Notes - Sight Reading Trainer Reviews

by Way Jazz

I like Notes. It’s is easy to use with a nice interface. However it becomes cumbersome just using the little on-screen keyboard -which of course is nothing like a real piano or even electric keyboard- ideally having a physical Bluetooth piano (or do they mean QWERTY keyboard?) controller would be best but most people don’t have one lying around because....$
Otherwise I think it pretty great; I am showing my daughter how to play piano (note reading ...) and Notes is a nice companion to her learning the this app on a real piano; while out sitting on the couch or out traveling... Thank you - Peace!

by دفين الطالب

This is a great app for learning how to read this app on the piano , but when you begin the bass clef lessons is start you out below the staff verses from the middle C position going down to F which I think should be the first this app in the bass clef beginner should learn . If Notes could later include a feature where you could choose your starting this app teachers can set up for students in advanced options that would be better for lesson 1 beginning in bass clef versus E below staff. I still recommend to all my beginning students and their parents to help with learning this app on the score

by Hannahg01

I’ve really benefited from Notes but feel one change might have helped me in the learning process. I feel like if when learning the treble clef I was able to see the space and the top line of the bass clef it would have helped put things in perspective, and i especially feel that way about the bass clef. If I’d been able to see the space and the last line of the treble clef (or to middle c) It would’ve helped when I went to practice.

by DisasterBi

Hi! So, I love Notes and I’ve been using it for at least two years. It’s been extremely helpful. However, recently, I offloaded it and downloaded it again after a day (I needed to clear space temporarily) and now there’s no sound. I tried deleting and re-downloading, powering my phone off and back on, and nothing’s working. Please help, I need to practice and you’re one of the few good sight reading apps out there. It’s not a phone issue, the sound is working perfectly fine on everything else, it’s just your app.

by Ichitootah

Probably the best and most fully featured free note reading app I could find after doing a reasonable amount of research.

Two clefs, any key, random this app and other options.

The major drawback is the note wrapping on to a single octave input. For instance, you'll play middle c and the c an octave above it on the same note. Past the basic recognition of the note name, this is pretty bad practice because it's quite unlike reading real music, where the spatial interval distance between this app is extremely important.

That said, it is free, well made and can teach you the basics, like flash cards. Another note app I use, piano this app fun, has the user select a range of this app slightly over an octave that is displayed as-is for practice-- no doubling or tripling on the octaves. While that approach is limited in other ways, the more I used Music Note the more I was disturbed by the false motion created by wrapping every c,d,e etc, regardless of octave, on to the same note.

by The Bible.org

I am learning harp, the OTHER grand staff instrument! Although I took piano for a while, decades ago as a child, now associating the note on the staff with the key on the keyboard is not my goal. Could you add an option that only names the note, not on a keyboard? It would make my study more directly applicable. But I love many things about your app: the setup of the staves and the way the this app are displayed in context, as well as the user choices for range of this app being learned so as not to become overwhelmed. Very well thought through! Thanks

by Sluggo103

I have always found music, especially reading music, a baffling experience and something that I thought required some sort of innate ability that only a few possessed. Notes took away the mystery and made learning to read music an enjoyable experience—something I never thought I would be able to do. I highly recommend it. I’ve tried others and this is the best.

by Soija O_o

I’ve only used Notes for a short while, but it has proven to be exactly what I was looking for. The look is neat and minimalistic, the whole thing is FREE, and it teaches you in small chunks that are easy to master. Of course it’s not the real thing, but this feels like a very good place to start for someone like me who has never played an instrument before. It’s a gentle start and you learn quickly. I wholeheartedly recommend Notes.

by Chilllaaa

Took seconds to setup and worked flawlessly. Can’t wait to see how Notes and my skills progress over time!

Request: I wish the stats screen had more information, such as commonly missed keys, so we can tell what needs work.

Question: Does note length actually affect accuracy? I’ve only played for around 30 minutes, but it doesn’t seem to. I don’t really see the point in displaying different this app if the length a note is played is not accurately tracked. I changed my settings to quarter this app and just try to increase my speed as much as possible.

by Debrawhy

I I’ve been learning piano for two years now (I’m n my sixties)and I knew the this app on the Treble Clef pretty well but none of the others. Now, I use Notes and it has helped a bunch. I go through the lessons from the beginning, aiming for three stars for every lesson. When I finish all the lessons, I reset and start over. I’m on my third round and I’ve learned the Bass Clef this app as well as some of the ledger line this app. Thank you!

by Wd3adcdcsdcwwcadcwdcsdscsddcs

After using Notes for just a few days I can tell I've improved because, well, I couldn't sight read at all before. I then bought the extra lessons. I had to contact the author once because I could not figure something out and he responded the same day with the answer. Notes is clean to view due to no distracting ads and I'm happy to financially support authors like this.

