ScaleHelper vs Music Buddy Pro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ScaleHelper
Improve your musical instrument playing with real-time feedback on your performance. Practice scales, arpeggios, and other exercises with scoring and audio playback. Prepare for exams with customizable challenges and support for multiple instruments and users.
- Real-time performance scoring
- Audio playback of notes and performance
- Practice any scale or choose specific exercises
- Exam preparation with challenge modes
- Support for multiple instruments and users
- Customizable syllabus creation
- Save and share recordings
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Choose an exercise: see the notes and hear them played Play the exercise: get a score, see the notes you played and listen to your performance ScaleHelper is the fast way to improve your playing. With actual feedback based on what you played, ScaleHelper enables you to concentrate on the aspects of your playing that will help the most. ScaleHelper has 3 modes: 1. Play any scale: ScaleHelper determines the exercise you have played and scores your performance. Ideal for impromptu practise sessions. 2. Choose a scale: Choose the exercise you want to play and ScaleHelper listens and gives you a score. Ideal to improve a specific musical exercise. 3. Challenge me: ScaleHelper will ask you to play exercises from your challenge list that is based on your chosen syllabus. ScaleHelper will identify what you need to practise and make sure you get exam ready while having fun on the way. Ideal for practising a range of exercises. ScaleHelper contains everything you need for most of the instruments covered by the ABRSM, Trinity Guildhall, and MTB examining boards all the way from Grade 1 to Grade 8. ScaleHelper will be there for you every step of the way as you grow as a musician. ScaleHelper allows you to create your own syllabus from the exercises it supports: major scales; major arpeggios; harmonic minor scales; melodic minor scales; natural minor scales; minor arpeggios; chromatic scales; dominant sevenths; diminished sevenths; augmented arpeggios; scales in thirds; whole-tone scales; and pentatonic major scales. All exercises are available starting from every tonic over 1 octave, 1 twelfth, 2 octaves, 2.5 octaves and 3 octaves. There is a range of exercise lists for popular music exams available for download. Instruments supported include Violin, Viola, Cello, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Clarinet, Flute, Oboe, Saxophone, Bassoon, Recorder, Trumpet, Cornet, Trombone and Horn. A full list is available at www.ScaleHelper.com along with details of the rich feature set ScaleHelper has to offer. At less than the price of a single music lesson the guidance that ScaleHelper provides between your lessons builds on that teaching. You can dispense with the need to review scales by playing them in your lessons and instead reuse the time you gain to learn technique and perfect your pieces. ScaleHelper supports multiple users, keeping each user's history for each of their instruments. You can save recordings to study later or to show and play to your teacher and friends. You can also email recordings to share them with others. Have fun competing with your friends to see who can get the highest score or who can maintain the highest average.
Music Buddy Pro
Master music theory with this app. Learn to recognize notes, key signatures, and intervals quickly through repetition and visual patterns. Supports multiple international note-naming systems and offers customizable learning modules for all skill levels.
- Note recognition
- Key signature memorization
- Interval training
- Circle of fifths practice
- Multiple note-naming systems
- Customizable learning modules
- Progress tracking
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Music Buddy Pro – learn and memorize notes, key signatures (circle of fifths), and intervals, practice sight reading sheet music using flash cards principle. Read sheet music quickly and effortlessly like a pro. Learn to recognize notes, key signatures, and intervals in the blink of an eye. Three independent learning modules in one app. Set aside five minutes a day for this app and you'll be reading sheet music like a professional musician in no time. The app uses an ingenious approach to memorizing information through repetition and visual patterns with a focus on hard-to-remember pieces of information. The simple, elegant, and intuitive interface allows you to switch between different note-naming systems used in major countries around the world: • C D E F G A B (major + minor, 大调 + 小调, 大調 + 小調) • C D E F G A H (dur + moll) • Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si (mayor + menor, maior + menor, majeur + mineur, maggiore + minore) • Дo Рe Ми Фа Coль Ля Си (мажор + минор) • ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト イ ロ (長調 + 短調) • 도 레 미 파 솔 라 시 (장조 + 단조) The learning experience starts by tapping the big frame with a graphical representation of selected options on the main screen of each module. A neat interface will efficiently teach you your coveted knowledge – after each session you will see a significant improvement. And you can follow your achievements on the Results screen, where everything is summarized in a beautiful chart. Every module has a wealth of options that are accessible by tapping the Options button in the top right corner of the main screen of the module. On the following screen you can then choose options to your liking. Notes module: This module will teach you to quickly recognize notes without thinking about it – you’ll look at them and you’ll simply know them. On the Options screen of this module you can choose from four clefs (treble, bass, alto, and tenor), you can set your own range of notes you want to learn (all notes, basic notes, notes above and below the staff, or your own selection), and you can also set the key (start with the simplest C major and make your way through toward the most challenging A flat minor). Key Signatures module: This module will help you memorize the circle of fifths – a must for every musician. You will learn to recognize keys based on the number of sharps or flats in a key signature at the beginning of a staff. On the Options screen of this module, you can choose from two types of keys (major and minor), you can set your own range of key signatures you want to learn (from C major | A minor to C flat major | A flat minor) and you can also choose from four clefs here (treble, bass, alto, and tenor). Intervals module: This module is especially helpful for pianists. Skilled pianists don't need to identify every note in a sheet. They recognize patterns based on the distance between notes (intervals) and automatically stretch their fingers accordingly. On the Options screen of this module, you can choose from two types of intervals (melodic and harmonic), you can set your own range of intervals you want to learn (from unison to octave), and you can also choose from four clefs here (treble, bass, alto, and tenor). Each module keeps its own history of your results, accessible using a dedicated History button, and also contains a Music Theory section accessible via the button with the same name. All exercises are accompanied by beautifully recorded sounds of a real acoustic grand piano. The sounds can be muted or unmuted for each module independently using a button below the staff on the Exercise screen or in the options of the particular module. The volume can be set globally for the whole app in Settings, or you can use the device hardware buttons. Good luck on your journey toward becoming a great musician!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Music Buddy Pro at none against ScaleHelper's 11. Music Buddy Pro also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 80%) and price ($3.99 vs $5.99). ScaleHelper's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On update cadence, ads, monetization model 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
ScaleHelper costs $5.99 and Music Buddy Pro $3.99 up front. ScaleHelper sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Music Buddy Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.
ScaleHelper ships an update monthly, Music Buddy Pro every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ScaleHelper | Music Buddy Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Richard Williams | Vladimir Vasek |
Customer experience
ScaleHelper
Music Buddy Pro
In-app purchases
ScaleHelper
- Violin ABRSM G8$0.99
- Cello TRINITY G1 to G3$0.99
- Flute TRINITY G1 to G3$0.99
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- Viola ABRSM G6$0.99
- Viola ABRSM G7$0.99
- Viola ABRSM G8$0.99
- Violin ABRSM G1 to G3$0.99
- Clarinet ABRSM G1 to G8$2.99
- Violin ABRSM G1 to G8$2.99
- Flute ABRSM G1 to G8$2.99
- Cello ABRSM G1 to G8$2.99
Music Buddy Pro
No in-app purchases









