Comparison

Sonofield Ear Trainer vs Guitar Machines!

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

Head to head
About

Sonofield Ear Trainer

This app helps musicians develop their ear by focusing on the feeling of individual notes within a key, rather than traditional interval training. It uses sustained drones and offers various modes like identifying scale degrees, melodies, and singing exercises. The app adapts to your skill level with an intuitive interface and progression path.

Highlights
  • Feeling-based note recognition
  • Scale degree identification
  • Melody recognition training
  • Singing exercises
  • Hands-free training mode
  • Interactive exploration instrument
Features
Read full description

Sonofield Ear Trainer (SET) is a revolutionary ear training app designed to help you intuitively play the melodies you hear and imagine. Instead of relying on traditional old methods like intervals, SET focuses on helping you feel the unique character of each note within a key. By using sustained drones to create a tonal foundation, you’ll learn to recognize scale degrees based on their *feeling*, not just how they sound. The app offers a variety of ways to train: * Degrees Mode - Identify individual notes against the drone by feeling. The heart of SET. * Melody Mode - Identify short melodic phrases, preparing you for real music. * Voice Mode - Sing the requested scale degree into your microphone. * Pocket Mode - Hands-free training for when you're on the go. * Free Play - An interactive instrument for exploration. With its intuitive, color-coded interface, thoughtfully designed progression path, and multiple difficulty levels, SET adapts to your skill level while keeping practice engaging. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced musician, SET is your guide to unlocking true musical fluency through intuitive, feeling-based ear training. No ads or forced payments. The free version contains full foundations for feeling-based ear training. Download the ear training app now!

About

Guitar Machines!

Learn fundamental guitar theory with four interactive "machines." Visualize notes, scales, and arpeggios on the fretboard, and even see song progressions. Designed to help you master guitar playing.

Highlights
  • Note learning on fretboard
  • Customizable scale learning
  • Arpeggio visualization
  • Song progression analysis
  • Music theory education
Features
Read full description

Quinn Fetrow's Guitar Machines is a free tool to help teach you basic music theory concepts on guitar! I've got 4 guitar machines for you: 1. Note Machine - Teaches the notes on the fretboard one at a time, with options for randomization! 2. Scale Machine - Learn whatever scales you want in context of the CAGED system or use the "Custom Cage" setting to generate scales within a range on the fretboard. 3. Arpeggio Machine - Learn the arpeggios through the circle of fifths, or create your own arpeggio by selecting the notes of the chord. 4. Song Machine - Visualize the arpeggios of a song as it plays through its progression. I want you to learn how to play guitar!

Screenshots

Sonofield Ear Trainer4 screens
Guitar Machines!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Guitar Machines! at none against Sonofield Ear Trainer's 5. Guitar Machines! also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 89%). Sonofield Ear Trainer's advantage is ratings volume (392 vs 43) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Sonofield Ear Trainer sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Guitar Machines! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Sonofield Ear Trainer against 5.0 for Guitar Machines!. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sonofield Ear Trainer has 392 ratings behind it against 43, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Sonofield Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Guitar Machines!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sonofield Ear Trainer ships an update every 9 days, Guitar Machines! every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sonofield Ear Trainer versus Guitar Machines!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSonofield Ear TrainerGuitar Machines!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (392 ratings)5.0 (43 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings392 — better43
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size105 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSonofield Ear Trainer Education Ltd.Quinn Fetrow

Customer experience

Sonofield Ear Trainer

All ratings387 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews152 reviews
Positive88.8%
Neutral6.6%
Negative4.6%

Guitar Machines!

All ratings25 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Sonofield Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • None reported

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to switch between 12TET and just intonation
  • Ability to reduce octave range
  • Incorporate more timbre options for drone and notes
  • Tracking and visualization of progress and learned skills
  • Add interactive tutorial for level 1

Guitar Machines!

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Sonofield Ear Trainer

One-time4
  • Lifetime Pro$14.99
  • Lifetime Pro$17.99
  • Lifetime Pro2 variants$19.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Pro$24.99
None

Guitar Machines!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sonofield Ear Trainer free?
Sonofield Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Guitar Machines! free?
Guitar Machines! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines!?
Guitar Machines! is rated higher. Sonofield Ear Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 392 ratings, while Guitar Machines! averages 5.0 from 43 ratings.
Do Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines! have ads?
Neither Sonofield Ear Trainer nor Guitar Machines! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines!?
Sonofield Ear Trainer ships an update every 9 days, and Guitar Machines! every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sonofield Ear Trainer was updated on November 4, 2026 and Guitar Machines! on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons