With my recent purchase of an iPad3, I’ve been looking for apps that would be useful in a teaching environment. Specifically apps that would let me lighten my load of other things I might need, such as a tuner or chord dictionary. While I like the FREE aspect, many of the free apps were lacking in too many ways in addition to the apps typically being for a specific task. I knew that I needed a reliable tuner and metronome at the minimum, but many of the metronome apps were limited in time signatures or the ability to tap the tempo in. Having a chord dictionary app would also be useful, but not as big of a necessity. Rather than having to deal with multiple apps to have a few specific features, I started looking for a highly rated app that had a reasonable cost. Once I started this search, I began seeing repeated recommendations for an app called GuitarToolKit. After reading more about it I decided to buy it and found it is definitely worth the cost.
Starting with the tuner, you can choose between a standard tuning note set or chromatic tuner modes. Personally, I prefer to just stick with the chromatic mode. The metronome feature has multiple time signatures, multiple sound sets, and of course the tap tempo feature I like. GuitarToolKit has a chord chart feature, but goes a few steps beyond by allowing you to change view options such as showing intervals instead of finger numbers. There is also a handy search feature allowing you to construct the chord from what you are playing and have the possible chord names brought up.
For those features alone, I feel this is a great app. It has a very polished interface and is easy to get around. Adding on top of that are the Scales dictionary and Arpeggio dictionary options. While this is a guitar-named app, it doesn’t stop with just guitars. The Chord, Scale, and Arpeggio sections all have the option to change to another stringed instrument such as a banjo or mandolin. All in all, this is a great app and a definite recommendation for any guitarist with an iPad.
GuitarToolKit by Agile Partners