13 Guitar Apps We Cant Live Without

13 Guitar Apps We Cant Live Without Megan L. The secret to improving your guitar skills  isnt much of a secret at all in fact, its right in your pocket! In this article, guitar teacher  Zachary W.  shows you 13 of his favorite apps for learning guitar and improving every step of the way As a guitar player, I find it important to keep my rudimentary skills sharp. That includes practicing with correct technique,  as well as being able to improvise, control tempo, and read music. Below,  Ive listed 13 guitar apps that I use regularly and that I know will help you improve each aforementioned skill. Each app serves a different purpose, but all of them are friendly to users of  all skill levels. A fair warning: these are addictive apps for musicians  of any kind. Lets go ahead and take a look at the apps that will undoubtedly improve your guitar playing! 1. TakeLessons Live (Free) There arent any other guitar apps out there quite like this one. TakeLessons Live offers online classes that are led by live guitar teachers. With the free membership option, you can join a variety of classes from anywhere in the world. Topics covered include guitar exercises, theory, scales, song tutorials, and more.  If youre looking for a fun way to practice your skills while getting feedback from a real instructor, this is the app for you! 2. 7 Minute Guitar ($2.99) 7 Minute Guitar is wonderful for those who have a super busy schedule. This guitar practice app has compiled a series of exercises that each take seven  minutes. Theres no longer  an  excuse to neglect that daily practice session. After using this app for a while, youll begin to develop a good practice routine; you start out practicing for seven minutes a day, then you extend to 30 minutes a day, and  eventually, youll reach a goal of practicing for more than an hour per day. 2. Time Guru ($1.99) Time Guru was developed by rhythm guitarist Avi Bortnick  for the John Scofield band. With this app, you get way more than just a simple metronome. This metronome app also  mutes the sound at random. This allows you to monitor your own playing by showing whether or not you tend to speed up or drag behind the metronome. This special feature essentially allows you to take off the training wheels given to you by the metronome, while still reaping the benefits of playing with a time-keeping device. 3. TabToolkit ($3.99) This app may cost money, but if you  tend to rely solely on tablature when you  learn or teach a new piece of music, TabToolkit  is completely worth the small fee of $3.99. With this app, you can  upload your own sheet music from other programs, such as Guitar Pro,  or browse their large library of guitar tabs. In addition to hosting guitar tabs,  this app also has a great multi-track playback, which gives you the ability to play along with some of your favorite bands and artists. This app also works with over 128 instruments its not solely for guitar players. For example, you can take a heavenly Charlie Parker saxophone solo and transpose it  to any instrument you please. 4. GarageBand ($4.99) If youve ever wanted  to get a group of people together and jam out in your garage till the early hours of the morning, then  youll be happy to know, theres really an app for that! When it comes down to it,  GarageBand is the best app for music creation on a touch screen. With real world instruments, true to life sounds, and tons of easy-to-use tools, there isn’t really another app on its level. 5. AmpKit (Free); AmpKit+($19.99) AmpKit  allows you to take your amp with you no matter how far you travel. Just plug in your guitar  with a digital interface and youll immediately have access to all the amp channels and sound effects of your wildest dreams. AmpKit+ may cost $19.99, but with this upgrade, you gain access to many more sound effects, amp channels, and pedal options. Its a must-have guitar app if you plan on playing professionally. 6. Anytune (FREE); Anytune Pro + ($14.99) If you have a relative that plays the guitar, Im sure youve heard the famous phrase, “You youngsters  have it so much easier than we did back in the day. Well, in this case, thats completely true! With Anytune,  you have the ability to slow down songs. Use this app  to dissect crazy, lightning fast licks or solos without losing the quality of the music. For example,  if youre having a hard time figuring out what notes Guthrie Govan is playing on the Aristocrats album, this app will help you out by slowing the song down at any section you choose. The app also has the ability to gradually increase speed as your confidence builds what plausible excuses to not practice do you have now? 7. Drumgenius (FREE) The name of this app pretty much sums up all that you need to know about it. Drumgenius  has over 300 different drum beats in a various time signatures, from boogaloo jazz in 21/8, to your typical big jazz band in 4/4. Its fun to pick a beat and play along with it on guitar! 8. MuseScore (FREE) Along with ear training, another key skill  that every musician should master  is the ability to read sheet music. This skill  opens up many more doors as a musician than you  thought possible. Musescore  lets you  listen to scores of music with the ability to adjust the tempo as you please. If you have the urge to hear the classic T-bone Walker song Stormy Monday played at 200 bpm, or perhaps that lightning fast Steve Vai solo on Zombie Wolf at half speed, this app is for you. 9. Shazam (Free upgrade cost $6.99) Just hold your phone up to the speaker and let Shazam detect what song is playing.  This app is extremely helpful for me. I don’t know how many times Ive been on the road listening to the radio and hear a rhythm I like or a solo that blows me away; instead of forgetting the lyrics or having no clue how the song goes, this app collects  the song data for me. 10. Soundcloud (Free) Soundcloud allows you to post original audio recordings on the web where they can be accessed by anyone. This gateway opens up so many doors that you wouldve never known existed. In addition, this app gives you the perfect place to get constructive criticism from other  musicians. 11. J4T Multitrack Recorder ($3.99) The  J4T Multitrack Recorder  helps with those spontaneous moments when a melody strikes me and Im miles away from my equipment this app acts as a sketch pad for my musical ideas. With the ability to record 4 tracks simultaneously, this app gives you the basics that are needed for the foundation of any great musical idea or thought. Sadly, this app is only for Android. To those who have an Android phone go out and download it for the rest of us who have iPhones! 12. Evernote (FREE) Evernote  may seem very basic  on paper, but in reality, the capabilities of this app are limitless. This app is perfect for both those who  receive and those who teach lessons. This app has saved my hide on more than one occasion. I use this app to write down a summary of my lessons; this helps me keep track of a multitude of students. I keep constant track of my students progress because I like to max out the full potential of what we can accomplish in our hour or half-hour lessons. For all those out there who are teaching themselves, this app is perfect for logging your progress. If you include some of these guitar apps in your practice routine, I guarantee youll make progress faster than you will without them. Be sure to check out the detailed descriptions of the apps on the store page to see which features work for your reaching goals. As always, be sure to practice every day and dont be discouraged by new concepts! Post Author:  Zachary W. Zachary A. is a guitar instructor in Katy, TX specializing in beginning and intermediate students. He is currently earning a degree in  music theory. Learn more about Zachary here! Photo by Dino Latoga Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher