Sonofield Ear Trainer vs Guitar Machines!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Feeling-based note recognition
- Scale degree identification
- Melody recognition training
- Singing exercises
- Hands-free training mode
- Interactive exploration instrument
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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!
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.
- Note learning on fretboard
- Customizable scale learning
- Arpeggio visualization
- Song progression analysis
- Music theory education
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Sonofield Ear Trainer sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Guitar Machines! asks for nothing beyond the download.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Sonofield Ear Trainer | Guitar Machines! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (392 ratings) | 5.0 (43 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 392 — better | 43 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 105 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sonofield Ear Trainer Education Ltd. | Quinn Fetrow |
Customer experience
Sonofield Ear Trainer
Guitar Machines!
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
Sonofield Ear Trainer
- Lifetime Pro$14.99
- Lifetime Pro$17.99
- Lifetime Pro2 variants$19.99
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- Lifetime Pro$24.99
Guitar Machines!
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sonofield Ear Trainer free?
Is Guitar Machines! free?
Which has better reviews, Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines!?
Do Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sonofield Ear Trainer or Guitar Machines!?
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