Complete Music Reading Trainer

A Google user

4 years ago

Love the app, bought the full version and also the full rhythm trainer. Just one thing though. I feel like it isn't really a "complete" trainer if the rhythm and note apps are different, so maybe you guys could make something that trains you with both at the same time (for the more advanced learners)? I think it could help you expand your audeince a lot and also keep people using the app even when they get really good.

R R

1 year ago

Great app if you're willing to pay so much (way too expensive though) very customizable. Only problem with the scoring is that as soon as you get one note wrong the scoring doesn't really matter anymore. Even if you were quicker you still get the same score as before so there's not really a point to tracking your progress with the score. It would need to be calculated both on time and number correct to be useful but time doesn't play a big enough role

Barry_ Hue

3 years ago

I have to say that I've been learning guitar for awhile and this app is really going to help. I started to learn to read sheet music the slow way by hunting,pecking and even writing the notes on the sheet music. I sort of gave up when I found tabs was readily available. The problem with tabs is that it does not completely show you how to play a song. With that said, I am grateful that I can now focus/practice on just reading the notes/sheet music without having to shift my attention.

Andrew Stump

3 years ago

I've struggled to read music for years. The root cause is because at the same time I'm trying to read the music I'm also trying to remember which string or which key I need to play. This app is simple, not full of annoying BS, and takes any worry about the actual instrument right out of it. Bonus points for the dark theme and letting you choose instruments. I have tried it for 2 days now and haven't hit any sort of paywall. I like it so much that I'm unlocking the full version anyway.

Richard Valdez

2 years ago

Excellent! After countless videos, books and apps. I finally found an app that works. The format is genius. I was grasping what I was learning within minutes. Its fun and feels like a challenging game. Being a gamer I think thats what did it. The challenge of trying to beat my previous score. It wasnt the same old just trying to memorize. Definitely getting the full version..thank you for this app.

Rebecca Swafford

2 years ago

Very easy to use for a beginner. I recommend turning on the "show note for correct answer" option so you can make strong associations. After the first basic section, it's 3.99 as a one time purchase for the entire app. It's worth it. Try out the free part first! Note to dev: it would be helpful to have the picture of the note on the staff before clicking on the drills.

A Google user

4 years ago

All this and MIDI, too! I have a Galaxy Note 9 running Android 10. My review reflects my experience running this app on this phone and this OS version. Your experience might be very different. I've had an Android phone since the beginning of Android phones. I've never written a review before because none of the apps have really impressed me except perhaps those of Google and Microsoft and I don't think those relentless giants need any help from me. It turns out, Complete Music Reading Trainer is not only the perfect app for my needs at this point in my self-teach process of learning to play the piano, I discovered it to be WAY better than I'd hoped. For me, it has just the right characteristics necessary to pound the basic ability to read sheet music into my thick skull which is highly learning-resistant. The app has its own methodology for progressive teaching. It gives you something new like a note on a staff or an accidental or a key (like F major for example) and off you go with the app to beat your memorization of this musical tidbit into submission. EXACTLY what I was looking for because I am of the opinion that the beginning of learning piano is basically rote memorization for a couple of hundred hours and only THEN are you ready for any refinement. Like learning the alphabet in first grade. Keep your eye on the statistics and you can tell how accurate and fast you're becoming. Progress you can SEE with hard numbers. I'm doing great with the treble clef. I get 100% accuracy and less than one second average reaction time already. That's more progress in sight reading then I made in the previous forty years. FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine can go straight to… well, YOU know. I started to get a little disappointed because the phone screen just wasn't really big enough to represent the notes AND a keyboard to play them with enough octaves. NOT the software's fault, of course. Just not enough acreage. Then I found out that Complete Music Reading Trainer does MIDI. I bought a 5 pound, 61 key, USB bus powered keyboard for less than a hundred dollars, turned on MIDI in the app, connected the phone and keyboard together, and everything worked instantly right out-of-the-box. My jaw about hit the floor. My phone powers the keyboard, and the app runs me through drills (ON MY FULL-SIZE KEYBOARD) until I've gone blue in the mouth. I turn on my Bluetooth headphones and nobody hears me banging away. I've got a complete sight reading training system, keyboard and all, that goes with me anywhere, works perfectly, and I am in heaven. And all for right at $100 counting cable and everything. I LOVE Complete Music Reading Trainer! I'm not a Mac person so I don't know what's available there, but I can tell you I've had no luck finding an app as good as this one on Windows. And at this point, I don't care!

