Pro Chords App Reviews

Crashes after launching program after update.

Inspiration in a box. If you're a songwriter - Buy This App Now!!! It doesn't write the song for you, just helps out with excellent chord suggestions. Perfect for those of us without a PHD in theory but a desire to write more interesting songs. As a guitarist with limited keyboard chops, this is wonderful for trying out different variations and inversions. Build your own chords, change the bass note, even record the sequence to audition your work. Awesome.

I'm not as enthusiastic as I had hoped I'd be about this app, especially considering the price. There can be a lag between touching the screen and playing the chord (iPad 2). I notice this when I want to see how chord sequences sound in a certain rhythm. It's not like, e.g. playing chords in Garage Band. I also wish that the chord buttons had true sustain. They play for a maximum of about a second, or less if you release earlier. But not longer. I want to hear the chord longer to tell if it's really right. I wish the sound were richer, truer, more realistic and resonant. Again, I'm spoiled by the experience of playing chords in garage band. I don't performance quality, but sound quality does matter for the kind of sequence discovery this app tries to enable. The basic chord selection process is pretty good. But it typically defaults to (what seems to me) quite low octaves, especially on some chords. I would appreciate if it defaulted higher in general. (Perhaps it's just me, but it seems I can hear the flavor of the chords better at higher octaves.) I also would like if it defaulted to and octave and an inversion that were close to the previous chord. Currently it jumps every time to the default (which is sometimes quite low, and may be in quite a different place on the keyboard from the previous chord. Finally it would be nice if it had the ability not only to pose the statically likely chords, but also (somehow) to give guidance on common progression patterns. This is of course beyond what it advertises, so I don't fault it for this. But at the moment it's like making sentences from a phrase book. Those who are really good don't need it, and those who are learning don't find it enough help. I don't fault it for this, but it a smarter sequence suggestion algorithm would make it even more useful for me. I may get some help from this app, but it was not the seamless chord-exploration experience I had hoped for.

If you're going to get this app I'd recommend you never exit it. After the first use it will crash whenever you try to play a chord. But hey... It was fun til I closed it.

I can't get it to make sounds . Checked everything and all other apps have sound except prochords. Using v 1.4.1 on apple 4g

This is a excellent tool for chord progression. It suggests the best chords right up front. You don't have to hunt through a few dozen chords. Pro Chords order of preference is spot on. It gives you the best choices. It also suggests different chords for different places in the chord progression. Not just all the diatonic chords for one particular key. You can also use it as a controller to play those chords on synth apps with virtual midi, like iPolysix and Magellan. It's not a magic songwriter. It just helps you find the right chord to express what you have in mind. I agree with others though. Landscape mode and some option for a sustain would be nice.

More flexibility?!? I hope you come with something, this is clunky a f :l

I bought this because all the good reviews. But after I downloaded it to my ip4, it crashes whenever I drag the sequences. My system is 5.01. This is very disappointing. I feel bad for my 9 dollars. Please fix this problem. After this, I may consider giving you a better score!!!!

I lost all of my song ideas when the app self-updated.

I like playing with chord progressions, and the suggestions are sometimes useful. I'd prefer if the MIDI export was not through email; it bothers me that the app is sending my email info, and whatever I'm working on, to an external server, where I can download the file later. There's just no reason that it should work this way.

Truly Amazing.

I wrote an earlier review when my Pro Chords stopped processing my progressions, and I have to update it. Both for how much I love this app, and for the developer chasing me down and fixing my problem when I couldn't figure out how to get in touch, this app gets a top rating. It's completely intuitive, has pushed my songwriting time way down and my skills through the roof. It also gives me the freedom to work anywhere inspiration hits, whether there's a piano around or not. Whether I am working on anything from a deep house track to a fully vamped disco drama, I always start with Pro Chords.

Just got this,jumped right in and made a progression and emailed it to myself and was able to open right up into nanostudio. It started a new song in minutes...I feel it gave me a huge jump start on this song.

