The Chord Wheel vs Chord Learner
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.
Chord Learner
Master music theory with this comprehensive chord learning tool. Practice identifying chords by name or notes, and explore various chord types and keys. Perfect for musicians of all levels looking to enhance their skills.
- Learn and practice chord notes
- Learn and practice chord names
- Explore 32 chord types
- Practice chords in 12 major keys
- Configurable key and chord selection
- Hint button for assistance
- Color-coded feedback and statistics
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Whether you are a beginner or expert musician, you will find this app useful as a fun tool for learning, understanding, practicing, and improving your knowledge of chords. Having quick mental ability of knowing chord names and their notes can help you take your musical talent to the next level. If you play an instrument that uses chords you can improve your skills by playing Chord Learner. This app can help any musician at any level. The makers of the popular Fretboard Addict family of apps that are now serving over 1 million musicians brings you another great app to add to your musician toolbox. Thank you for supporting our products! CHECK OUT A DEMONSTRATION VIDEO AT: www.guitaraddict.net Features: -Learn and practice naming a chord’s notes, given a chord name -Learn and practice naming a chord, given its notes -Learn and practice any combination of 32 chord types based on triad, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th -Learn and practice chords from any combination of the 12 major keys in the circle of fifths -Simple to configure key selection by touching any key in the circle of fifths or use the convenient select all / clear all buttons -Simple to configure chord type selections by using the preset buttons at the top of the screen to select groups of chords, or by touching the chord types on the screen, or by using the select all / clear all buttons -Hint button that shows the key that the chord is in, chord type, chord root’s major scale, and chord formula for helping any level of musician -Progressive answer entering system that gives you color coded feedback on each step of the answer so you know whether you are correct or incorrect -Effective color coded statistics that show your progress for keys worked on and for chord types worked on (Blue=Not Worked On, Green=80%+ Correct, Yellow=60%+ Correct, Red=Below 60% Correct) -Total running average is shown on the Play tab so you know your all time average. -This app perfectly compliments the Fretboard Addict family of apps for practicing and learning notes, chords, and soloing for guitar, bass, electric guitar, and ukulele -This is a great app for piano players to practice and learn chords -Universal app for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch devices
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Chord Wheel at 4.0 against Chord Learner's 1.0. The Chord Wheel also leads on chart position (#84 vs unranked) and ratings volume (15 vs 2). Chord Learner's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $6.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
The Chord Wheel costs $6.99 and Chord Learner $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
The Chord Wheel holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Chord Wheel has 15 ratings behind it against 2, 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 20% of Chord Learner's.
The Chord Wheel ships an update every 55 months, Chord Learner every 37 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Chord Wheel | Chord Learner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (15 ratings) — better | 1.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 30.2% of reviews — better | 20.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 55 months | Every 37 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #84 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 87 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chord Wheel | Michael Rylee |
Customer experience
The Chord Wheel
Chord Learner
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
Chord Learner
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Chord Wheel
No in-app purchases
Chord Learner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Chord Wheel free?
Is Chord Learner free?
Which has better reviews, The Chord Wheel or Chord Learner?
Do The Chord Wheel or Chord Learner have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Chord Wheel or Chord Learner?
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