Comparison

Tenuto vs Complete Music Reading Trainer

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

Complete Music Reading Trainer

Master sheet music reading with this gamified training app. It offers progressive drills for all clefs and instruments, with multiple input methods and customizable training programs. Track your progress and compete with others.

Highlights
  • 270 progressive drills across 7 clefs
  • Instrument-specific learning paths
  • Arcade mode for practice
  • Multiple note input methods
  • Customizable drills and training programs
  • Cloud sync for progress
  • Achievements and leaderboards
Features
Read full description

The ultimate music reading training app. Designed like a video game and with strong pedagogical concepts in mind, Complete Music Reading Trainer is the fastest way to learn to read sheet music and improve your sight-reading skills. Whichever clef you want to learn and whatever your instrument is, the app will make you master any chosen clef or clef combination while rendering the learning process enjoyable. Features • 270 progressive drills covering all seven clefs (treble, bass, alto, tenor, soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone clefs) over 3 levels / 26 chapters • Content is organized in such a way that you can choose which levels or chapters are relevant to your instrument and focus on these, whether you play the guitar and only need treble clef, piano and need treble and bass clef, cello and need a mix of bass and tenor clefs, etc.: all instruments are covered • Practice key signatures up to 6 sharps/flats in progressive key signature drills • Practice common clef combinations in mixed clef drills • Play a selection of 19 drills in arcade mode • 5 octaves of actual recorded grand piano sounds • 6 additional sound banks are available, all with actual recorded sounds: vintage piano, Rhodes piano, electric guitar, harpsichord, concert harp and pizzicato strings • 4 ways to input notes: note circle, virtual piano keyboard, by connecting a MIDI controller, or by playing an instrument near your device's microphone • 4 sheet music display styles: modern, classic, handwritten and jazz • Designed like a video game: earn 3 stars in each drill of a chapter to complete it. Or will you be able to obtain perfect 5-star scores? • Don't want to follow the preestablished path of progression? Create and save your own custom drills and rehearse them at your own convenience • Create full custom training programs and invite friends or students to join them. If for example you're a teacher you can create custom programs for your students, add drills every week and view their scores on private leaderboards • Never lose any progress: cloud sync across your various devices • 35 achievements to unlock • Leaderboards to compare arcade mode scores with other players worldwide • Global statistics to track your progress • Nice and clean user interface with 2 display themes: light and dark • Designed by a musician and music teacher with a Royal Conservatory master's degree Full Version • Download the app and try out the first chapter of each clef for free • One-time in-app purchase to unlock the full version on all your devices Having a problem? Got a suggestion? You can reach us at hello@completemusicreadingtrainer.com Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Tenuto4 screens
Complete Music Reading Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Complete Music Reading Trainer at Free against Tenuto's $4.99. Complete Music Reading Trainer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). Tenuto's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Complete Music Reading Trainer is free to download; Tenuto costs $4.99 up front. Complete Music Reading Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Tenuto asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tenuto holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tenuto has 668 ratings behind it against 66, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Tenuto's written reviews are positive against 79% of Complete Music Reading Trainer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tenuto ships an update every 3 months, Complete Music Reading Trainer weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Tenuto versus Complete Music Reading Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTenutoComplete Music Reading Trainer
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (668 ratings) — better4.4 (66 ratings)
Positive reviews94.1% of reviews — better79.2% of reviews
Number of ratings668 — better66
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.8 — better17.5
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB67 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developermusictheory.netBinary Guilt

Customer experience

Tenuto

All ratings652 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews354 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.8%

Complete Music Reading Trainer

All ratings65 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral7.5%
Negative13.2%

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

Complete Music Reading Trainer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Tenuto

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Complete Music Reading Trainer

Subscriptions2
  • Cloud Sync and Web access$0.991 Month
  • Cloud Sync and Web access$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Version$5.99

Questions

Is Tenuto free?
Tenuto costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Complete Music Reading Trainer free?
Complete Music Reading Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tenuto or Complete Music Reading Trainer?
Tenuto is rated higher. Tenuto averages 4.7 out of 5 from 668 ratings, while Complete Music Reading Trainer averages 4.4 from 66 ratings.
Do Tenuto or Complete Music Reading Trainer have ads?
Neither Tenuto nor Complete Music Reading Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tenuto or Complete Music Reading Trainer?
Tenuto ships an update every 3 months, and Complete Music Reading Trainer weekly. Most recently, Tenuto was updated on November 6, 2026 and Complete Music Reading Trainer on November 7, 2026.

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