BEST IPAD APPS FOR PIANO TEACHERS

Last updated: 7/8/16

Why you need iPad apps for piano teaching

I've had an iPad now for a number of years and, like most iPad converts, I can't think how I'd ever

teach without it!

It has literally revolutionised the way I do most things: store files and music, research, read papers

and magazines, watch movies, get my news - pretty much everything!

It can enhance your teaching in many ways by making things more engaging and interactive for

students, by supplying backing tracks for music to help them with rhythm and groove, fantastic aural

and rhythmic testing software and much more.

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BEST IPAD APPS FOR PIANO TEACHERS 2

While there are other tablets on the market I would strongly recommend music teachers purchase an

iPad for a number of reasons:

● The availability of the widest selection of apps for music teachers

● The reliability of the apps is second to none

● The iPad has the most connectivity options for connecting to other devices

● The screen sizes and resolution are great for music educators

● It's fun to use and very easy to learn

● Comes packed with lots of apps for free and ready to use (eg. cameras, video recorders,

GarageBand, etc.)

What's the best type of iPad and how do you find out what apps to use in your studio?

Read on!

Which type should I get?

When I first started teaching, I bought a second-hand iPad 2 (ie. "Second Generation" 64GB WiFi only.

While the iPad 2 was fine for music use they are getting a bit old and slow now. Similarly with the

Third, Fourth and even Fifth Generation. Not sure about the "Generations" of iPads?

In fact, I'd generally avoid iPads older than the iPad Air 2. Definitely don't buy an iPad 1: it's heavier,

bigger and has a much lower resolution screen. Older models are becoming increasingly obsolete as

new operating systems are released with extra speed and functionality which the older models struggle

to cope with.

I now use an iPad Air2, 128GB WIFI, which is perfect for my use. I'd highly recommend it for any

piano teachers. If I were to buy a new iPad today, I'd now get the latest release, the iPad Pro which has

a much bigger screen which is perfect for score reading.

What capacity?

If you're wondering about capacity (16GB, 32GB, etc.), please read this article. Basically, the bigger the

better and 16GB won't really cut it for music teachers. Go for minimum of 64 GB, more if you

can afford it.

Looking for iPad Air Accessories?

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WIFI or 3G?

The choice between WIFI or 3G is totally dependent on how you plan to use it. If you are regularly on

the road and want access to the internet (and perhaps your files via Dropbox) while away from home,

consider getting the 3G version.

'This will allow you access to the internet anywhere, but you'll have to pay for a SIM card and a

data plan, just as you would on a mobile phone. This might be worthwhile for teachers who

travel to students' houses.

I have always bought the WiFi-only models as I only teach from home or school, and as long as I'm

prepared, I can upload files and do my internet work at home using WiFi before I do any teaching or

take the iPad to school.

So far, this has worked well and I'm happy to be saving the extra access fees of a new SIM and data

plan (and the cost of a more expensive iPad up-front!).

Find the best price on iPads here.

What apps should I get?

Once you've got yourself an iPad, you're going to need to download some apps! There are also a

number of free apps in-built into the operating system, including sound and video recorders,

calendars, email, word processors, etc. but to maximise the value of your teaching (and your iPad),

you'll want to invest in some of the brilliant apps that are now available.

Here are my top picks for the best iPad apps for piano teachers and music students. If you're short of

time, check out the links to the App Store in the box below.

PS. If you want to load these apps straight onto your iPad, make sure you're reading

this on your iPad and just click the links.

Score/PDF Reading

forScore - my go-to music-reading app. forscore allows you to store and view sheet music in

PDF format. Files need to be in PDF format and are easily loaded via Dropbox or iTunes. You

can annotate and save changes, re-order pages, print wirelessly and page turns are easy. The

ability to store, read and print sheet music is one of the key reasons I bought an iPad.

Previously, I was lugging folders and books of music between school and home. Get a Bluetooth

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page-turn pedal and you can even perform with your iPad! forScore also allows you to add

scores by photographing them with the in-built camera.

SuperScore - this is a brand-new app by TimeWarpTech. I think of it as the love child of Home

Concert Xtreme and forScore! It's a MusicXML score viewer that comes with in-built backing

tracks that follows along listening as you play . Like Home Concert Xtreme, the app will listen

as you play at your tempo (not just a steady metronome beat) meaning that you can truly

perform musically with it. It uses a "liquid" display that means as pages are resized, the music

re-renders for the highest-quality resolution reading experience. If connected to a

MIDI-enabled digital piano, it can play the piano as you watch or you can play with others

remotely.

NewZik - a new app like forScore except this one not only reads PDFs, but also MusicXML files.

