Looking for musical practice software

March 15, 2019 2:43 PM

I'm looking for software that I can hook up to a MIDI keyboard, which will drill me on scales, keys, chords, and other basic music theory stuff. Sort of like those typing games that flash words on the screen, and score you on speed and accuracy – but for music. Does such a thing exist?

Background: I've been messing around with electronic music, on and off, my whole life. But I've never developed my proficiency with traditional theory beyond a very rudimentary level.

Like, I know the names of the notes, and I get the basic idea of intervals and chords. If you name a major or minor key, and give me a minute, I can find the notes in that scale. And I can find the notes in any given major or minor triad (again, with some fumbling). But...that's about it.

I'd like to drill myself on this stuff, so that it becomes second nature. So that I can (for example) jam with a friend, and they can say "I'm in F minor", and I can just put my hands on those keys and start playing along.

I'm looking for software that gamifies this kind of practice, because then I think I'd actually do it.

Please note that I'm solely interested in drilling myself on scales, chords, etc. I'm not interested in learning how to play, like, Für Elise or Beatles songs or whatever. That's just not something I'm going to use for the kind of music I make.

Thanks!

posted by escape from the potato planet to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

See this recent Ask. I recommended Yousician there. It even works on many phones and tablets. It's got a free version, and you can drill on individual areas at your discretion, including key signatures, scales, chords, music theory, rhythm, fingering, sight reading, etc etc. You can also play pop songs and do less drill-ish things. It tests you at the start in each area to calibrate. It's pretty cool, I will probably pay for it whenever I get enough free time to actually practice regularly.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:17 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

While not a midi keyboard interface, Musictheory.net has keyboard note, scale, interval, and chord drill exercises. Each of these has a "challenge mode" (that allows you to set time limits, specify if multiple attempts at one example are allowed, etc.) you can turn on via the options.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:33 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

The software many conservatories use for this purpose is Ars Nova’s Practica Musica. I evaluated various such packages a decade ago and it was the best at the time.

It’s now in version 6.
posted by spitbull at 5:23 PM on March 15, 2019

Hmm .. Well , they do incorporate some popular music into it, but I'd still say you should consider joy tunes' really well thought out "Simply Piano" app, it helped me learn and remember piano chords. Once you get through the site reading intro stuff (which is very easy peasy) they go into a ton of chord drilling. I found it very motivating because it gives you short courses to work through in the order they give them to you, which really leads to a sense of accomplishment and progress - a bit of the gamification you were talking about, it has the feeling of leveling up. The same company (joy tunes) makes another app that a lot of piano teachers are using (and are really excited about) these days which may offer more depth on the theory side of things. If you want to learn more about them before taking the plunge theres a facebook group for music teachers where they discussing teaching with these two joy tunes apps that you might consult. I practiced way more with this app than i ever did with traditional lessons.
posted by elgee at 9:46 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

I also favor

"Musictheory.net that has keyboard note, scale, interval, and chord exercises."

Truly ideal for Musicians that want to specifically perform drill exercises themselves
posted by jallypeeno at 8:46 AM on March 19, 2019