Here is a list of some great apps for beginning and intermediate students. These apps are deceptive - students will have tons of fun, but will also be learning! You can purchase them through the app store on your device.
Music For Little Mozarts ($0.99) Perfect for beginners that are pre-school or Kindergarten age! The characters Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear teach students about high versus low sounds, loud versus soft sounds, names of the piano keys, notes of the staffs, simple rhythms, etc.
Piano Maestro (FREE with teacher's account) – A great iPad app for beginning and intermediate students that provides fun background music tracks for students to practice their music and sight reading. Can be used alone or can be used with your usual piano!
PA Player App (FREE to download; $4.99 for each level) – It's like having your own back-up band playing along with you. Also functions as a sneaky metronome in keeping the player in time. Great for making multiple repetitions of a song seem like fun!
Note Rush ($3.99) Note Rush is a favorite app for piano teaching because it “listens” using the iPad’s microphone to identify whether the student is playing the correct piano key. It’s so important for students to learn to associate staff positions with the corresponding piano key in the correct octave, and Note Rush encourages this. Great for students to use at home during practice sessions!
Music Flash Class ($3.99) Electronic flashcards, this app lets you choose the range of notes you want to practice. Great for both beginners and elementary/intermediate students.
Flash Note Derby ($0.99) One of my favorites. This note-naming app is a game - by naming the notes on the staff correctly, your horse wins the race! Winter time brings out the reindeer for the students to race.
Note Works ($4.99) – This app also is great for practicing note names, and it feels more like a game than a flashcard drill! Students can save their progress under their own name, earn points, and advance to different levels. Currently, only available for the iPad.
Rhythm Swing ($2.99) By tapping the rhythm correctly you'll save the monkey from the alligator! Fun interface that's very game-like, but serious rhythmic understanding has to be in place to do well in this game!
Rhythm Lab ($2.99) A simple and very customizable rhythm app that presents students with many levels of rhythm exercises.
Blob Chorus (FREE) You might laugh when you first see the blobs, but serious ear training is happening in this app! Each blob in the chorus sings a note, and then the king blob sings his note. Which blob sang the same note as the king?
Petronome (FREE) Young students like this fun metronome app, because they can choose their own "animal" that will meow or bark the beat. Playing with a steady beat has never been so much fun.
Speakbeat ($1.99). Actually "speaks" the beat (i.e. 1-2-3-4 or 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and, etc.). Great to help student with awareness of meter.
