Tenuto vs Music Theory Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 24 customizable theory exercises
- Note and chord identification
- Ear training for intervals and scales
- Musical construction exercises
- Accidental calculator
- Interval calculator
- Chord calculator
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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.
Music Theory Notes
Learn to recognize musical pitches by sight or sound and practice notating them on a piano. Features ear training modes and a grade book to save and print quiz results.
- Pitch recognition by sight and sound
- Piano keyboard and musical staff notation
- Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clefs
- Ear training mode with hidden keyboard/staff
- Printable grade book for saved results
- Customizable note range
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Teachers, students and professional musicians: Recognize pitches (by sight and/or sound) and notate or play them on the piano. Includes a 'Grade Book' list of all saved results that you can print or send. • Play a note on the piano, or notate a piano key in a specific clef. • Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clefs. • 'Ear Training' mode hides the keyboard or staff during the quiz. Use a 'Middle C’ button to help you figure out the answer. • The note range is set by the ledger lines limits you set. The Grade Book is filterable by name. Grades include the name, date and time the quiz was taken, all relevant settings (clef, number of questions, etc.), and score (percentage and letter grade).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Tenuto at every 3 months against Music Theory Notes's every 28 months. Tenuto also leads on ratings volume (665 vs 2) and chart position (#8 vs unranked). Music Theory Notes's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On 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
Tenuto costs $4.99 and Music Theory Notes $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Music Theory Notes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tenuto has 665 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Tenuto ships an update every 3 months, Music Theory Notes every 28 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tenuto | Music Theory Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (665 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 665 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 28 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #8 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.8 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | musictheory.net | Patrick Q. Kelly |
Customer experience
Tenuto
Music Theory Notes
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
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- 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
Music Theory Notes
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Tenuto
No in-app purchases
Music Theory Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Tenuto free?
Is Music Theory Notes free?
Which has better reviews, Tenuto or Music Theory Notes?
Do Tenuto or Music Theory Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tenuto or Music Theory Notes?
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