PitchBop Pro

Antonis Tsikandilakis

About this app

PitchBop is an ear training app created to help you improve the connection between your ear and your instrument by directly linking the level of skill to the accuracy of your performance.

Using the 'Call and Response' model, Dr. Bop, the resident jazz cat of PitchBop, plays a short phrase for you to listen to and allows you the same amount of time to repeat the phrase back to him to evaluate the accuracy of your performance. This ‘Call-and-Response’ is repeated throughout the session and you receive feedback on how well you did once it's finished. Dr. Bop will continue to track your progress in each game session and make adjustments as you improve to keep you appropriately challenged.

PitchBop can be used with a wide variety of instruments---including your voice---and any style of music. It’s a universal skill-building program for better musicianship at any level, from beginner to pro. All you need to do is show up with your instrument in tune and Dr. Bop will take care of the rest!

The two primary ways to use PitchBop are “Dr. Bop’s Game” and “Practice Mode”.
- Dr. Bop’s Game
Dr. Bop’s Game automatically guides you through the process by adjusting the difficulty level based on your performance so you can focus on playing without needing to worry about adjusting the settings.

Feel free to experiment with the Pitch and Rhythmic Complexity sliders though to get a feel for different complexity levels!
- Practice Mode
If you want to focus on something specific, for example, a certain scale, you can use the “Practice Mode” to tailor the practice session to your needs.


Features:
- Pitch Complexity
PitchBop creates calls with varying levels of pitch complexity on a scale of 1 to 9. Use this slider to set the complexity level.
- Rhythmic Complexity
Use this slider to set the rhythmic complexity level between 1 and 9.
- Choose Your Instrument
Tap the instrument name to see a list of instrument choices, then tap the name of your instrument to automatically set your available range.
- Metronome settings
Set the metronome volume and choose if you want it to give you all four beats, one and three, two and four, or whichever combination of beats you prefer.
- Profile Tab
Visit the Profile Tab to study your progress. This information is only stored for Dr. Bop’s Game, however, not for Practice Mode. For more detail, tap the up and down arrows next to “Scale” to select the various scale and harmony types PitchBop uses for the calls.
PitchBop will list the total calls and perfect responses for each scale or harmony you have heard. In addition, it will report the success rate and the Pitch and Rhythmic Complexity of your most recent “Call-and-Response” session.

Practice Mode settings:
- Pitch Complexity
- Rhythmic Complexity
- Tempo
- Scale
- Range
- Always start on root on/off
- Number of calls per session
- Swing/Even
- Chromatic notes on/off

Looking for an app that makes practice feel like performance?

PitchBop is about to make ear training your new guilty pleasure.

Ratings and reviews

I think this has the potential to be the best app I've seen to develop musicality and ear for a new or maybe even senior musician. There is still some bugs and inconsistencies and doesn't feel like it's being developed or updated anymore. But fingers crossed it will. Would be nice if one could split stat across different instruments. At the moment I bought the android version for my guitar and then bought piano version for os x (ios version) so i can practise and improve on both instruments.

I think the app is having a difficult time reaching my phone's sound card. It makes an unpleasant beeping sound when it starts up and it doesn't seem to pick up any of what I'm singing into it. This seems like a cool idea, and I'd love to give it a higher review! Edit: never mind! I was singing in the wrong octave! I didn't know it was sensitive to octave. Revised to a well-deserved five stars 🙂

This app has a lot of potential. It does not identify pitch accurately for my piano. It has some other bugs that are somewhat frustrating. That being said, this is a smart approach. If the higher levels could be actual jazz licks and phrases, this would be such a useful tool. Excited to see where this goes.

What's new

UI improvements
Intervals and pitch detection improvements