I like the app as a whole, and the app is made for writers. That's good, but it is a little difficult to judge the strength of an innovative chord progression while hearing such a low quality piano midi instrument. It wouldn't take anything to offer a couple more midi instruments or even a high quality piano. Voice can do chord progressions that instruments can't and you can't capture it with a cheap piano. I have faith that the developers will do something about this because they made such a useful app to begin with. Keep up the good work.

Very boring app, suggestions are very obvious and worst of all it crashes from the first time u open the app. Total rip off!

I'd like to be able to specify the number of beats the chord plays for and then play my progressions from the main screen. Play 1st chord for 8 beats, then 2nd for 4, etc.

Great songwriting app! One thing that would really really really make my day is if you could add the option for guitar chord fingerings at the top instead of piano.

I have created a number of songs with it.

This is a great tool to use for chords. While the app suggests different chords to add to current progressions being played, it would be nice if the app would allow or play any chord combination created by the users. I really like the improvements that have been made to the app, such as the option to creating chords by notes. I find myself using that feature a lot more than the chord name, which is also a very useful feature - especially when you already have the names of the chords in a progression and just are looking to see how those chords are played and sound like. However, the app lacks the flexibility of allowing users to form ANY chords. Sometimes, I'm in the middle of registering the chords I've arranged to a specific song, but the app cannot play the complex and very pretty chords. PLEASE consider adding this flexibility feature to the app. I foresee ALL musicians, including piano teachers, wanting to use this app if that feature is added. This is by far my favorite and most-used app despite this significant limitation. This is indeed a must-have app for those who are passionate about music. Still Loving it!

This app used to be amazing, until I downloaded the latest update. Now, it crashes every single time I try to use it (iPhone 4s, iPad 2). Please fix this app, and it would be worthy of a 5 star review again!

When I first got it it worked fine but after downloading their latest update I can't keep it from crashing.

Most of the chord suggestions it gives you are either 1) too obvious that anyone who has minimal composition experience and knowledge in pop/rock/jazz finds this redundant or 2) old fashioned progressions geared towards classical music, for which nobody these days really needs. If your into modern stuff - which I assume most composers these days are writing - then you'll barely ever use this. Beginners might find it helpful, but for what it's got to offer it should be way, way cheaper. 3 stars is being generous. Should be a 99 cent app, 1.99 at most.

Needs a better way to export midi. Exported 2, received 0 via email.

There is no other songwriting tool for the iPhone that puts so much emphasis on exploration, discovery, and PLAY. Every other option I've tried is too focused on the music theory, instead of working with your ears. They make you spend too much time in your head, instead of in the music and in the moment. I know music theory and play multiple instruments (some with decades of classical training) but when I am writing a song I want above all to be in a spirit of play. ProChords, while a powerful and serious tool, is at heart all about PLAY. It puts the focus on listening and exploring the possibilities. If you know theory, you can still be guided by the chord names when you want to be, but the emphasis is on letting the sound of the suggested chords inspire you. Want something conventional and poppy? Try one of the chords with a high number of stars in the match rating. Want something a bit weirder and off-kilter? Try a chord with a lower rating. What is amazing about this tool is how it never limits you too much creatively. Any time you search for a chord there are usually dozens of options, but it organizes and filters the chord options just enough to provide you with the guidance and inspiration to keep moving forward. This app has immediately proven its usefulness. Within the first 15 minutes after watching the excellent tutorial video I had an entire brand new song sketched out. It is utterly inspiring and worth every penny. The app store is full of tools to make all kinds of musical noises, but if you want to actually write SONGS, ProChords is the app to have! --- For a 1.0 release, this is a spectacular achievement. The interface is speedy and usable, and the app fills a very real need. But I do have some suggestions for the next version: 1. Add the option to select a duration and number of repetitions for each chord. (e.g. duration: quarter note, repetitions: 4) This enables making a more complete sketch of the song's structure. It also makes the MIDI export much more usable. 2. Add an option to auto-play the progression, using the duration & repetition data from #1. 3. The option to do audio recordings, either of the auto-play or just of whatever the user is currently playing. It would be awesome if this also included the ability to use the microphone to simultaneously lay down melody ideas from a voice or instrument. 4. An instant MIDI capture option when jamming around on the search screen. Sometimes I come up with a progression or rhythm that I don't want to use in the current song, but I want to catch it before the moment is gone. 5. A free-text Notes screen for each saved song. This could be used for lyrics, notes on instrumentation ideas, or whatever. And I disagree with any suggestion to add fretboards or the like. There are plenty of apps for learning chords and scales - this one should stay focused on songwriting. Once again, this app rocks! These suggestions are just ways to make what is already a 5-star tool even better. UPDATE for 1.1.10: This remains a top-notch app. While none of the features I requested above has made an appearance, the developer has been responsive via e-mail and has updated the app. No complaints here! Hope we'll see an iPad version with more features! UPDATE for 1.2: Kudos to the developer for the new record function, which adds most (if not quite all) of the features I requested. This app just gets better with age!

