Keys, chords, scales, 24 solo styles, ear training, metronome, tuner & capo — all in one app. No subscriptions. No ads.
Free 7-day trial · Then one payment, yours forever
Create progressions, identify what you're hearing, train your ear, and keep time — all without switching apps.
Pick a key and mode, generate chord progressions with song references, view piano & guitar voicings side by side, and explore 24 solo styles on the fretboard — from pentatonic boxes to BB King, Hendrix, and Nashville session patterns.
Add the chords you're playing and instantly find what key you're in. Don't know the chord name? Tap it out on the piano or fretboard — every result shows both piano and guitar voicings side by side.
Interactive circle of fifths shows key relationships at a glance. Ear training drills intervals, triads, and seventh chords to sharpen your hearing.
Metronome with tap tempo, subdivisions and time signatures. Chromatic tuner that listens through your mic. Capo calculator for any key.
Choose a root, scale type, and mode — from basic major and minor to Dorian, Mixolydian, and beyond. Every suggestion shows the Roman numerals, a vibe description, and real songs that used it. Hear any progression played back on piano or guitar with one tap.
You've got a chord progression you like but don't know what key it's in. Add your chords one by one and the app analyzes every possible key match, ranked by probability. Tell it which note feels like "home" to narrow it further. Works with majors, minors, 7ths, sus chords, and more.
Ear training drills for intervals, triads, and seventh chords. Hear the sound, pick the answer. Your score, streak, and accuracy tracked in real time. The interactive circle of fifths shows key signatures, relative majors and minors, and modulation neighbors at a tap.
A metronome with tap tempo, quarter/eighth/triplet/sixteenth subdivisions, and 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 time signatures. A chromatic tuner that uses your mic to detect pitch in real time — works with any instrument. And a capo calculator that shows every position where you can play open chord shapes in your target key.
Not just box positions. Player signatures, modal extensions, and advanced navigation systems — each one shows exactly which notes to play and why.
Pentatonic positions, blues scale, major pentatonic, chord tones. The building blocks everything else is built on.
Each box shown in its exact fret range with context — which players favored it, how it connects to the next position, and why it matters.
Actual note choices of the greats — not approximations. BB King's 6-note box, SRV's connected zone, Hendrix's major/minor hybrid, Nashville session patterns.
Add one note to the pentatonic and change the entire sound. Dorian for Santana, Mixolydian for the Allman Brothers, Lydian for Satriani.
Superimposed pentatonics over different chord types, country "outside" half-step shifts, diagonal 3:2 runs, and blues scale extensions with the 9th.
Blue dots are pentatonic tones. Green dots are added color tones. Purple dots are blue notes. Notes outside the active zone dim to 15% opacity. Every style includes a description, playing tip, and the artists who defined it.
No subscriptions, no recurring charges, no "premium tiers." Buy it once, own it for life.
| Feature | Songwriter's Calculator | Typical alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| 24 solo styles (BB King, SRV, Hendrix, Nashville...) | Included | Not available |
| Cross-instrument display (piano + guitar) | Included | Pick one |
| Chord progressions + song refs | Included | Separate app |
| Key finder from chords | Included | Separate app |
| Reverse chord identifier | Included | Separate app |
| Interactive circle of fifths | Included | Separate app |
| Ear training | Included | Separate app ($) |
| Metronome + tuner | Included | 2 separate apps |
| Capo calculator | Included | Separate app |
| 26 scales & modes + 10 tunings | Included | Varies |
| Pricing | $4.99 once | $3-12/mo each |
| Ads | None | Most have ads |
Yes. Every tool works without an internet connection. The tuner uses your device's microphone, the metronome runs locally, and all music theory data is built into the app. No server calls, no loading screens.
24 different ways to visualize soloing patterns on the guitar fretboard. Five pentatonic box positions, player signature patterns (BB King, SRV, Hendrix, Gilmour, Clapton, Nashville session), modal extensions (Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Harmonic Minor), and advanced concepts like superimposed pentatonics and diagonal runs. Each one highlights exactly which notes to play, shows color-coded added tones, and includes a description, playing tip, and the artists who defined the style.