This app allows you to read music files in many formats and can synchronise your scores with

video and audio files. It also has a clever Band Mode which can synchronise page turns and

scrolling across all devices in a group - great for live performances. This is only one of these

three apps that work on iPhone as well as iPad, meaning that your scores will be available on

both devices.

Metronomes

Tempo - this is my preferred metronome/beat keeping app. Although there are plenty of free

ones available, this one is infinitely customisable. It plays every conceivable irregular meter or

unusual subdivision of normal meters (including 2+2+3 for example) and you can save

metronome and beat patterns for quick access. One thing I really like is that it allows you to

hear the difference between swung triplets verses semiquavers at the click of a button - great

for explaining aspects of rhythm theory in practical detail. Also for iPhone/Android.

Super Metronome Groovebox Pro - if you want students to really groove with their music, while

also feeling a steady beat, then this is the metronome for you. Instead of just clicking, this one

plays drum beats that you can choose to suit what your students are playing. You can customise

any of the beats in an on-screen grid pattern mode which is great for teaching students about

rhythmic patterns. It has a huge bank of rhythms, beats and patterns included and has a

high-quality sound output. You might just never need a boring old metronome again! Also for

iPhone.

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Rhythm, Pulse & Meter

Rhythm Lab - this is my new favourite rhythm tapping practice app. As part of my students'

weekly lessons, I used to write-up rhythms on a whiteboard for them to clap; now I do it all on

the iPad with this app. It has heaps of built-in rhythm patterns in all sorts of meters and

students can tap right on the screen and get instant feedback. It even has example rhythms

from some of the big classical composers built-in! Read more about this in my article

here.

TMASG "The Most Addicting Sheep Game" - weird name, great app. This is an app for students

who need help feeling and maintaining a steady pulse. It's a video game that requires precision

in tapping along to a beat. As its name implies, it's great fun and very addictive! Also available

for iPhone so kids can practice on the way to and from school.

Note/Interval/Chord Recognition

Flashnote Derby - I love this app for younger students. It's a note-naming game conducted like

a horse race complete with sounds and images! For adults and teens, check out PianoNotesPro

(below). Now also available for Android - Oct 2013.

MusicFlashClass - actually an iPhone app, it's the most customisable note-learning app I've

found. It replaces what you might have done with flashcards. Here's a great review by Jennifer

Foxx. This is a great one for older students to download to their own phone so that they can

practice a bit of note recognition everyday (I recommend my teen students do it on the

bus/train to or from school). The only disadvantage is that it can't listen as you play the notes

on your phone (see Note Rush below).

Note Rush - Similar to the above apps, however this one listens as you play the notes on your

piano. You can choose from three themes (space, soccer, ladybug) and different levels of

complexity. The only downside to this app is that you can't (yet) specify precisely the notes that

you'd like to quiz student on.

NinGenius Studio Edition - this is a fun note-learning game where each correct answer helps

the on-screen ninja break through a wooden board with his Ninja kicks! Can tally high scores

and become very competitive in your studio. Kids really enjoy this app. There are three editions

of this app: one for students to download, one for schools and one for studios. The link above is

for studios.

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Sight-Reading

Read Ahead is my latest find for helping with students' sight reading. One of the hardest things

about teaching sight reading is getting students to read ahead and not stop . To do that, they

need to practise memorising a bar of music ahead of time. They also need to drill lots of

patterns that come up in musical scores. This app practises all that and more. Definitely worth

exploring - you can try demo levels for free and then buy upgrades as you need them.

The best new app for piano teachers released in the last few years has to be PianoMaestro by

JoyTunes. This app is basically a completely interactive library of music, exercises, backing

tracks and method books that listens and responds to students' playing, creates a video-game

like experience for them (great for your teen beginners) and is just great fun to use. I can't

recommend this app highly enough - it's without-doubt one of the best apps for beginner piano

students on the market. Oh, and did I say it was free? What have you got to lose?!

SightRead4Piano - I've blogged about this in a previous post as it really is a must-have for

teachers who prepare students for exams. This app tests students' sight reading by

deletes bars as the student plays (the primary reason to get this app). While the app is free, it

only comes with a few example pieces of music so you have to buy the music to suit each exam

board (about $50 for all the AMEB grades, for example). Or you can buy all the music for all

exam boards for about $120.

Aural Training

AuralBook - the aural training app that actually listens to a student's singing and critiques them

according to their pitch and rhythm. The voices and sounds are a little clunky but this is a

HUGE improvement on anything else. Read about it on my blog here. It's already set up with

all the requirements for ABRSM and AMEB exam systems, grade-by-grade. Must-have for

exam teachers around the world.