A Google user

4 years ago

As a broke college student that can't afford lessons or services like "Playground Sessions" (which seems to be the best reading-oriented piano program), this app is a miracle. I've tried working through lesson books and all kinds of cheaper alternatives, but my reading ability has never improved at all for the amount of time I put into it. Another reason I think it's so great for me is that it demands my attention in the way my attention has learned to be used with video games, apps, etc. It's like happening in real time for my eyes, and I have to react for it to keep moving. It literally forces me to be focused on it the same way a video game demands me to focus in order to react to it in order to be any good. There's something about the way it moves on a screen that my brain understands better than reading stagnant sheets of paper. I can lose focus and there are no visual cues to bring it back in on a piece of paper. That means I could drift off and be totally unaware I've stopped thinking about, and often playing, the song in front of me. But if my focus wanders with the app, I have a visual cue of the motion halting to realize I'm losing it. If the devs are reading this, you guys are are being ROBBED by essentially giving this away. This is more helpful for reading than any method books I've tried. I hate that your brilliant idea isn't reaching the audience that it could be. I mean, especially with the arcade mode? You've literally blended the past and the future with this. It gives people that have grown up in the digital age a way to learn reading in a way my brain is already familiar with. It's so incredible. You devs deserve so much more than what you're asking for. Although, I appreciate having been able to pay for it. I'd pay way more if I could

Joshua Tenpenny

2 years ago

Smooth interface, good options. I rarely buy apps, but after trying many similar, I paid for the full version of this. Free version is a very usable product, all notes on staff on Trebel & Bass. Only thing I would like is a statistics graph for scores, especially for arcade mode, rather than just for % correct. Once you are consistently getting the right note, you no longer have a chart to show progress. Just whether this is a new high score or not.

Deborah Fisher

8 months ago

I kind of hate the limitation imposed by screen space when trying to play on the piano keyboard layout, and I really hate the wheel alternative. I'm not sure how well this is going to help me improve my sight reading apart from possibly recognizing the notes faster. It's really not optimal for making the connection to the piano keyboard, for sure.

Zachary Manson (Zaching23)

1 year ago

As a novice, I love that I learn and practice at my own pace. I've always been interested in learning instruments, but reading/knowing terms felt too dense. What we have here is a "one step at a time" muscle memory teacher. More and more of my responses feel instinctual, which is, in a word, incredible. Highly recommended for anyone remotely curious in music.

LeRoy Wood III (LeRoy3rd)

3 years ago

Excellent app for improving your note recognition speed. I graduated from college with a degree in music, then graduated from a conservatory. Even if you're only interested in treble/bass clefs, this app is well worth the cost, and the ability to plug in a midi controller makes it a must-have for anyone (beginner or intermediate) who wants to strengthen their sight reading speed. I'd *love* to see chords added (or a new app with chords), but that omission doesn't diminish the usefulness, as-is.

Sharon M

4 years ago

I took piano lessons years ago as a child. Forgot how to read sheet music, and now as an adult trying to re learn has been hard until I stumbled upon this app! It's fun, it builds up what you learn, it's well organized, and I feel like I am actually understanding how to read sheet music (so far, im still in treble cleft). Great app! I love that it was a 1 time purchase and wasn't crazy expensive, under 4 bucks! And, no adds! There were no advertisements before purchase or after!

A Google user

4 years ago

Good idea if implemented properly. These developers still have a lot of ground to cover. An example: in the Arcade mode one needs to match notes on a piano keyboard. It works rather well for building memory associations. Unless, of course, they start asking for the notes outside the visible portion of the keyboard. Since sliding or zooming isn't an option, the app counts those as missed notes (and 3 of those means you lose).

Julia Wallace (Star)

10 months ago

This app really helps me with learning to sight read properly & quickly. Within a week of use, I memorized the majority of the Treble clef. I do the exercises repeatedly until I get faster without any errors then move on to the next one. You really have a lot to do in the free version without having to pay but it's definitely 1000% worth it to buy the full version. The developers have two other apps that are equally as good and together you have everything you need to be a better musician. 😍

Tamara Manes

8 months ago

I haven't played in over 30 years. This app has been helpful for me to start teaching myself to play again. A beginner would need supplemental instruction as this is good for practice, but not for lessons or learning music theory. Sometimes it doesn't 'hear' a note even after hitting it several times, and sometimes it lags or skips, but generally it works pretty well. I am using it with a very old upright piano that needs tuning so that might be part of the cause.

Urban Black

2 months ago

I was able to play the rhythm part of sheet music after lesson 1. I have never been able to read music well. After 55% thru the first lesson, I played the treble portion of a When Sunny Gets Blue from the sheet music. I actually read the notes to play! This method is awesome. I absolutely uninstalled Flowkey, Simply Piano, and one other because this app yielded results immediately. It really teaches you to read the notes! If you want to learn to read the notes, this is your app.