this app used to be great, unfortunately now it's too complicated and useless. they tried to add too many features and now the app doesn't work properly. terribly unfriendly user interface.

The only thing that could make it better is adding more chord types. Love this tho!

This should be a household tool for anyone who writes songs. Take it from a picky music theory buff, this app is awesome. It is simple enough for someone with no theory training to put together complex chord progressions with ease. However, its many options of chords make the app a useful reference for the most advanced musician to find that perfect harmonization. I'll put it simply. If you want to write songs, buy this app. It does half the work for you.

An excellent tool and now with added the export to MIDI. I feel like the developers must use their own app because it's very intelligently designed.

User interface requires watching a video in order to understand how to use the program. (non intuitive interface) Chords do not show their inversion number, only bass note. I'd love to optionally see 'chord IV' and not 'bass note F' The file save and export feature works well, but I would never write music this way. I think the developer should focus more on polishing the existing features and fix up the interface before adding any new features.

Love it! Here's something very cool I just discovered. Email yourself a recording, open the download link in mobile safari and you can import the midi right into Music Studio app. How awesome is that??

Has a bunch of chords. Fun to play with

If it wasnt locked in Portrait mode I think I would enjoy it. But my setup demands Landscape mode. Seems like a no-brainer feature for a pricey app.

No sound when i initially installed the app, was easily remedied on my iPhone 4, iOs5.x by restarting the phone. An interesting app. lots of fun during my commute, and useful as i'm not a piano player and it strikes voicings that would not have occurred to me naturally. Great interface. Adding guitar chords, with alternate tunings, would make this app even more useful .

Used to be a great app but crashing now?

When writing music, I find myself using the same chords all the time, so sometimes I'll get all into music theory to try and break out of my patterns - but theory is a great way to kill the creative process. Pro Chords has instantly changed the way I approach music. The music I'm writing is suddenly much more interesting. And what really makes this useful is the wifi midi function. I use pro chords as a midi controller for my DAW - run it through Omnisphere. Amazing!! Only complaint is the note velocity should be reduced a little, as running it through a DAW can cause distortion because the volumes are maxed. - oh, and on the app, there should be a loop function for playback. But these are just minor irritations.

Update to previous review In my last review I was not happy that the midi export via their email server was not working and that I could not find a way to export the chord via text. Well, now the export is working. Not the best method: you have to rely on their server for mailing. If their server is not working you're out if luck. There should be an additional export option. The email that arrives includes the chords printed in a row. That's what I really needed! I would like to do that without messing around with creating a midi export file. The email comes with a link to your pattern which, again sits on the manufacturers web site. I think the program should work on its own without so much reliance on the manufacturers web site for export and saving. For long patterns, it appears necessary to tap a very very small button to the right if the keyboard in order for each chord in the pattern to trigger. Holding notes in this method doesn't seem possible so chords are short and abruptly played. For short patterns chords can be triggered by the corresponding button in the pattern and held for a decent length if time. It's not possible to create song sections. It: it would be very nice to create a verse, chorus and bridge. So, for chord suggesting I think it's very good. For export, a little tedious and not so reliable. For recording and song creation: a little tedious and limited.