Ear Master - one of my new favourite apps available for ear training and musicianship. This

one not only tests students on things like rhythm, intervals, pitch, progressions, etc. I've used

this to help students with syncopation, hemiola, triads, scale degrees, etc. It really is an

all-round musicianship app that every music teacher should have .

Tenuto - Good aural training app for recognising chords, intervals, etc. Also shows you how

everything looks on the keyboard. Easy to use, good functionality.

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Backing Tracks/Play-along

Pop/Jazz

Looking for backing tracks that students can play along to? NoteStar by Yamaha has lots of

recent pop music and has been a hit with my teen students in particular. While the app is free,

you pay to download the songs you want (you get a free 30 second preview of any song you

choose from the catalog so you can instantly see how hard the music is). You then get access to

on-screen auto-scrolling music, plus backing from a band and, the best part: vocals. You can

change the key instantly, and slow the music down to suit your level. Brilliant app!

If you're looking for simple drum/bass/rhythm section backing tracks that you can create

yourself, look no further than iReal Pro. Works on iPad and iPhone, this app converts a chord

chart into a rhythm section. Great for pop, jazz and rock playing. There are thousands of

downloadable charts for most of the famous tunes from the 1930s onwards and they are all

free. Great for exercises: scales, chord drills, pentascales, etc. Your only limitation in how you

use this app is your own imagination.

Scale Backing Tracks/Improvising Tracks

If you're interested in making scale practice fun, check out Musiclock. My kids LOVE this app

(and so do I). It has the grooviest set of backing tracks that you can use for scales and general

improvising. Once students can play along to the backing track, try getting them to improvise

along using the scale they've just learnt or they can try and work out the underlying chord

progression and play along. Great all-round aural/musical exercises.

Concertos

If you have students preparing to play concertos, then there are two great apps you can use.

Firstly, there is a new app by a company called Tom-Books which features high-quality

orchestral recordings with on-screen score. This link will take you to an example Mozart

Concerto movement that you can explore. You set the tempo and the music (and orchestra) will

play and scroll as you progress. It's a great option for students who want to get a feel for

working with a real orchestra as the sound quality of the orchestral parts is excellent.

Individual scores are less than $5 and bundles range from $18-$25 with new scores being

released regularly.

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Also in this category is Home Concert X-treme which is more versatile in that it allows any

MIDI score to be loaded and it has a clever system of following the performer's tempo, but

doesn't have the same quality level of the sounds it produces, given they are MIDI-based. The

other downside is that it costs $50. Apps like this are well worth the investment for students

working on concertos, even if they never actually play with a real orchestra.

Practice Tools

Practicia - this is a new app that has released after years of development and testing and will

likely revolutionise your students' approach to practice. It keeps track of all the practice that

your students are doing, it replaces the old practice diary/assignment book, it allows you to

hear what they are doing at home and provide feedback, you can gamify their practice by

adding online awards and badges and the list goes on... Definitely one worth checking out.

AnyTune - an app that takes any recording from your library or dropbox and allows you to

slow it down or speed it up without changing the pitch. Also has easy looping, editing,

etc. fantastic app which you can trial for free, but the full version will cost you $15. Money well

spent. Here's one of my blogging friends, Leila Viss demonstrating AnyTune. And another good

article about AnyTune is here.

Studio Management

Music Teacher's Helper is a complete scheduling and billing (plus more) app and online

software. They offer a free 30-day no obligation trial, making it easy to "test drive" and figure

out if it's a good fit for managing your studio. Every account also comes with a free music

studio website. Started in 2004, thousands of private lesson music teachers use Music

Teacher's Helper to run their studio on a daily basis.

Notation

While there are now a few options for hand-written notation on the iPad, the best is Touch

Notation by Kawai. Another option is NotateMe which is great if you want to download the

in-app purchase that can scan-in scores, but otherwise I'd stick with Touch Notation for quick

day-to-day use. If you want to play your piece into the iPad with MIDI, then check out Notion.

Leave a comment if you have other recommendations!

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And if I had to choose my Top 10?

If you are on a budget and just want to know the absolute best of the best, then this would be

my pick of the bunch, designed to cover most aspects of teaching including score reading, note

recognition, aural, etc.

This list is in approximate order that I'd buy them. If you're looking for more information about

how to use any of these apps and see them in action, you can get full access to my training

library if you're a member of my Inner Circle.

Find out more about access to all my training videos here.

1. forScore

2. iReal Pro

3. NoteStar

4. PianoMaestro

5. Rhythm Lab

6. Flashnote Derby

7. Note Rush

8. Read Ahead

9. Ear Master

10. Musiclock

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