26 scales and modes: Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, all seven church modes, plus exotic scales including Hungarian Minor, Double Harmonic, Neapolitan, Phrygian Dominant, and modes of melodic and harmonic minor. 10 guitar tunings: Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Open E, Open C, Drop C, Half-Step Down, and Full-Step Down. Every combination works with the solo style system.
Not at all. Everything is shown as chord names, piano diagrams, and guitar fretboards. Roman numerals and Nashville numbers are both available. It's designed for working songwriters, not academics.
Yes. When you identify a chord on the piano, the guitar fingering appears next to it. When you find a chord on the fretboard, the piano voicing shows up too. Every chord in the app displays both instruments side by side — you never have to switch or guess.
Not yet — iOS first. Android is on the roadmap. If you want to be notified when it's available, drop your email below.
Nothing. The trial gives you full access to every feature for 7 days. After that, a one-time payment of $4.99 unlocks it permanently. No features are held back or gated.
Free for 7 days. No credit card required.
Download on the App StoreThe progression generator is the core of the app. Select a root note and scale, and it builds the diatonic chords, suggests progressions organized by verse, chorus, and bridge, and lets you hear everything played back in real time. Every suggestion comes with the Roman numeral analysis, a description of the harmonic movement, and real songs that used the same progression — so you're learning while you write.
Every key generates its seven diatonic chords displayed in a tappable grid. Tap any chord to inspect it — you'll see the piano voicing, guitar fingering diagram with multiple positions, the notes that make up the chord, and the Roman numeral or Nashville number. Toggle between triads and seventh chords to hear how adding a 7th changes the color.
Progressions are organized into verse, chorus, and bridge categories. Each one includes the chord sequence, a description of why it works harmonically, and specific songs that used it — from Beatles and Adele to Radiohead and Fleetwood Mac. You can filter by length (2-chord vamps through 8-chord sequences) or browse everything at once. Hit play to hear the full progression on piano or guitar.
Four core scale types — Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor — plus all seven church modes, each with its own diatonic chords and progression suggestions. Beyond the fundamentals, the app includes exotic scales like Hungarian Minor, Double Harmonic, Neapolitan Minor and Major, Phrygian Dominant, and the full set of melodic and harmonic minor modes (Altered, Lydian Dominant, Lydian Augmented, and more). The app explains what makes each scale distinctive and when to use it, so theory becomes a practical writing tool rather than an academic exercise.
Every chord in the app renders both a piano voicing and a guitar fingering diagram. Guitar players see multiple voicing positions they can cycle through. Piano players see highlighted keys. Neither instrument is an afterthought — both are first-class throughout the entire workflow.
One toggle switches the entire app from Roman numerals (I, IV, vi, V) to Nashville numbers (1, 4, 6-, 5). This isn't cosmetic — if you work in Nashville sessions, country, or pop production, numbers are how you communicate. The toggle applies everywhere: the diatonic grid, progression cards, chord viewer, Key Finder results, and the Circle of Fifths.
You've been noodling on the guitar and stumbled into something that sounds good, but you don't know what it is. The Identify tab solves two problems at once: it tells you what chord you're playing, and it tells you what key your progression is in.
Add chords one at a time — pick a root, choose the quality (major, minor, 7th, sus, diminished, augmented), and tap Add. The app analyzes every possible key match and ranks them by probability. If three of your four chords fit C Major and all four fit A Natural Minor, it shows you both with confidence scores. You can set a "home note" to disambiguate — tell it which note feels like resolution, and it narrows the results.
Each result expands to show the full diatonic chord set of that key, highlighting which of your chords are diatonic hits versus chromatic borrowings. This is how you understand why your progression works and where you might go next.
Don't know the chord name? Switch to the chord identifier. On piano, tap the keys you're holding down. On guitar, tap the frets you're fretting — the interactive fretboard lets you place fingers, toggle open strings, and mute strings exactly like you'd play it. Hit Identify and the app reverse-engineers every possible chord name from those notes, ranked by likelihood. Exact matches are flagged; partial matches (where you're playing extra notes) are noted separately.
Every identified chord can be added directly to the Key Finder with one tap, so the workflow is seamless: identify the chord, add it to your list, repeat until you have your full progression, then find the key.
Results always show both piano and guitar voicings regardless of which input method you used. Guitar voicings include multiple positions you can cycle through — open shapes, barre chords, and alternate fingerings where available.
