Comparison

Chord! vs Solo

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

Head to head
About

Chord!

This app serves as a comprehensive reference for chords and scales, supporting various fretted instruments. It allows users to create songs, transpose them, and generate printable PDFs. It also offers features for analyzing and understanding chord and scale formations, even for beginners.

Highlights
  • Chord and scale reference for fretted instruments
  • Chord and scale fingering computation
  • Song writing and transposition
  • Print-ready PDF generation
  • Audio track linking and playback
  • Chord and scale analysis
  • Customizable tunings
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Chord! is a chord and scale reference that works with any fretted instrument like guitar, basses, ukulele, banjos,… It computes and analyses all the possible fingerings for chords, scales, and arpeggios. With Chord!, you can also write a song by simply dragging and dropping chords, transpose it in any key, compute the fingerings with any tuning and generate a beautiful print-ready PDF, etc. You can also import your existing songs in text format (please note that the app does not ship with songs). You can also link audio tracks from your music library and play them at the same time while adjusting their pitch and/or speed. You don't even have to know music theory to use it: behind its brute force, the app knows how to handle by itself some subtleties of music to give meaningful results. If you don't have to be an advanced player to use the app, you can however take a look under the hood and tweak the parameters if you like! Whatever is your level or your instrument, Chord! will adapt and give you the most precise answer. You can search for any chord, split (like D/F#), or not. If you're a beginner, you can choose the chord from a list, but you can also use the intelligent keyboard to enter the chord as it is written. If this keyboard is a great way to enter chords, it is also very useful to discover and understand how the chords are formed. You can also enter some notes on a neck to find which chords it can be. You can hear how each fingering sounds. Chord arpeggios are also supported, as well as drop voicings (drop 2, drop3, etc.). The app also ships with the biggest list of named scales (and you can create your own scales). It analyses and presents them with nice interactive views (scale, score, and keyboard). Of course, it can also lay down these scales on a neck (with sound) and compute their fingerings. Like for chords, you can even search for a scale from its fingering! Each scale can be harmonized (decomposed into chords). You can also enter a sequence of chords to find which scale you can use to improvise onto. You can use one of the hundred tunings that ship with the app, or you can add your own ones, for any instrument, with or without a capo, even with broken strings if you want! The app uses custom and unique algorithms to generate charts, easily input complex harmonic structures, extract chords from fingerings, determine finger positions, compute keys of scales, generate chords from scales and find scales that go well with some chords. For example, Chord! is the right tool in these situations: • You want to have your songbook available at any time, in your pocket; • You're a beginner and you want to know how to play easily a D/F# chord; • One gave you a ukulele and you want to know how to tune it and how to play the G Hawaiian scale; • You want to know on what scale you can improvise for some chord sequence (and the answer can be different than the Pentatonic minor!); • You want to print your song and share it with your band. • You want to experiment with this nice open tuning, moreover with a bottleneck; • Your little sister can't make bar chords and you want to show her how she can do without bars, with three (little) fingers only; • You want to impress your little sister by showing her how you can play the same chords with two bars! • You want to understand how this fingering for C13 is actually a fingering for C13; • You broke a string and want to know how to play some chords without; • You want to know how Django managed to play with two and a half fingers. The app fully supports left-handed instruments. Main functions of the app: - Write, transpose, fingerize, print, and share songs; - Search chord fingerings (or chord charts); - Search chords from fingerings; - Search scale fingerings; - Search scales from fingerings; - Search chords from scale; - Search scales from chords.

About

Solo

Master your guitar fretboard with this interactive trainer. Learn note names, intervals, chord changes, and scales through guided exercises. Designed by professional guitarists, it offers customizable workouts for all skill levels.