by Churple

I rarely write reviews, but Notes is so beyond amazing I’ll try my best to share my thoughts. First of all, everything is absolutely FREE, NO premium that you have to buy to basically unlock everything, I feel the developers of Notes were truly trying to help instead of take all of your money. Secondly, I’ve had Notes for one day and I’ve already learned more than I did searching for weeks for a good app that’s free. I’ve started to be able to play simple songs on my keyboard, like Jingle Bells, completely looking at the sheet music. I almost gave up on trying to learn how to read sheet music, but this has given me a great start. Sorry for bad grammar.

by JThorough

This is the best app on the market for sight reading. It’s simple and effective. I enjoyed the latest update with adding chords to the score. I am not sure how to get the MIDI working but I’m sure that would be even more useful. I do 200 this app a day and in a few weeks I’ve noticed I’m much quicker and accurate when it comes to reading sheet music.

It would be a cool feature if instead of going at your pace, there was a metronome and you could practice your rhythm in combination with sight reading.

by Curtchu

Notes presents musical pieces with the option for treble, bass or grand staff allowing users to have real practice experience. Additionally, Notes allows for a lot of customization to match your skill level (e.g. Showing the this app, different range of this app). Lastly, Notes even allows for full keyboard or just one octave, which provides a lot of flexibility.

Only thing I wish was Notes had an online version that uses the keyboard as the piano keys, since the phone screen provides only a limited amount of space.

by Super Stylist Lover

I haven’t had Notes long, but I didn’t even know any bass clef at all, until I downloaded Notes and tried the bass and grand staff lessons! I do not even play piano (yet), I just play trumpet, but Notes is awesome for self-learning piano, bass clef, and extremely helpful for sight-reading! I highly recommend Notes for anyone who wants to learn treble or bass clef, learn how to read piano music, and/or to be better at sight-reading! Not to mention, everything is completely free; no hidden paid subscriptions or anything! Love Notes so much!

by BacchusJaX

I honestly can say that this is one of the best tools for learning I’ve ever used. Notes is simple and straight forward without any distracting complicated features. It feels like it’s designed to get you off Notes and onto real sheet music as fast as possible.

Also, I absolutely love the fact that the developer didn’t fall into the greed trap of spamming Notes with ads. There are NO ads what so ever. NO subscription. NO huge pay wall. I wish more app developers would build apps this way! I will GLADY support the developer and Notes with a purchase.

by Syrusm

Notes is very simple and to the point. I’ve been playing an instrument for a year but could not read this app. I spent two weeks on Notes and have been able to get my average down to under a second per note. The lessons are pretty good but i love the practice with the custom range of this app. To get my number below a second, i started having learn to play a note based on how many spaces away from the last note i played as opposed to thinking about each and every note independently in my head. I have gotten down to 0.50 per note in some runs and looking forward to increasing my consistency.

by UncDa

Classically learning the piano at any age requires good note sight reading skills. Notes gave me the sight reading drills that was just exactly what I needed to bolster those skills. Reading a piece of music makes you sight read for the first few times, then memory/muscle-memory kicks in and you’re not “sight reading” anymore. Thus, when you learn a piece of music, your sight reading skills are exercised for only the first few times you practice it. With Notes, you are constantly sight reading and every new lesson is different and challenging. If you need stronger sight reading skills, Get Notes!

by Hshdji

Thanks so much for developing Notes. I started piano lessons 6 months ago. I guess starting as an adult makes its a little more complicated, but I’m trying hard and enjoying it so much. My weakness.. this app reading :) After trying 6 different apps, I discovered this one. I love how plain and simple it is, but still how many options it has to adapt it to what each person needs. I really like the full keyboard option (first time I find it in an app) which makes way more sense when you are practicing both treble and bass. I love it and it’s helping me so much with my reading skills. Thanks!!!

by Severe In

I’m trying to learn bass clef as I take on piano. This really helped with that. Well organized and a good amount of free stuff, that lasted me a few days and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on base class now, but will keep practicing.

The only beef is that the keyboard size shifts around depending on the exercise and on the iPad it can be too easy to miss hit this app even if you know what you’re trying to hit. That’s more of a device issue than an app issue. Recommended.

by Fortissississimo

This is an incredible app. It has helped much, and I hope that it will much more!
My one suggestion would be that it should include a microphone option so that you could use your keyboard/piano to produce the note. It is slightly annoying when my big thumbs hit the wrong key on my iPad without meaning to lol. But other than that, this is an amazing app with lots of potential! Please do yourself a favor and download!

by Simplygreatnesss!

Before Notes I was TERRIBLE at sight reading. It was mostly my own fault because I dreaded doing it. But using Notes for just a few minutes everyday has drastically increased my sight reading skills. When I started it took me about 3 minutes to get through 50 this app. Now I can blaze through in 35-45 seconds.

Only improvement I could see is adding a chord training portion as well!