Introduction to Note Naming Apps
Naming and memorizing notes on the staff can be incredibly fun for students if you have a few tricks up your sleeve! In this blog series, we’ll be covering 10 of the best note naming apps for teachers and students that work well, are useful, have lots of customization options, and will encourage basic through advanced note-reading skills. All of these apps have been covered in-depth in our live webinar, “Top 10 Note Naming Apps” inside the Midnight Music Community.
In this week’s blog, we’ll cover 5 of the top 10 note-reading apps, but join us again in a few weeks for the rest! Read on to learn more about how to choose apps and some of our favorites: Staff Wars, Staff Wars Live, Flashnote Derby, Noteworks, and Dr Musik.
Members of the Midnight Music Community: Click here to view the full training!
The Main Modes of Answering
Note naming apps all have different ways of answering questions. Here are the primary ways students will be able to answer a question, but the availability of these inputs varies across apps.
- TAP: identify notes by selecting an option on the screen (a note name, a letter, a place on the staff, a picture of a keyboard, or a picture of a guitar fretboard)
- MIC: identify notes by playing/singing into the mic
- MIDI: identify notes on a plugged-in device (usually a physical keyboard). To do this, plug a USB cord from your MIDI device into an adapter that connects to your iPad, or that connects to a USB such as a Chromebook, etc.
Note Naming App Considerations
As you test out different note naming apps, you will want to keep some considerations in mind. We’ve detailed a list of these below to help you choose.
How to Choose a Note Naming App
- There is not a single app that will work best for every teacher or student. Figure out what app is best for your students.
- Consider using more than one app for variety
- Many apps are ONLY for mobile/tablet and may not be accessible on computers, or Chromebooks.
- Keep in mind whether an app is paid or free.
Note Naming App Features and Questions to Consider
- Clefs: most apps cover treble and bass clefs, but fewer options cover tenor or alto clefs.
- Number of levels: Will your students quickly outgrow the app?
- Speed of note delivery: Does the difficulty increase too slowly or too quickly for students?
- Learning from mistakes: Does the app allow you to learn from your mistakes? Does it give you the correct answer or allow you to try again?
- Note range: Can you adjust the notes being presented?
- Customization options: How specific can you, the teacher, create the parameters for students to be examined?
- Look and Feel: Is it exciting, enticing, or fun for students to use?
- Musical ‘language’: Can you choose whether to have students be tested on note names, scale degrees, solfa/solfege, etc?
- Scores and Tracking: Can you set up a teacher account and create student accounts to facilitate grading and assigning materials?
The Best Note Naming Apps
#1: Staff Wars
Staff Wars used to be a web-based platform, but it is now only available as an app.
Staff Wars Basic Info:
- Price: $1.29
- iOS/Google Play (click here for iOS or here for Google Play)
- Students will tap an answer on the screen
Staff Wars Overview
You can choose your clef (treble, bass, alto, tenor, or grand staff), the range of notes, and different parameters, such as lines-only, spaces-only, or small and big ranges.
How to Play Staff Wars
A note will fly in from the right of the screen and the player must “shoot” the note with their spaceship by selecting the correct letter name of the note before it reaches the clef sign.
After a few rounds, the music will start to play which is meant to add excitement, but can sometimes trigger anxiety in students. The notes will also begin to speed up every 10 questions, and the speed can increase rather quickly.
The app works really well as a group activity. You can project your device’s screen to the front of the room and have students call out the correct answer.
#2: Staff Wars Live
Staff Wars Live Basic Info:
- Price: $1.99
- iOS only
- Students will play into a microphone to answer
Staff Wars Live Overview
You can choose your clef, scale/key, and note range for the notes you want to be tested on. You can also select which instrument you’re playing or whether you’re using your voice. This works well for singers and choirs on a neutral syllable or on solfa/solfege.
You can establish a range of notes as small as two, which is incredibly rewarding for very beginner students.
Staff Wars Live Speed Options
In the player screen, you can swipe up to view additional speed options. Click the plus or minus buttons to increase or decrease the speed for the entire exercise. Note: Staff Wars Live does not automatically speed up over time.
