Comparison

Minute Chords vs PentaMonochord

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

Head to head
About

Minute Chords

This app helps you practice and improve your chord transitions. Track your progress by timing how many chord changes you can make in one minute and aim to beat your personal best. It's designed to make learning guitar chords faster and more efficient.

Highlights
  • Chord transition timing
  • Score tracking
  • Progress monitoring
  • Clear chord sound guidance
  • Finger movement optimization
Features
Read full description

Minute Chords is the fastest way to build smooth, confident chord changes on guitar. The #1 skill bottleneck for beginner and intermediate players is slow chord transitions. Minute Chords fixes that with focused, timed practice — one minute per chord pair, tracked and scored. HOW IT WORKS • App shows two random chords to switch between • You get one minute — change chords as many times as you can • Your score is recorded so you can track improvement over time • Repeat daily for rapid, measurable progress CHORD LIBRARY (full version) A, Am, A7, B, Bm, B7, C, D, Dm, D7, E, Em, F, F easy, F bar, G, G v2 — 17 essential chords covering everything a beginner and intermediate player needs. WHY IT WORKS Deliberate practice with a timer forces you to stay focused. Seeing your score improve each session keeps you motivated. Most players see noticeable improvement within a week of daily practice. PERFECT FOR • Complete beginners learning their first open chords • Intermediate players cleaning up transitions • Anyone who wants to build muscle memory fast • Daily warm-up before band practice or lessons Free version includes the 6 most essential beginner chords. Upgrade once to unlock all 17 chords — no subscription, no ongoing fees.

About

PentaMonochord

Explore the relationship between pitch and string length with a digital monochord. Build scales, hear intervals, and learn about Pythagorean music theory through interactive blocks and historical context.

Highlights
  • Build two-octave G pentatonic scales
  • Hear and see interval relationships
  • View Hertz frequencies and string lengths
  • Play pentatonic tunes
  • Scale-building game mode
  • Background information on monochord system
  • Historical timeline
Features
Read full description

The Pythagoreans’ foremost innovation was to correlate pitch relationships to calibrated speaking lengths of a string on a monochord. Now, for the first time, there’s an app for that! Use IntervalBlocks to build a two-octave G pentatonic scale on the PentaMonochord using only octaves and fifths. Touch any block to see and hear its interval again, and watch the Hertz box to see how the frequencies of the two notes relate inversely to the string lengths represented by the IntervalBlock. Touch the note labels any time to play a pentatonic tune. Press “Switch to Game” to join the Pythagorean pantheon by building the whole scale with the minimum number of steps. The Intro and the Background Information explain the monochord system in detail, and the Timeline puts it all in perspective.

Screenshots

Minute Chords3 screens
PentaMonochord4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Minute Chords at Free against PentaMonochord's $1.99. Minute Chords also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 24 months). PentaMonochord's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Minute Chords is free to download; PentaMonochord costs $1.99 up front. Minute Chords sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. PentaMonochord asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Minute Chords ships an update every 2 months, PentaMonochord every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Minute Chords versus PentaMonochord: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinute ChordsPentaMonochord
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 24 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGerard GrundyLucy Hudson

Customer experience

Minute Chords

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PentaMonochord

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Minute Chords

One-time5
  • Manual Chord Picker$0.99
  • Remove Adds$0.99
  • Tip / Support development$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Large Coffee$9.99
  • Extra Support$99.99
None

PentaMonochord

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Minute Chords free?
Minute Chords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PentaMonochord free?
PentaMonochord costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Minute Chords or PentaMonochord have ads?
Minute Chords shows ads; PentaMonochord does not.
Which is updated more often, Minute Chords or PentaMonochord?
Minute Chords ships an update every 2 months, and PentaMonochord every 24 months. Most recently, Minute Chords was updated on October 26, 2026 and PentaMonochord on October 16, 2026.

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