Theory knowledge means nothing if you can't hear it. The Learn tab builds the connection between what you know intellectually and what you recognize by ear — through repetition, not memorization.
Three drill modes, each progressively harder. Interval training plays two notes and asks you to name the distance — minor 2nd through octave. Triad training plays a three-note chord and asks you to identify the quality: major, minor, diminished, or augmented. Seventh chord training adds the four-note voicings: maj7, min7, dominant 7, half-diminished, and fully diminished.
Each drill tracks your score, current streak, and accuracy percentage in real time. You hear the sound, pick from the options, and get immediate feedback. The goal is pattern recognition through volume — ten minutes a day builds ear skills that take years to develop without structured practice.
The circle of fifths is the single most useful diagram in music theory, and most apps render it as a static image. This one is fully interactive. Tap any key to see its diatonic chords, relative major or minor, and neighboring keys for modulation. The outer ring shows major keys, the inner ring shows their relative minors.
From any key on the circle, you can jump directly into the progression generator with one tap — the app pre-loads that key and scale so you can start writing immediately.
Three practice essentials that most songwriters keep as separate apps on their phone. They're built into the Songwriter's Calculator so you don't have to switch contexts, and they're designed to be fast — one tap to start, zero configuration required.
Tap tempo to set your BPM by feel, or dial it in manually. Subdivisions include quarter notes, eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenths. Time signatures cover 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8. The beat indicator is visual and audio — you can see the pulse even if your phone is on the music stand across the room.
The audio engine uses a Web Audio lookahead scheduler, which means the click stays locked to the beat even when your phone is doing other things. No drift, no stuttering when you scroll or tap other controls.
The tuner uses your device microphone to detect pitch in real time. It shows the closest note name, how many cents sharp or flat you are, and a visual meter so you can tune by eye. Works with guitar, bass, ukulele, voice, or any pitched instrument. Reference tone buttons let you hear each standard guitar string for tuning by ear in noisy environments.
No audio is recorded or transmitted — pitch detection happens entirely on your device.
Select your target key and the calculator shows every fret position where you can use an open chord shape to produce that key. Results are separated by major and minor so you don't accidentally grab a minor shape when you need major. If you know you want to play in Eb but prefer open chord shapes, the capo calculator tells you exactly where to clamp and which shapes to use.
Standard tuning is the default, but a dropdown lets you switch to Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Open E, Open C, Drop C, Half-Step Down, or Full-Step Down. Changing the tuning recalculates the scale fretboard and chord identifier — the dots move to their correct positions for the new tuning automatically. You don't need to do any mental transposition.
Most guitar apps show you a pentatonic scale and call it done. The Songwriter's Calculator maps 24 distinct soloing approaches onto the fretboard — from foundational pentatonic boxes to the specific note choices that made BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimi Hendrix instantly recognizable. Each style highlights exactly which notes to play, explains why those notes work over the chord changes, and names the players who defined the sound.
Select any key and scale from the generator, then scroll to the Scale for Soloing section. The fretboard lights up with color-coded dots: root notes in amber, pentatonic tones in blue, and added color tones in green. Notes outside the active zone dim to 15% opacity so your eye is drawn to the playable zone. Every style includes a written description, a playing tip, and the artists who defined it.
Toggle between the full scale view (showing all seven notes) and the pentatonic view (showing just the five-note core). This works in all 26 scales and all 10 tunings — the fretboard recalculates dynamically.
All pentatonic positions, blues scale, major pentatonic, and chord tone soloing. The vocabulary everything else builds on.
Each pentatonic box shown in its exact fret range with context — which players favored it, how it connects to the next position, and the musical situations where it works best.
BB King's 6-note box on the top three strings. SRV's connected zone spanning boxes 1 and 2. Hendrix's major/minor hybrid approach. Gilmour's melodic phrasing zone. Clapton's woman tone positions. Nashville session patterns built around chord tones with chromatic approaches.
Add one note to the pentatonic and the entire sound changes. The Dorian 6th gives you Santana and Allman Brothers. The Mixolydian b7 gives you Southern rock and blues-rock. The Lydian #4 gives you Satriani and fusion. The Harmonic Minor b6 gives you Yngwie and neoclassical.
