5 Great iPhone Apps for Guitar Players

Here at Fretbase we’re big into guitars (you may have already realized this), but we also are big fans of technology. Sure, it is nice to sit back with a small bodied acoustic and try to figure out a blues tune. But we don’t have time for that now. Apple has launched an iPhone App Store!

Combining two of our passions, we are providing here a list of new iPhone apps that we’d expect to be of particular appeal to the iPhone owning guitarist (e.g., Brian and me).

Update: Many new applications added. See the new list at iPhone Apps for Guitar Players.

1. Guitar Toolkit by Agile Partners Technologies ($9.99). In addition to having (by far) the best iPhone application logo, Guitar Toolkit is a tremendous all-in-one application for guitar players. It includes the following four useful tools for guitar players:

Chromatic Tuner
Metronome
Chord Chart
Audible Tones for tuning by ear

Each of the tools includes some good features. For example, the
chromatic tuner lets you tune standard or specifically to different
tunings (like Drop D). The metronome lets you set it to 2/4, 3/4 or
4/4 time and lets you enable a flash on ticks. The chord chart lets
you quickly choose from 260 chord maps (but unfortunately does not
include tunings higher up the neck). The graphics on all are quite
nice as well. For guitar players looking to have all of these tools in
one place, this one is a must have.

2. Omnituner
by Mauvila Software ($4.99). If you want a tuner but don’t need a
metronome, chord chart or audible tones (but do need an extra five bucks) Omnituner could be the product for you. The product includes a fretboard feature to let you tune a variety of instruments as well as a strong pitch detection engine to make sure your tunings are accurate.

3. iMetronome by Matt Rajca ($4.99). Likewise, if you only need a metronome iMetronome could be the product for you. The product lets you set the pace and takes full advantage of the iPod’s touch screen. Looks like a good simple metronome for when you don’t have yours with you.

4. Midomi by Melodis Corporation (free). Do you ever have a song in your head or hear one on the radio and wonder what it is (perhaps because you’d like to learn to play it)? If so, then Melodis is the app for you. Once installed on your iPhone, Melodis lets you sing into the phone and (assuming you are somewhere in the ballpark) the software will tell you what song you are singing. Once you have confirmed that Midomi has found the right song (which you can do with a soundclip straight to your phone), you can purchase the song on iTunes, share it with friends or watch a performance of it on YouTube. I sang Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue” into my phone and the software immediately recognized it. You would have to hear me sing to really appreciate how incredible this is.

5. Band by MooCoww Music ($9.99). Tired of playing solo? Don’t want to have to call a friend pounding your coffee table your “percussionist”? Then Band is the app you need. Band is a program with virtual instruments so that an instrument-less band member effectively playing piano, drum or bass guitar (sorry, no banjo yet).