Comparison

Earpeggio vs Absolute Ear

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

Head to head
About

Earpeggio

Enhance your musical abilities by training your ear to recognize intervals, chords, scales, and rhythms. This app offers various exercises and tests to help you improve your musical hearing and track your progress with detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Interval identification exercises
  • Chord identification exercises
  • Chord progression exercises
  • Melody dictation
  • Rhythm dictation
  • Progress tracking and statistics
Features
Read full description

Become a better musician! Master the identification of intervals, chords, scales and rhythms solely by hearing them. Earpeggio is an ear training app which lets you improve your musical hearing. Earpeggio provides ten different exercises, including: - Interval identification - Chord identification - Chord progressions - Melody dictation - Rhythm dictation Once you are bored with exercising, try taking the tests and see what your limits are. The broad statistics give you meaningful insights on your progress and help you achieve your goals.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Note recognition
  • Melodic dictation
  • Interval training
  • Intelligent practice
  • Multiple instrument timbres
  • Detailed statistics
  • Session history and streak tracking
Features
Read full description

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

Screenshots

Earpeggio4 screens
Absolute Ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Earpeggio at none against Absolute Ear's 3. Earpeggio also leads on ratings volume (9.8K vs 8). Absolute Ear's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Absolute Ear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Earpeggio asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Earpeggio against 5.0 for Absolute Ear. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Earpeggio has 9.8K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Earpeggio's written reviews are positive against 100% of Absolute Ear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earpeggio ships an update every 2 months, Absolute Ear every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Earpeggio versus Absolute Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarpeggioAbsolute Ear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (9.8K ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.8K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBalazs KissDavid Ashworth

Customer experience

Earpeggio

All ratings9,699 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews271 reviews
Positive86.0%
Neutral7.0%
Negative7.0%

Absolute Ear

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Earpeggio

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes getting stuck or not turning off
  • Login and password reset functionality not working
  • Melodic dictation exercises not displaying properly
  • Inconsistent scoring and progress tracking

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to change instrument sounds
  • Ability to repeat completed goals
  • More detailed feedback on mistakes
  • Adaptive difficulty based on user performance
  • Integration with other music learning platforms

Absolute Ear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Earpeggio

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Absolute Ear

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Earpeggio free?
Earpeggio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Absolute Ear free?
Absolute Ear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Earpeggio or Absolute Ear?
Absolute Ear is rated higher. Earpeggio averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9.8K ratings, while Absolute Ear averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Earpeggio or Absolute Ear have ads?
Neither Earpeggio nor Absolute Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earpeggio or Absolute Ear?
Earpeggio ships an update every 2 months, and Absolute Ear every 3 days. Most recently, Earpeggio was updated on October 27, 2026 and Absolute Ear on October 24, 2026.

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