Superimposed pentatonics over different chord types — play Am pentatonic over a C chord for a different color than playing C major pentatonic. Country "outside" half-step shifts. Diagonal 3-notes-per-string runs. Blues scale extensions with the major 9th.
When the pentatonic-plus-one-note approach isn't enough, the full seven-note Dorian mode mapped across the entire fretboard. The same treatment is available for every mode via the scale selector.
Knowing "the pentatonic scale" is like knowing the alphabet. These 24 styles teach you how to form sentences — how BB King said more with 6 notes than most players say with 60, how Hendrix blurred the line between rhythm and lead, how Nashville session players navigate complex chord changes by targeting chord tones. The fretboard diagrams make these concepts visual and immediate rather than abstract.
Questions, feedback, or just want to say hi — we're here to help.
Bug reports, feature requests, or general questions:
songwriterscalculator@gmail.com
Ask questions, share tips, and connect with other songwriters.
Visit the Community Forum →
Yes. Every tool works without an internet connection. The tuner uses your device's microphone, the metronome runs locally, and all music theory data is built into the app.
24 different ways to visualize soloing patterns on the guitar fretboard — pentatonic box positions, player signatures (BB King, SRV, Hendrix, Gilmour, Clapton, Nashville), modal extensions, and advanced concepts like superimposed pentatonics.
26 scales and modes: Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, all seven church modes, plus exotic scales including Hungarian Minor, Double Harmonic, Neapolitan, Phrygian Dominant, and modes of melodic and harmonic minor. 10 guitar tunings: Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Open E, Open C, Drop C, Half-Step Down, and Full-Step Down.
Not at all. Everything is shown as chord names, piano diagrams, and guitar fretboards. Roman numerals and Nashville numbers are both available.
Yes. Every chord in the app displays both instruments side by side — you never have to switch or guess.
Not yet — iOS first. Android is on the roadmap.
Nothing. The trial gives you full access to every feature for 7 days. After that, a one-time payment unlocks it permanently. No features are held back.
Refunds are handled by Apple. Open the App Store, go to your account, tap Purchase History, find the app, and request a refund. Or contact us at songwriterscalculator@gmail.com and we'll walk you through it.
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Songwriter's Calculator ("the App") is built and maintained by Samuel Beseres. This policy describes how the App handles your information. The short version: we collect almost nothing, store almost nothing, and sell nothing.
The App runs entirely on your device. All music theory data, chord calculations, scale generation, and audio processing happen locally. No account is required to use the App.
We may collect:
We do not collect, store, or transmit any of the following: your chord progressions, key selections, tuner data, metronome settings, ear training scores, microphone audio, or any other data you create or interact with in the App.
The chromatic tuner feature requests microphone access to detect pitch. Audio is processed entirely on your device in real time. No audio is recorded, stored, or transmitted.
In-app purchases are processed by Apple through StoreKit. We do not receive or store your payment information, Apple ID, or billing details.
The App does not include any third-party analytics, advertising SDKs, or tracking frameworks. The community forum uses Supabase for data storage and authentication.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The App does not require an account and does not collect personal data during normal use.
We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.
Questions about this privacy policy? Email us at songwriterscalculator@gmail.com
By downloading, installing, or using Songwriter's Calculator ("the App"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these terms, do not use the App.
We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the App for personal, non-commercial purposes on any Apple device you own or control, subject to the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
The App offers a one-time in-app purchase to unlock full functionality after the free trial period. All purchases are processed by Apple and are subject to Apple's refund policies. We do not offer direct refunds — please contact Apple Support for purchase-related issues.
When using the community forum, you agree to not post content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. We reserve the right to remove any content and suspend any account at our sole discretion.
The App and its original content, features, and functionality are owned by Samuel Beseres and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Song titles and artist names referenced in the App are the property of their respective owners and are used for educational reference only.
The App is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. Music theory information provided by the App is for educational and creative purposes only.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the App.
We reserve the right to modify these terms at any time. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.
These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.
This App is also subject to Apple's Standard End User License Agreement (EULA) for Licensed Applications, available at apple.com/legal.
Questions about these terms? Email us at songwriterscalculator@gmail.com