#3: Flashnote Derby
Flashnote Derby Basic Info:
- Price: $4.99
- iOS/Google/Amazon
- Students can tap an answer on the screen OR play into the mic on their device OR play via a MIDI keyboard
Flashnote Derby Overview
Flashnote Derby has been around for a while, but it is an app that ticks many of the boxes teachers have when it comes to note-naming apps. The interface looks a little bit young/elementary, but beyond that, it has some great features!
As students play, an image will appear on the screen, and they will identify the note. When they do this, their animated horse will progress or fall back across the screen depending on whether they answer correctly or incorrectly. I also like that the app allows you to review mistakes at the end!
Here is an example of the screen that shows you a review of your mistakes and the corrections:
Flashnote Derby Customization Options
There are lots of customization options in Flashnote Derby including:
- How Many Questions
- Speed
- Answering Method
- Letter Buttons
- On-Screen Piano
- Piano with Letters
- Listen (play/sing through microphone)
- Midi
- Can choose very specific notes and select which individual notes you want to be included (does not have to be in a consecutive range).
#4: Noteworks
Noteworks Basic Info
- Price: $4.99
- iOS/Google Play
- Students will answer by tapping answers on the screen OR playing note via a MIDI keyboard
Noteworks Overview
Noteworks is another great app that has been around for a while. It has lots of customization options. I especially like this one because it allows you to set the speed of the notes as they appear.
The app works similarly to Staff Wars in that the notes appear from the right and move left across the staff to the clef. If they reach the clef, they light on fire, but there is a second chance option for students to use towards the end of the round to extinguish their notes on fire.
Noteworks Customization Options
- Many levels to choose from that include accidentals or no accidentals and different keys
- Clefs include: Treble, Bass, Grand Staff, Tenor, and Alto Clefs
- Answer options include clicking an image on a piano, letter names, or solfa/solfege syllables
- Speed: Slow, medium, fast, and extra fast
#5: Dr Musik
Dr Musik Basic Info
- Price: Free!
- Web-based, and can access the website on mobile/tablets in a browser (best in the Chrome browser)
- Students will answer by tapping answers on the screen
Dr Musik Overview
Dr Musik has been covered in our blog before and is featured in our Ultimate Free Music Tech Resource Guide. It is a free website created by Thierry Simard and features numerous music games and activities for different aspects of music theory. It’s very well put together and engaging for students.
There are four note-reading apps/games on the Dr Musik website:
Staff Dungeon: If you’re looking for a game that has an Atari or Among Us flavor, this is it! You are a character in a dungeon trying to collect treasure and find your way out while answering questions of notes on the staff to pick your direction.
The Robot Factory: Similar to Staff Wars, a note flies in from right to left with a piece of a robot attached. If you answer correctly, that piece is added to your robot until it is built in its entirety.
Aquarium: different fish will be clicked and dragged to their correct placement on the staff
Apple Picking is the same game as aquarium but with an apple-picking theme. Students drag apples from the tree to the correct placement on the staff.
Dr Musik Customization Options
- Staff Dungeon: select notes you want to include on treble clef, bass clef, or alto clef
- Answer options include clicking an image OR MIDI input
- Students can be tested on letter names, piano keyboard, or solfa/solfege syllables
- The Robot Factory:
- Answer option is only to click an image
- Students can be tested on letter names or solfa/solfege names and a 5-tier difficulty level
- Aquarium: selectable notes on treble clef or bass clef
- Answer option is only click and drag an image
- Students can be tested on note names only
- Apple Picking: same customization options as Aquarium game above.
Final Thoughts
As you’ve learned, there are plenty of note-naming apps out there, and depending on the customization options and difficulty, you’ll no doubt find one that works best for you! There are lots to choose from, but we hope this list has been helpful in opening up some app possibilities you may not have known.
Be sure to also check back in several weeks when we’ll be back with Part 2 of this series and will show you 5 MORE top note naming apps.
If you want even more in-depth training on these apps, check out the 10 Top Note Reading Apps webinar available inside the Midnight Music Community. As a member, you can also ask questions about any of these apps and we’ll make sure to respond with personalized help in the forum. You can also download a free copy of our Ultimate Free Music Tech Resources Guide for even more free resources for music teachers and students!
What’s been your experience with these apps? Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment below!
Want more resources for music tech teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community– where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
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