bugs
13 issues- Guitar chords out of tune
- Diminished 7ths wrong on guitar
- C chord strummed too slow
- Chord numberings not visible on iPad
- Screen not full screen on iPad
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- App stuck in portrait mode
- Sound issues (touchy, no sound, pops/clicks)
- App crashes on launch
- App doesn't work with newer iOS versions
- App exits immediately
- App won't open after iOS update
- Upside down on iPad
- Latency in chord playing
Requested features
18 requests- Toggle chords to 7th, 6th, sus4, etc.
- Add note on keyboard
- Adjust screen orientation
- Change instruments
- Enlarge screen on iPad
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- Add modes
- Add note numbers in scale
- Enable rotate to portrait mode
- Font resizing for explanation
- Toggle sound option
- Zoom into key signature
- Export MIDI files
- Show minor scales
- Show scales when tapping
- Play two keys at once
- Highlight notes when chord pressed
- Add MIDI output
- More voicings and instrument sounds
Sonofield Ear Trainer
Reported bugs
1 issue- None reported
Requested features
5 requests- Option to switch between 12TET and just intonation
- Ability to reduce octave range
- Incorporate more timbre options for drone and notes
- Tracking and visualization of progress and learned skills
- Add interactive tutorial for level 1
In-app purchases
The Chord Wheel
No in-app purchases
Sonofield Ear Trainer
- Lifetime Pro$14.99
- Lifetime Pro$17.99
- Lifetime Pro2 variants$19.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Lifetime Pro$24.99
Questions
Is The Chord Wheel free?
Is Sonofield Ear Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, The Chord Wheel or Sonofield Ear Trainer?
Do The Chord Wheel or Sonofield Ear Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Chord Wheel or Sonofield Ear Trainer?
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