If you’ve got a child who’s taking up an instrument at school this year, LMuse Limited’s ‘Cat’ apps are just the ticket to make learning how to read music more fun. My son, who plays both piano and guitar, has used all of these apps and recommends them very highly.
Students who need help with rhythm and time signatures should start with Rhythm Cat Pro (3.5/5 stars, all ages, currently priced at 99 cents). In this app, the player is presented with an image of notes on the staff as the music is played, and must tap along in correct time.
Some negative reviews have cited problems with their Fire locking up on a certain level, or with their Fire screen failing to register all of their taps, but my son says he has never experienced either of these problems while playing the app on his Kindle Fire 7″ (the non-HD model). From Amazon:
A fun game that will help kids and adults learn how to read some basic music rhythms. 60 entertaining levels that get progressively more challenging.
This game has been developed in collaboration with professional musicians and educators.
• Learn to read some basic music rhythms
• Play through 60 levels
• Challenge yourself with the harder levels
This brief video shows a piano student using the app on an iPad, but it works the same on Android devices (like the Kindle Fire):
Treble Cat (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $4.99) is the app for helping students master sight reading on the treble clef. From Amazon:
Treble Cat is a highly entertaining game designed to help kids and adults learn how to quickly identify notes in the treble clef. This will help to effortlessly improve sight reading skills.
This game has been designed and created in collaboration with professional musicians and educators.
• Effortlessly improve your sight reading skills.
• Highly entertaining with great soundtrack.
• For kids and adults.
This video shows a music teacher who uses Treble Cat with her students demonstrating the app on an Android tablet:
Bass Cat (4/5 stars, all ages, currently priced at $4.99) is the same as Treble Cat, but for the bass clef. From Amazon:
Bass Cat is a game with 50 highly entertaining levels designed to help kids and adults learn how to quickly identify notes in the bass clef. This will help to effortlessly improve sight reading skills.
This game has been designed and created in collaboration with professional musicians and educators.
• Learn how to identify notes in the bass clef
• For kids and adults
• Effortlessly improve sight reading