This app needs to play arpeggios

This app is a great idea poorly implemented. It's clunky and limited. As I see it there's no real reason for some of the obvious flaws and lack of features. I'm not a coder so I can't say how easy or hard it would be to implement these into the app. First no real menu to select between recording and construction making so you have to back of the program to the save screen to return to the recording screen. Another glaring lack of insight is you can't record the chords repeatedly because each time you play the chord it advances to the next chord. You have to add the same chord for each time you want to play it and it's a very time consuming process. My suggesting would be to have it record cords by hitting the keyboards and not just the advance arrow. Granted, it's just a notebook to test ideas and not a full feature recorder but those would make It far more useful.

It is a novel app but after purchase figured it was not for me. I was looking for an app to sketch chord progression ideas I have when I am away from my computer, something really simple. It seems to some extent you can do this but for some reasons it is hard to do with this app. Firstly, the user interface is novel but clunky. Scrolling through the chord options is tough with so many scroll wheels right next to each other. Scrolling is not a good way, a pop screen would be much easier and quicker to do. Also dragging between chords can be a chore. Like I said, I wanted to create my own chord progressions and the chord suggestion tool was not something I was after, but seeing as it is there I gave it a shot. Unfortunately it also falls short. The biggest issue I see with the suggestion tool is that it seems to not take into account the progression but rather just the chord it precedes. This results in quite jarring and ever progressing progressions, cadences never occur. Secondly it seems to not ever suggest inverted chords. Realistically it should help the user avoid parallelism. So in short not a big hit. Thirdly, it seems and I am not sure on this, that when you export a progression, it sends it to the developers site which then sends it to you. This means the user is always dependent on the developer being around to receive there audio/midi files. In the crazy world of app development, companies come and go and if this developer ever goes bust, so does users' ability to export and get their audio/midi files. This ability should be built into the app and not rely on the devs web server and existence. Fourthly, the user is required to use a bass note without the ability to omit one. Those are my main gripes but really this app makes it extremely difficult to sketch out harmony ideas quickly. It is a long and extremely difficult and non intuitive process. This is why all apps should have a demo version, but in this case if the dev did offer one, I wouldn't have purchased his app; well played. Waste of 9 usd for me; thing is getting deleted from my phone.

I love the idea of Prochords. I'd love it a lot more I'd the tutorials worked. Can you look into that? Thanks.

This is great for musicians who know what sounds good but perhaps don't know how to play various chord voicings. My only wish would be that you could change the sound of the app to something other than a piano. Also, to be able to use this to trigger audio in other iOS apps, like maybe using tabletop or something.

I am on an iPhone 4. All up to date. I used to love this app, but I cannot choose select any chords or even listen to the default C chord on boot up. It does nothing, except crash. Great for people who love crashing. Terrible for people who want to test some progressions

I love Pro Chords, and would have given it five stars back in the day. I will still no doubt use Pro Chords, but the excellent MIDI and audio implementation sported by ChordPolyPad should serve notice to GroundControl ApS: Houston, you have a problem. Your features were fabulous a few years ago, but Pro Chords finally has some serious competition, something neither Chordbot nor Chordion nor any other compositional iOS app I own previously provided. Since I've enjoyed Pro Chords, I'm hoping its developer will stop resting on laurels. For my needs, it I could only pick one iOS app...

This is hands down the most well designed and most useful app for any musician who wants to create their own unique & amazing chord progressions... The chord suggestions truly inspire!! Brilliant!!! Thank you!

Great app

Not as impressed as I hoped to be. It's a bit clumsy to navigate and there are other apps that do the same thing just as well for $2.

Instantly changes everything you know about workflow. Be you a composer, producer, or hobbyist, this app allows for the most comprehensive experimentation with and implementation of chords and inversions, via both speaker and midi. I don't know how I ever lived without this app.

This is an amazing app! It presents chords and relative chords in such a way that it guides users to experiment with different chords creating an opportunity to grow your musical vocabulary. Very well laid out and user friendly. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

My search for the long lost chord app is over. Puts chords back into the spotlight on a stage cluttered with sound sampling and lyrical loop-de-loops. Like the piano in its interface--it's stripped down to the essential exploration of a single track chord progression in a straightforward timeline. Fantastic app!