AxeModes vs Note by Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AxeModes
This app helps guitarists learn various musical modes and scales from any root note. It features a dynamic fretboard, scale degree visualization, and audio playback for each note, along with chord accompaniment.
- Learn major, minor, and other scale modes
- Dynamic fretboard display
- Color-code and show/hide scale degrees
- Hear individual note sounds
- Play chord accompaniment
- Context-sensitive help
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Learn all the associated Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Double Harmonic Major, Hexatonic, Pentatonic, and Diminished Scales. Starting from any Root Note. (Hundreds and hundreds of combinations!) Dynamically generated Fretboard. Show between 2 and 22 Frets at a time. Color code any Scale Degree(s). Show or hide any Scale Degree(s). Click on any Note to hear what it sounds like. Play Chord accompaniment for any Scale/Mode/Root combination. Context sensitive help available on every screen.
Note by Note
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Learn songs by ear by listening to real recordings. For each song we have slow simple recordings. We have a recording not only for each song but another recording for each section and another for each individual lick.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Note by Note at Free against AxeModes's $4.99. AxeModes's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Note by Note is free to download; AxeModes costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AxeModes ships an update every 4 days, Note by Note every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AxeModes | Note by Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.2 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Svantner | CGDevworks LLC |
In-app purchases
AxeModes
No in-app purchases
Note by Note
No in-app purchases
