Pentatone vs Modes Guitar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pentatone
This music app offers a unique pentatonic keyboard and built-in synthesizer, inspired by instruments like the kora and mbira. It features a sophisticated scale selection system and is optimized for touchscreen devices, providing an expressive and easy-to-play musical experience.
- Easy-to-play 'strummable' pentatonic keyboard
- 9 selectable pentatonic scales
- Custom FM synthesizer engine
- 25 preset sounds with macro controls
- Polyphonic touch and aftertouch response
- AUv3 functionality for host apps
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"Beautiful, fun and inspiringly expressive" - The Arithmophone Pentatone is a music app featuring an easy to play pentatonic keyboard and a built-in synthesizer. Instead of using piano keys or a grid-based interface, Pentatone takes a fresh approach, optimised for the ergonomics of touchscreen devices and inspired by instruments like the kora and mbira. The app also has a sophisticated scale selection system that includes all the common pentatonic scale types and unlocks some more unusual ones. Pentatone features: - An easy-to-play and 'strummable' keyboard, split for two handed playing - An original pentatonic scale system with 9 selectable scales, in just intonation or standard tuning - A custom synth engine (binaural 2x2 op FM with stereo detune, resonant filter, delay and reverb) - 25 preset sounds with macro sliders for tone and ambience - Initial touch and aftertouch response, both polyphonic - AUv3 functionality for use within host apps like GarageBand, Koala Sampler and Loopy Pro Pentatone user feedback: "Amazing! Love the simple UI and the musical keyboard. Also the sounds are lovely!" "This is very cool - beautiful interface and instantly musical." "This really is a joy to play and the tones are really expressive in fun ways that invite different types of creativity." "This app is such a brilliant idea!" "This is amazing. So fun to play. So easy to play with my daughter and my niece. The tones are wonderful." "This is an inspiringly expressive instrument! Really a joy to interact with." "This thing is AWESOME! It’s so easy to make up new stuff with it!" *** Pentatone is part of the Arithmophone project An Arithmophone is a thing that turns numbers into sounds, or math into music. Its name is derived from the ancient Greek words arithmos (number) and phone (sound). Any iPhone or iPad is itself an Arithmophone, because it routinely turns lists of binary numbers into sounds, for example when you use it to listen to music. But this app is a bit more 'arithmophonic' still, because it takes pure and simple harmonic ratios like 3:2 and 5:4 and uses these to build musical scales. You can use it as an easy-to-play instrument, a source of melodic and harmonic inspiration or a tool for learning about music and exploring the deep connection it has with numbers. Keep an eye out, future plans for the Arithmophone on iOS include: - PENTATONE JR., a simplified and text-free version of Pentatone, optimized for young/beginning musicians - DIATONE, the diatonic companion to Pentatone, featuring a 7-note-per-octave keyboard with all the familiar major and minor scales and modes - MIDI / MPE versions of Pentatone and Diatone - TONEHIVE, a microtonal keyboard synth for 7 limit just intonation - HUYGENS, a microtonal keyboard synth for 31 EDO To stay posted, join the community at reddit.com/r/arithmophone or subscribe to the Arithmophone youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@arithmophone
Modes Guitar
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Modes Guitar is a hands-on fretboard lab for iPhone and iPad. Tap the notes you're fingering to find out what you're playing, lay any scale out in CAGED or three-notes-per-string positions, browse playable chord shapes in any tuning, and practise it all against a built-in metronome. SCALE & CHORD FINDER Tap the notes you're holding down straight onto the neck. Modes Guitar names the chord in real time — major, minor, diminished, augmented, extended, suspended and more — and ranks every scale that fits by note coverage. Filter by scale family to narrow the list, then jump straight to that scale's chords. SCALES ON THE FRETBOARD Pick a root and a scale and watch every scale tone light up across the neck. Switch to CAGED positions or three-notes-per-string runs, drag a box up and down the neck to change position, and narrow the notes to triad, seventh, pentatonic or the full scale to see the shape behind the shape. CHORD SHAPES Every degree of the scale gets real, playable grips, complete with open- and muted-string markers, barre indicators and a fret-number gutter when the shape sits up the neck. Step through positions along the neck, choose an inversion, or force any scale tone into the bass for slash chords. TRIADS ON THE NECK Take any chord in the key apart and put it back on the neck. Pick a degree of the scale and Modes Guitar lays out every close voicing of that chord as a grid of diagrams, grouped by string set and running root position, first inversion, second inversion. Choosing one puts it on the fretboard with the rest of the chord tones around it for context, and you can drag it up the neck to walk the same grip through every position. 20 TUNINGS, PLUS YOUR OWN Standard, Drop D, Drop C, Eb Standard, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, seven-string, baritone, four- and five-string bass, ukulele, banjo (five-string, tenor and plectrum) and mandolin. Shapes, grips and note names are recalculated for the tuning you choose, and retuning keeps your fingering so you can hear what the same shape becomes. Or build your own: pick 3 to 8 strings and tune each one by ear, starting from any preset. STROBE TUNER A stroboscopic tuner is built in. Play a string and three rings of segments drift one way when you're flat and the other when you're sharp, standing still the moment you land on pitch — far finer than a needle can show. It follows whichever string you play, or pin one and work through them in order, and it reads in whatever tuning you're in, so a guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo or mandolin is tuned from the same dial, custom tunings included. Set the reference A anywhere from 415 to 466 Hz to play alongside older or non-standard pitch. Everything is analysed on device and nothing is recorded. PRACTICE METRONOME A full metronome comes along for the ride: time signatures, subdivisions, swing, per-beat accents, four click voices, adjustable volume and haptics, plus quick tempos and saved presets for the passages you're drilling. WIDGETS, CONTROL CENTRE & LIVE ACTIVITIES Put the metronome on your Home Screen or Lock Screen and start or stop it without opening the app. Add a Control Centre toggle, keep an eye on the tempo from a Live Activity while you play, and get a fresh Scale of the Day and Chord of the Day to work on. Everything runs on device. No account, no tracking, no internet connection required. Localised in 11 languages with light and dark appearances throughout. Try free for 7 days! After the trial, unlock full access with a one-time purchase — no subscriptions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pentatone at none against Modes Guitar's 1. Pentatone also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On price, 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. Modes Guitar sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pentatone asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Pentatone | Modes Guitar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (15 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chiel Zwinkels | GITC |
In-app purchases
Pentatone
No in-app purchases
Modes Guitar
- Full Access$9.99









