Resources
Longer pieces on how to learn, and honest reviews of the tools — including the ones that compete with us. Every app roundup is re-checked against current App Store listings rather than reprinted with a new year on it.
Guides
How to approach learning, in practical terms.
A field guide to music learning apps
Six categories of music app, what each is genuinely good at, and where each one runs out of road.
Updated September 2, 2026
How to learn music theory
The order that works, roughly how long it takes, and where most people get stuck.
Updated September 1, 2026
Music theory for beginners
Six ideas, in order, that the rest of music theory is built from.
Updated September 1, 2026
How to read sheet music
Everything on the page, decoded in the order you need it.
Updated September 1, 2026
Music theory for piano players
The parts of theory that pay off fastest at a keyboard, and the ones pianists tend to skip.
Updated September 1, 2026
How long does it take to learn music theory?
An honest timeline, and the three things that change it more than talent does.
Updated September 2, 2026
Do you need music theory to play an instrument?
No. But there is a specific point where not having it starts costing you, and it is worth knowing where that point is.
Updated September 2, 2026
How to memorise key signatures
Two shortcuts, three exceptions, and a way to practise that beats flashcards.
Updated September 2, 2026
How to improve your sight reading
Read new music daily, below your playing level, without stopping. Almost everything else is detail.
Updated September 2, 2026
Music theory for guitar players
The fretboard makes every shape movable, which is a gift and a trap. What guitarists gain most from, and what they usually skip.
Updated September 2, 2026
App reviews
What is actually good right now, and what has quietly been abandoned.
The best apps for learning a musical instrument
Eleven apps that teach you to play, checked against their current listings rather than their 2023 ones.
Updated September 2, 2026
The best sight-reading apps
Eleven apps for reading notation faster — including which of the old favourites have stopped being maintained.
Updated September 2, 2026
The best ear training apps
Eleven apps for training relative pitch, sorted by what kind of listening they actually train.
Updated September 2, 2026
The best music theory apps
Reference tools, drills and courses — three different things sold under one label.
Updated September 2, 2026
Looking for the theory itself?
Resources is the editorial side. The structured explanations — intervals, scales, chords, key signatures, the circle of fifths — live in Learn.