Tonality: Music Theory Reviews

by Mehmui

I use this primarily for chord pads. Which works pretty good but please add.

- sustain hold i often want chords held an indefinite amount of time as they are triggering arps and long pads.
- there is no octave up or down per chord. Or easy invert.
- i cant trigger the pads from an external midi keyboard ie atom piano roll inside aum really handy to rearrange chord changes just by using single notes
- please have presets full of chords
- i think the done button should be on the same page as chord selection in addition to the edit chord window. Itd be a lot faster to dial up a bunch of chords.

Thanks!

by A. Toonguy

Wanted to update my review. Previously, as a Garageband user, I didn’t feel I could get a lot out of Tonality . I appreciated it for what it could do, it just couldn’t do much for me. Now, I feel like I have access to an infinite midi pack. :) While the learning curve is still a little over my head, being able to hear audio from Tonality via Soundfonts is a game changer for me and the midi export means I can create a progression using chords that SOUND like I want and bring those into Garageband.

I’m probably not making full use of Tonality as I don’t use AUM and I don’t perform, but I just created my first beat in Garageband using chords from Tonality and I’m happy!

by BenHere101

Tonality does it all! It’s worth more than it cost. The developer listens to advice and ideas and executes them to continue improving this wonderful tool. I use it in BeatMaker 3, Cubasis 3, AUM, and on my phone to write chord ideas and store them. Don’t no how to play…no problem….it’s super intuitive workflow is easy to get use too. I start ideas on Tonality and then use it to lay-down chords. The chord pad feature is spectacular. You can custom the colors and the editing of chords is a breeze. From standard to inverted it can do them all. Save custom chords too. Want to know what chord your playing? It can detect that. Need help with Circle of Fifths? Gotcha! Unbelievable!!!!!!

by Kittenonthe Keys

I love Tonality! Its organization makes it super easy to find chords/scales, especially with reverse searches. The chord identification is especially cool (basically you can play chords and Tonality will identify them). I loved making some of my own chords and I love the graphics. 10/10 would recommend.

by DevinJamesK

Out of all of the thousands of books, online tutorials, paid PDFs, cheat sheets, chord posters, etc, nothing has managed to package as much useful information, as concisely, as Tonality. From scales, to the circle of fifths, to tools like reverse guitar chord look up, Tonality is packed! Coming from piano and learning guitar, as well as my taking my music theory understanding more seriously, Tonality has been an invaluable tool in my learning experience.

Couple this quality app and musically understanding with a proactive and passionate developer makes it all the better. Every time I think of a suggestion there’s already a setting for it in some menu. Bugs don’t stay around long and new features and tweaks come often.

With ear training, I am given one less excuse to not practice music before bed, even if I can’t be bothered to get up and sit with my instrument.

Overall, I can highly recommend Tonality. Considering one crappy music theory pdf from your favorite YouTube instructor is almost always $20, Tonality is a steal.

Take your time, it can be overwhelming, but honestly music is overwhelming so that just makes sense.

Ps, if you think it’s good on iPhone, try it on iPad.

by Supernothing

I was looking for a midi-mappable velocity sensitive chord trigger and I found one wrapped in an interactive musical encyclopedia I didn’t know I needed.

by Klrxs

Seeing how I got Tonality early on, the transformations it has gone through and the ingenuity in those transformations really has me impressed. All without losing focus of its main functions!

Does what it says. Has a few AU devices which is wonderful. I love the clipboard.

Main feature request: wish strummer had an omnichord type function where it can be set to do a range of octaves of a chord rather than just one. Would open a lot of potential for effortlessly doing inversions etc.

Long shot feature request: have the ability to play back sequences of chords as progressions, with some progressions already available to select. Of course, this is way beyond the primary scope of Tonality haha

Anyway, yes, I have feature requests. But Tonality is already complete. It’s just learning more tricks 😊. That’s why it’s a no-brainer 5 out of 5 stars. Thank you for the time you’ve put into making this!

by Keefthedozer

Amazing amazing amazing!!! Can’t say enough good things about this.

