Essential Apps and Tools Every Musician Needs, Part 1.

Here are some essential apps and tools that probably every musician should consider having.

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This is my list of all the essential apps and tools that help me with my studies, practices, and even recording sessions. I have collected all of those in about 5 years, hopefully, my experience will speed up the process for you!

Let's start with some basics and move on to some advanced items after.

Tuning:

For violin tuning, I use 2 things:

1. Physical Tuner: There are so many options, but my favorite is the D'Addario Tuner which is available on Amazon.

2. Phone apps:

My favorite is Simply Tuner which I got from the app store (for iPhone). It also has options for tuning viola or cello.

Or Tuner & Metronome by Soundcorset Tuner which is available for both Android and iPhones.

Metronome:

Metronome is an essential tool for a good, productive practice. As a musician, you know how important it is to master the rhythm to play the piece accurately, especially if other people are involved in the performance (i.e. ensemble, orchestra, accompaniment). It also allows concentration, focus, and consistency development (especially when practicing gradual speed increase or decrease).

1. Physical metronome (my preference). I bought mine from Amazon. My requirements were a flashing light so that I could see the tempo countdown, and an option to use headphones. You can even choose a pink Digital Metronome from the list of options!

2. Phone app.

Tuner & Metronome by Soundcorset Tuner for both Android and iPhones.

Accompaniment:

In some cases, I use YouTube for free piano accompaniment to play along with, but I also like paid phone or tablet apps that use a microphone and adjust the speed along with my playing. It almost feels like performing with a real person as it allows for more artistic freedom: i.e. to make dramatic pauses, slow down, add accents and dynamics.

MyPianist. My personal favorite. I pay $39.99 a year to use it.

Tomplay. Some of the pieces I play are not available on MyPianist, so this app is typically my plan B. I buy separate pieces there rather than having a yearly subscription.

Sheet Music and Notation Apps:

MuseScore. Great for scores and free courses. I have a yearly subscription.

Sibelius app for notation purposes. I don't use it very often, but I think it is an essential app to write music if you don't have staff paper (aka the sheet music paper) handy. All you need is your phone or a tablet.

I also mentioned some of the essential accessories for violin in my blog post here.

I hope you will find this post useful for your music journey. Please let me know in the comments which apps or tools you use for your recitals and practice!

Stay tuned for Part 2!