3 Apps Guitarists Should Have

Aside from the Fender Play app, here is what I recommend.

Today, we got a quickie.

One thing I like about blogging here on Medium is that the audience shows us what they want to read more of.

I admit, I’m still experimenting with how flexible my topics can be, but a pattern is now emerging. More of you want to read about improving your guitar skills, as well as some general beginner tips.

So here we are. This article was suggested to me by my beloved headache, my fiance, who is also a guitar learner.

Below are a few apps, besides the Fender Play app (which many guitarists now know; download it if you’re curious), that you can download and use forever.

GuitarTuna (by Yousician Ltd.)

If you need to tune your guitar, or have extra tools like a metronome or a chord library, this is a great app. I use this app as a reference tool, as well as a primary tuner.

What I like about this app is the tuner is incredibly sensitive and accurate. You can really fine-tune your axes with this app.

If you’re a stiffler for perfect tuning, this app is for you.

I also like that the free version — yes, there are some stuff you’ll need to pay for, but I won’t cover those here — has a “Tools” section that provides a chord library in case you forget a chord or two.

There are diagrams, a chord search bar, and even an ear training tool, which I find really helpful.

As I mentioned, it’s even got a metronome with a changeable time signature, but I’ll recommend a different metronome app I use below.

There is also a songs library where you can learn chords to songs, but there will be some fringe/niche songs that are missing. That’s one big downside for me. There are, however, a lot of popular songs from many genres on there.

For a one-stop-shop app that provides some basic tools for guitar learners, this app is pretty great.

Perfect Metronome (by NETIGEN)

This is exactly as the name implies: a pretty damn good metronome.

There isn’t much to emphasize here, but what sets this metronome apart from other apps is its ease of use and simple features. From a flashing LED/vibration on each beat, to the metronome sound, to a changeable time signature, this app has what you need for your metronome needs.

There is also a tempo gauge. The gauge labels the original music theory names of the tempo you’re playing.

Instead of saying “slow tempo” (<41 bpm), you can say “grave”, and instead of saying “fast tempo” (>132 bpm), you can say “allegro”.

There. Now you can be a pretentious session musician, too!

One last feature is, on the bottom-left of the app interface, there is a counter of how many bars you’ve played based on your time signature. This can help you with overall duration if you’re practicing or writing a specific piece.

And I can’t forget to mention the giant Start button.

Other metronome apps have a dinky little button on the interface. But if we’re resetting during a session or something, a giant button is definitely useful.

Next!

Ultimate Guitar: Chords & Tabs

See, back when I started learning guitar from Boomers and Gen X’ers, the internet was just booming. This app was a website. The reason why I still use it is because it has always been my one-stop-shop for looking up specific song tabs.

Some guitar tabs often miss a note or two, which sometimes isn’t a big deal.

However, if you want top-quality tabs, you’ll find those, as well as alternatives on this app.

The library of tabs has grown so much over the years that this app/website has a kind of “first-mover advantage” when it comes to guitar tabs. It’ll have tabs for many songs that other sites and apps don’t have.

There are also some courses on the app, but you’ll have to pay to access those. I don’t, but you can try if you wish.

The app also has a tuner and metronome as well, but I don’t typically use them. They’re decent, but I prefer the aforementioned apps.

There are a ton of apps that can help you in your guitar journey, but these are three that I’ve faithfully used in the last few years that have given me everything I needed, guitar-wise.

Mind you, I’m making zero commissions off of this article.

If any of these app developers read this: you’re welcome.

I’ve been playing guitar for about two decades, but now is a better time than ever to pick up the skill. There are even free videos online from the 80’s that we, once upon a time, had to buy to watch.

There are so many resources available to learn for free.

You lucky bastards…but that also means I’m a lucky bastard, since I can download this stuff, too.

Keep learning, and I’ll see you in my next blog.