Highlights
  • Fretboard visualization
  • Note name trainer
  • Interval shape memorization
  • Chord change outlining
  • Scale practice
  • Interactive fretboards
  • Customizable workouts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Solo is the ultimate practice App for mastering fretboard visualization, designed by world renowned guitarists Tom Quayle and David Beebee. Four powerful fretboard trainers allow you to work intuitively on each aspect of the visualization process; learning note names, memorising interval shapes, outlining chord changes, and practicing scales. Solo asks you to find intervallic functions against one root note, chord symbol or scale at a time, listens to the notes you play, and doesn’t move on until you’ve correctly found each note by its intervallic function in the specified order. Practice with Solo and finally learn your note names, master interval shapes, confidently play through chord changes and break out of scale boxes with intervallic functions. Start transforming your playing and confidence on the fretboard today! NOTE TRAINER The Note Trainer is perfect for beginner and intermediate players getting to grips with note names on the neck - the foundation of solid fretboard knowledge. ‣ Solo shows you random root notes to find and listens, waiting for you to get it correct. ‣ Slide on the interactive fretboards for helpful diagrams and to study alternative options. Choose from 6 string guitar (standard and 4ths tuning), 7 string guitar, 4 string bass & 5 string bass. ‣ Optional practice suggestions offer challenging ways to limit and test yourself. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session. INTERVAL TRAINER The Interval Trainer will help players at all levels work on interval shapes with intervallic functions - the key to unlocking true freedom on the fretboard. ‣ Choose any combination of intervallic functions to practice. ‣ Create custom interval groups or choose the intervals for ANY chord type or scale. ‣ The Interval Trainer will randomise your chosen intervals and ask you to find them against either a fixed or random root note. ‣ Slide on the interactive fretboards for helpful diagrams, showing you where all of the interval shapes are across the neck, and to study alternative options. Choose from 6 string guitar (standard and 4ths tuning), 7 string guitar, 4 string bass & 5 string bass. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session. CHANGES TRAINER In the Changes Trainer you find intervallic functions, using single notes to outline different chord types or sets of chord changes, a key skill for learning to improvise through chord changes. ‣ Practice outlining intervallic functions through over 100 common chord progressions and single chord exercises. ‣ 50 intervallic function levels. Go from simple chord tones to complex melodic structures and scales. ‣ Solo intelligently maps out the correct intervals over each chord and listens for you to play each intervallic function in the specified order. ‣ Powerful workout options provide almost limitless ways to challenge yourself. ‣ Transpose the key of any progression or exercise. ‣ Choose to randomly transpose the progression (or single chord exercise) each time it repeats. ‣ Work on voice leading chord tones through single note lines. SCALE TRAINER The Scale Trainer contains a vast array of scales and powerful workout options, allowing you to finally break out of the box and develop a much deeper understanding of how scales are constructed on the fretboard. ‣ Practice finding scales on the fretboard using intervallic functions. ‣ Over 50+ Scales and modes. ‣ Powerful workout options provide almost limitless ways to challenge yourself. ‣ Melodic sequence options let you focus on starting from any chord tone within the scale. ‣ Duration based workouts allow you to craft the perfect practice session.

Screenshots

Chord!4 screens
Solo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chord! at $4.99 against Solo's $17.99. Chord! also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.2 vs 16.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Chord! costs $4.99 and Solo $17.99 up front. Solo sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Chord! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Chord! against 4.7 for Solo. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 383 and 657 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 83% and 83% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chord! ships an update every 3 weeks, Solo monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Chord! versus Solo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChord!Solo
Price$4.99 — better$17.99
Rating4.8 (383 ratings) — better4.7 (657 ratings)
Positive reviews82.9% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings383657 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#196#188 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.2 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB231 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThomas GrapperonTrio Software Ltd

Customer experience

Chord!

All ratings377 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral1.1%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews193 reviews
Positive82.9%
Neutral6.2%
Negative10.9%

Solo

All ratings644 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews233 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.2%
Negative11.6%

User reviews

Chord!

From 383 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful chord and scale generation
  • 👍 Highly customizable for various instruments and tunings
  • 🔍 Reverse chord lookup feature
  • 💡 Comprehensive chord and scale database
  • 👍 Useful for songwriting and music theory learning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🤔 Steep learning curve, could use better documentation
  • 🔍 Reverse chord lookup not always accurate
  • 📱 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Solo

From 657 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent practice tool
  • 👍 Helps improve fretboard knowledge
  • 👍 Versatile and configurable
  • 👍 Detailed video tutorials
  • 👍 Accurate note detection

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Note detection issues
  • 🐛 App crashes
  • 🐛 Lack of customization options
  • 🐛 Unintuitive for beginners
  • 🐛 Limited functionality for the price

Bugs and requests

Chord!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Chord harmonization issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when modifying chord voicings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Audio playback of created songs
  • Improved workflow for editing and saving custom chords
  • Integration with music notation software
  • More tutorial videos and user guides

Solo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when launching the app
  • Inconsistent note detection
  • Inability to save progress or settings

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add ability to create custom chord progressions
  • Integrate metronome functionality
  • Provide visual representation of intervals on staff
  • Add option to practice natural notes only
  • Implement option to hear chord tones in the background
Show 3 more
  • Allow randomization of scale order
  • Add support for non-standard tunings
  • Implement sound feedback when finding the correct note

In-app purchases

None

Chord!

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Solo

One-time2
  • Custom Tunings$1.99
  • Custom Chord Progressions$5.99

Questions

Is Chord! free?
Chord! costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Solo free?
Solo costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chord! or Solo?
Chord! is rated higher. Chord! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 383 ratings, while Solo averages 4.7 from 657 ratings.
Do Chord! or Solo have ads?
Neither Chord! nor Solo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chord! or Solo?
Chord! ships an update every 3 weeks, and Solo monthly. Most recently, Chord! was updated on November 1, 2026 and Solo on October 29, 2026.
Which is more popular, Chord! or Solo?
Chord! currently peaks at #196 in the App Store charts, and Solo at #188. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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