Paper Trained vs Quick Theory

Paper Trained is a free, offline app that teaches you how to read music notation from scratch. No experience needed — just open the app and start learning. LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE Work through short, focused lessons that break music reading into small steps. Start with the basics — what a staff is, how lines and spaces work — then move on to the treble clef, bass clef, ledger lines, accidentals, key signatures, and the grand staff. Each lesson uses clear explanations and interactive note examples displayed on a real music staff. PRACTICE UNTIL IT CLICKS Jump into practice mode to sharpen your note recognition skills. Identify notes displayed on the staff from four answer choices and get instant feedback on every answer. Track your streak and watch your accuracy improve over time. PITCH DRILLS Put your reading to the test with scrolling pitch drills for both treble and bass clef. Notes flow across the staff and you tap the correct letter before they reach the judge line. Speed ramps up each level (20→60 BPM), wrong or missed notes flash the correct answer, and you can toggle sound and play-at-judge-line to suit how you practice. Hear each note with built-in offline piano audio. QUIZ YOURSELF When you're ready, take a 10-question quiz to test what you've learned. See your score, percentage, and personalized feedback at the end. Try to beat your best score as you improve. See how far you've come at a glance. Paper Trained tracks your completed lessons, best quiz scores, and overall accuracy — all stored locally on your device. A new Settings screen lets you clear your history anytime to start fresh. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN • The music staff: 5 lines and 4 spaces • The treble and bass clefs and how to read them • Note names from A to G • Ledger lines, accidentals, and key signatures • The grand staff • How to identify notes on the staff by sight and by ear DESIGNED FOR BEGINNERS Paper Trained is built for people who have never read a note of music. The lessons are short, the interface is clean, and there's nothing to distract you from learning. No accounts, no ads, no subscriptions — just you and the music. WORKS OFFLINE Everything runs locally on your device. No internet connection required. Your progress is saved automatically and persists between sessions. Perfect for aspiring musicians, students, parents helping kids learn music, or anyone curious about how to read sheet music.

Quick Theory teaches real music theory the way a friendly teacher would: one small idea at a time, with your hands on the answers. TYPE THE MUSIC No instrument needed. You answer with a letter keyboard — A to G, sharps and flats — and quick taps. The piano on screen is your teacher's piano: it plays and shows, you listen and spell. EIGHT COURSES THAT ADD UP • Introduction to Music Theory — the twelve notes through scales, keys, intervals, chords and progressions • Introduction to Music Theory, Part Two — minor for real, pentatonics and blues, inversions, sevenths and cadences • Reading Rhythm — note values, time signatures, and counting that sticks • Ear Training, Part One — from "up, down or same" to hearing a melody's shape and finding home • Chords by Ear — scale degrees, chord colors, bass lines and cadences • Advanced Chord Construction — build any chord in any key, decode any symbol on a chart • Guitar Theory, Part One — the fretboard map, CAGED, barre chords, and your first improv map • Songwriting — verses, choruses, hooks, prosody, and finishing the song EAR TRAINING DRILLS Six configurable drills that build the ear behind the theory: Interval Recognition, Melodic Dictation, Chord Progressions, Chord Qualities, Scale Degrees, and Meter Detection. Set the range, the speed, and the answer surface — solfège or piano — and practice exactly what you're weak at. A TOOLKIT THAT COMES WITH IT Look anything up: Chords, Scales & Progressions, Circle of Fifths, Scale Fingerings, Alternate Tunings. Practice with a Tuner & Pitch Pipe, Metronome, Slow Downer, Piano, Sight Reading, Random Note, and Jam Along — a band that loops while you play over it. Write with Lyric Studio, Melody Helper, Riff Recorder, and Tab Studio, a full guitar tab writer that plays back and exports. MISTAKES ARE PART OF THE PLAN Wrong answers get real explanations — not just "incorrect." Miss the same idea twice and the app changes how it asks. Genuinely stuck? The lesson steps aside, tomorrow it invites you back, and nothing guilt-trips you in between. SPELLING COUNTS A-sharp and B-flat share a piano key but mean different things. Quick Theory is the rare app that teaches you why, gently, at exactly the moment it matters. MADE TO RESPECT YOU No account. No ads. No tracking. Lessons and tools work offline, and your progress, songs, lyrics and recordings sync through your own private iCloud — only you can reach them. Speed Rounds review what you've learned, a Weak Spots quiz targets what you keep missing, and a lenient streak celebrates showing up and forgives a missed day. Whether you sing, play, produce, or just want to finally understand what "the key of F major" means, Quick Theory gets you there a few minutes at a time. ONE MEMBERSHIP, EVERYTHING INCLUDED Quick Theory Plus unlocks every course and every tool, starting with a free trial. Subscribe monthly or yearly, or buy once and keep it forever. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends; manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/