Comparison

Tenuto vs Random Chord

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

Head to head
About

Tenuto

Enhance your musicality with a comprehensive suite of 24 customizable theory exercises and six essential musical calculators. Practice note and chord identification, ear training, and construct musical elements. Tools include accidentals, intervals, scales, chords, analysis symbols, and twelve-tone matrices.

Highlights
  • 24 customizable theory exercises
  • Note and chord identification
  • Ear training for intervals and scales
  • Musical construction exercises
  • Accidental calculator
  • Interval calculator
  • Chord calculator
Read full description

Tenuto is a collection of 24 highly-customizable exercises designed to enhance your musicality. From recognizing chords on a keyboard to identifying intervals by ear, it has an exercise for you. Tenuto also includes six musical calculators for accidentals, intervals, scales, chords, analysis symbols, and twelve-tone matrices. A short description of the exercises and calculators follows. –––––– • Note Identification • Key Signature Identification • Interval Identification • Scale Identification • Chord Identification Tap the button corresponding to the written staff line. For example: if shown a C, E, and G with a sharp; tap the "Augmented Triad" button. –––––– • Note Construction • Key Signature Construction • Interval Construction • Scale Construction • Chord Construction Construct the specified label by moving notes and/or adding accidentals. For example: if shown a C and an "Augmented 4th" label, move the second note to F and add a sharp. –––––– • Keyboard Reverse Identification Tap the piano key corresponding to the written note on the staff. While similar to Note Identification, this exercise uses a piano keyboard rather than note name buttons. • Keyboard Note Identification • Keyboard Interval Identification • Keyboard Scale Identification • Keyboard Chord Identification Tap the button corresponding to the highlighted piano key(s). If the C and G keys are highlighted, tap the "P5" (Perfect 5th) button. –––––– • Fretboard Note Identification • Fretboard Interval Identification • Fretboard Scale Identification • Fretboard Chord Identification Tap the button corresponding to the marked fretboard position(s). If the 2nd fret of the D string is marked, tap the "E" button. –––––– • Keyboard Ear Training • Note Ear Training Listen to the played reference and question notes. Select the piano key or note button corresponding to the question note. • Interval Ear Training • Scale Ear Training • Chord Ear Training Tap the button corresponding to the played notes. If E and F are played, tap the "Minor 2nd" button. –––––– • Accidental Calculator Display the accidental for a note and key. • Interval Calculator Display the interval for a note, type, and key. • Chord Calculator Display the scale for a tonic and scale type. • Chord Calculator Display the chord for a note, type, and key. • Analysis Calculator Display the chord for a symbol and key. • Matrix Calculator Display the twelve-tone matrix for a specified tone row.

About

Random Chord

Practice musical improvisation with randomly generated chord progressions. Customize key, chord types, duration, and time signatures for personalized exercises. Supports various playback styles and includes a mixer for custom sound.

Highlights
  • Random chord generation
  • Customizable chord pools
  • Adjustable chord duration and loop settings
  • Support for different time signatures
  • Diatonic, Chromatic, Modal, and Custom modes
  • Multiple playback styles (Rock, Pop, Swing, etc.)
  • Integrated mixer for sound control
Features
Read full description

„THIS IS HOW YOU LEARN CHORDS!“ ** Random Chords is a standalone subpart of our app ‚Improvisation Trainer‘. Feel free to try the features of Random Chords using the free version of Improvisation Trainer. ** Practice your voice or instrument skills with RANDOMLY GIVEN CHORDS according to your settings, with a great music-playback engine and incredible possibilities to shape up! for example: give and play me random chords in the key of F-major.  or: give and play me random chords of the type „min7“. or: give an play random chords of the types „dom7“, „7(#11)“, „maj7“ and „dim7“; or: give me 4 random chords -  then transpose them up by a half-step each 4 bars. RANDOM CHORDS is a great practicing companion for both beginners and professionals in music out of every music field.  RANDOM CHORDS is a indispensable tool for music teachers and provides an ultimate platform for practicing harmonic and melodic instruments. Just get started with one of our presets to give you an idea about the endless possibilities the app can do! • practice improvising on your favorite chords • chords get randomly chosen out of a defined chord pool • define your own chord pools specially designed for your needs • set the chord duration for each chord (i.e., 2 bars) • set a loop to create perfect practicing exercises for you • DIFFERENT TIME SIGNATURES • tell the app in which meter you want to improvise (3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 7/8, …) • 3 MODES • DIATONIC MODE: practice improvising only within a specified key • CHROMATIC MODE: practice your skills on all bass notes of the chromatic scale • MODAL MODE: chord symbols will randomly change, but only on one bass note • CUSTOM MODE: practice your chords on personally specified root notes (i.e., C and F) DIFFERENT PLAYBACK STYLES • choose from a variety of different playback styles: Rock, Pop, Swing, Bossa-Nova, Disco, Country and many more • choose your individual playback tempo SAVE AND SHARE YOUR SETTINGS • you can save all your custom settings to get started quickly • you can easily share the settings with friends, students or other people using e-mail MIXER INCLUDED • with the included mixer, you can decide to only hear chords, bass, or drums and create your unique mix! EAR TRAINING • You can also use the app as a ear-training program. Just define which chords you want to be played and don’t look at the display or use our „only time“ preset!

Screenshots

Tenuto4 screens
Random Chord4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Tenuto at 652 against Random Chord's 2. Tenuto also leads on chart position (#5 vs unranked). Random Chord's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Tenuto costs $4.99 and Random Chord $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Random Chord holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tenuto has 652 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Tenuto's written reviews are positive against 100% of Random Chord's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Tenuto versus Random Chord: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTenutoRandom Chord
Price$4.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.8 (652 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings652 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.812.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB70 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermusictheory.netAppicDesign

Customer experience

Tenuto

All ratings652 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews350 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.9%

Random Chord

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Tenuto

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Sound cuts out
  • Unresponsive at times
  • Freezes up
  • Doesn't work well for guitar
  • Incorrect chord/key associations

Requested features

20 requests
  • Cadences and inversions for ear training
  • Chord progressions for ear training
  • Melodic and harmonic minor modes for scale recognition
  • 6th, 9th, 11th and 13th chord extensions for chord recognition
  • Melodic dictation
Show 15 more
  • Rhythm exercises
  • Fretboard reverse identification
  • Chord inversions for chord identification
  • Scales written on staff using various clefs
  • Rhythm, melodic, and harmonic dictation exercises
  • Part writing exercises
  • Exercises for form, cadences, etc.
  • MIDI support
  • Autoplay function
  • Ability to input notes/chords on fretboard
  • Chord progression ear training
  • Inversion options for chord and interval identification
  • Melodic and harmonic minor scale identification
  • Extended chord identification
  • Rhythmic dictation

Random Chord

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Tenuto

No in-app purchases

None

Random Chord

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tenuto free?
Tenuto costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Random Chord free?
Random Chord costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tenuto or Random Chord?
Random Chord is rated higher. Tenuto averages 4.8 out of 5 from 652 ratings, while Random Chord averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Tenuto or Random Chord have ads?
Neither Tenuto nor Random Chord shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tenuto or Random Chord?
Tenuto ships an update every 3 months, and Random Chord every 3 months. Most recently, Tenuto was updated on October 3, 2026 and Random Chord on September 16, 2026.

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