Absolute Ear vs Absolute Pitch Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Absolute Ear
Master note recognition, melodic dictation, and interval training with a structured course. Progress at your own pace through over 60 units, with intelligent practice focusing on your weakest areas. Supports multiple instrument timbres and detailed statistics.
- Note recognition
- Melodic dictation
- Interval training
- Intelligent practice
- Multiple instrument timbres
- Detailed statistics
- Session history and streak tracking
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ABSOLUTE EAR - EAR TRAINING Want to hear a melody and know exactly what notes it is? That's what Absolute Ear teaches. This is a structured ear training course that takes you from recognizing your first three notes all the way to mastering all 12 chromatic pitches, melodic sequences up to 5 notes long, all 13 musical intervals, chord recognition by function, and real chord progressions - at whatever pace works for you. WHAT YOU TRAIN NOTE RECOGNITION Hear a piano note. Name it. That's the foundation of playing by ear. Start with just C, E, and G. Unlock new notes as you demonstrate mastery. By the end, you'll identify all 12 chromatic notes across three octaves - including sharps - without needing a reference pitch. MELODIC DICTATION Identify sequences of 2, 3, 4, and 5 notes in a row. This is where note recognition becomes real musical memory. Each unit introduces new notes progressively, so you're never thrown in the deep end. INTERVAL TRAINING Master all 13 intervals: unison, minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, tritone, perfect 5th, minor 6th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th, and octave. Three tiers of difficulty: • Tier 1: Fixed C as your tonic - build the foundation • Tier 2: Random root per session - start to generalize • Tier 3: Root changes every question - true interval hearing CHORD RECOGNITION Hear a chord and identify it by its function in C major - not just its name. Every question starts with the I chord to anchor your ear, then you identify the target chord by scale degree. Five modules take you from the Big Three (I, IV, V) through all seven diatonic chords. You'll learn to hear the difference between the lift of IV, the tension of V, and the darkness of vi. CHORD PROGRESSIONS Once you know the chords, learn to hear how their order changes everything. A four-chord loop plays and you tap the degrees in sequence. Five modules cover the most common progressions in popular music - from the classic I-IV-V-I to the pop loop I-V-vi-IV - training you to recognize the patterns behind the songs you hear every day. HOW IT WORKS 60+ structured units span five exercise types across six chapters: single notes, note sequences, interval training, chord recognition, and chord progressions. Units unlock as you hit 80% accuracy - you move forward when you're actually ready. Each session is 30 focused questions. Listen. Answer. Get immediate haptic feedback. The app tracks exactly where you struggle and weights practice toward your weakest notes, intervals, and chords - so every session is time well spent. If you're flying through a session, an early-completion prompt lets you move on early. FEATURES • 60+ course units across five exercise types • Chord recognition by function - hear harmony, not just names • Chord progression training - recognize the loops behind real music • Intelligent practice: weak spots appear more often • Multi-octave training - notes across three octaves • 60+ badges to earn - including some hidden surprises • Detailed stats: per-note accuracy, confusion matrix, accuracy trends, daily practice time • Session history and streak tracking • Apple Sign In - progress saved to your account • Haptic feedback on every answer • No subscription required to get started WHO IT'S FOR • Musicians who want to play by ear without sheet music • Piano and guitar players who want to transcribe what they hear • Music students building aural skills for exams • Anyone who hears a melody and wants to know its notes • Songwriters who want to hear chord progressions by ear • Experienced players sharpening pitch, interval, and harmony awareness Start with three notes. Build from there. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.absoluteear.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.absoluteear.com/privacy
Absolute Pitch Trainer
Sharpen your musical ear with this app that turns ear training into a daily habit. Identify notes and chords through various difficulty levels and game modes. Track your progress with detailed statistics and achievements.
- 9 difficulty levels
- 3 game modes (Practice, Quiz, Weak Notes)
- Daily Challenge
- Reference tuning fork
- XP and ranked progression
- Streak systems
- Achievement system
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Perfect pitch and ear training in 5 minutes a day. Hear a tone — name the note. Nine difficulty levels from beginner to chord progressions, free to start. Absolute Pitch Trainer turns ear training into a daily habit you'll actually keep. Hear a pure tone. Tap the note you heard. Watch your accuracy climb session over session — through nine levels of difficulty, from three colored notes for absolute beginners to full chord progressions and melodies for serious students. THE SCIENCE Folk wisdom says perfect pitch is "inborn or never." That's only half the story. Children can develop full absolute pitch during a critical childhood window — especially with early musical training. But adult ears keep learning too: focused, repeated practice still sharpens accurate note recognition at any age. We built the app on the part of the science that works for grown-up brains. BUILT FOR REAL EARS • 9 difficulty levels — from 3 notes with color hints to full chords and melodies • Four game modes — Practice (calm, no pressure), Quiz (timed, scored), Survival (one life: how many notes in a row?) and Weak Notes (drills exactly the notes you miss and mix up) • Daily Challenge — a different challenge for every day of the week: white keys, black keys, intervals, three octaves, chords, precision and melodies • Reference tuning fork — tap for a clean C-D-E-F-G-A-B reference scale • A real recorded concert grand, every note tuned exactly to A = 440 Hz — or the classic E-Piano PROGRESSION YOU CAN FEEL • XP and ranked progression from beginner to master • Two streak systems side-by-side — a daily-play streak that rewards showing up across sessions, plus an in-quiz answer streak that ignites an "On Fire" mode once you chain enough correct answers in a row • Achievement system across Common / Rare / Epic / Legendary rarities • Per-note mastery tracking — after every round, see which notes you missed and what you heard instead • Streak calendar showing every day you played this month STATS YOU'LL ACTUALLY READ • Historical accuracy curve — 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or a full year of progress • Time played, total quizzes, correct answers, longest streak • Note mastery rings for every pitch class • Game Center leaderboards for career XP, best quiz score and longest Survival run • Share your streak or score as a story-ready image — and dare your friends to beat it POLISH WHERE IT MATTERS • Four hand-tuned color palettes (Tube Glow, Jukebox Chrome, Reel-to-Reel, Rainbow Pride) • Multiple alternate app icons • Optional daily reminders so a busy week doesn't break your streak • iCloud sync — your progress moves with you to a new iPhone and survives a reinstall • Six languages: English, Deutsch, Español, Français, 日本語, 简体中文 PREMIUM Premium Lifetime is a one-time purchase, no subscription. It unlocks the higher difficulty levels, Weak Notes training, advanced statistics, and exclusive app icons. It's not too late to start. — Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://emign.github.io/absolute-pitch-trainer-legal/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Absolute Ear at 5.0 against Absolute Pitch Trainer's 3.7. Absolute Ear also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Absolute Ear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Absolute Pitch Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Absolute Ear holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 3 respectively.
Absolute Ear ships an update every 3 days, Absolute Pitch Trainer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Absolute Ear | Absolute Pitch Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 117 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Ashworth | Nicolai Emig |
Customer experience
Absolute Ear
Absolute Pitch Trainer
In-app purchases
Absolute Ear
- Monthly$4.991 Month
- Yearly$29.991 Year
- Lifetime$49.99
Absolute Pitch Trainer
- Premium Lifetime$4.99
Questions
Is Absolute Ear free?
Is Absolute Pitch Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, Absolute Ear or Absolute Pitch Trainer?
Do Absolute Ear or Absolute Pitch Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Absolute Ear or Absolute Pitch Trainer?
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