Not only is this a writing and learning tool it is also an instrument.

by Kat D 3456

This has everything! It would have been so useful in my college days. I use it now with my piano students and theory students, and love that it has so much that will last them a very long time. Chord scales, chords, scales and fingerings, circle of fifths and more!

by Itsrifat

Love Tonality! Got so many well crafted features! The chord pad is my favorite. Allows me to quickly put together a progression by to jam over with

by Eriptron

Update: Wow, that update was fast! 🤓👍
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I didn’t even get through their list of features before I bought it! This is going on both my iPad and my iPhone. My only complaint is that the sound fonts sound cheesy but that’s what I got it for. The acoustic piano sound font could be better.

by Cmruko

This is a great app and totally worth the money. On sale it’s a steal. One of the most used apps I own because of the several AU’s packed inside and the wealth of knowledge included. It’s Been updated and improved so many times . It’s very versatile and packed with tons of features. One of the best iOS music apps I own. No joke. Developer is very responsive as well. 10 Stars.

by Siriusvibes

I have many guitar, piano and theory books and apps. This one covers much of the material in a single app making it easy to look up information without having to dig through references. I highly recommend any guitarist or pianist to consider getting Tonality as well as bedroom producers without deep music theory chops. It will help you learn. The UI is nicely laid out as well, looks great on my iPad.

by Kalfisher

Well…

It’s just got a certain look about it and I’m not saying it was my first thought but like a pal looked at my phone and it was like immediately jumping out to them, “is that a b…” and then it was like impossible to not see. Maybe it’s just me but yeah - otherwise Tonality is immensely helpful and worth the price. Bravo to the developers and “wink” to the graphics folks

by Brock_Harris

I purchased Tonality two weeks ago around the day it was released. Since then, there have been two solid updates. One was expanding it's use to AUv3 and MIDI In, the other included the Circle of Fifths as a visual reference tool.

I recommend Tonality for practicing with your instrument, as well as for referencing MIDI notes on plugins in whatever iOS DAW setup that you use.

I'm looking forward to using this app as it grows, along with any potential upcoming music apps that have this level of response and detail.

by Walkie1984

Tonality is amazing. I bought it for the AU chord detection, but the developer just keeps on adding new features. It's now a fantastic chord and scale reference that includes both keys and stringed instruments, a fully customizable AU chord pad tool for triggering chords in other apps, a AU grand staff viewer, an interactive Circle of Fifths reference that is super useful for experimenting with different chord progressions, and even an ear trainer!

This is one of the most versatile and useful music apps I own, and the developer is very active and responsive on the Audiobus forums. Super easy recommendation.

by Warlord88777

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that is serious about learning to play a variety of musical instruments can be assured that there is clear numerous streamlined benefits included with being able to utilize something with this simple, clean, intuitive, and user friendly of a layout. Honestly probably haven't been interested in a paid-for app for a few years now, But... when I saw this one.... "I never downloaded an app so fast in my life" XD

by Frrl100967

What can I say. Tonality is really good, in my book the best. I have Suggester, chord poly pad, ultimate circle of fifths and more, almost any app that deals with music theory but this one beats all of them. It is really that good. Not that the others are not good but this one is by far the best. The developer reads all our suggestions to improve Tonality . Check the audiobus forum so can read more about it

by Thirdnail

Wow, thank you developer for being kind enough to allow this amazing product go free for today!
I have downloaded many apps like this, yet haven’t come across Tonality what-so-ever until it was listed on Appslice for free today.
So glad I found it...it’s an amazing app for any musician, for any instrument, for any skill level, for any day! Loaded with features, being that’s it Auv3 puts it in a league all of its own.

by AllCarsEatGas

As a professional musician, let me just say that many people could get a lot of value from what Tonality offers. I’m impressed.