Tonic

Tuner · Metronome · Lessons · Backing Band

Tune.
Practice.
Play along.

Tonic is a tuner, metronome and practice app for iPhone and iPad. It's a precise tuner for every instrument, with guided lessons, a metronome and a band that follows your chords. One purchase, everything included: no subscription, no ads, and nothing leaves your phone.

Download on the App Store See everything included

$4.99 once · iPhone and iPad · iOS 17 or later · Works offline · English and Spanish

  • Guitar
  • Bass
  • Ukulele
  • Mandolin
  • Banjo
  • Violin
  • Viola
  • Cello
  • Double Bass
  • Brass
  • Woodwinds
  • Vocals
  • One purchase, everything included
  • No subscription
  • No ads
  • No account
  • Nothing leaves your phone
  • Works offline
  • Works with VoiceOver

Tuner

Every instrument. Every tuning. Unlocked.

A cents meter that glides to the note and settles there, or a strobe for the last cent or two. Tune a guitar in standard, drop D, DADGAD, open G or any of 19 tunings, including 7-, 8- and 12-string and baritone. Tune a bass with four, five or six strings, a ukulele with high or low G, a mandolin, or a banjo in open G, Double C or Sawmill. Bowed strings are covered too: a violin in standard or cross tuning, a viola, a cello, or a double bass in orchestral, solo or fifths tuning. There are 13 brass and woodwinds, and a mode for your voice. Nothing is locked.

Steady
The needle glides between readings and holds on the note, so a ringing string doesn't make it twitch. "In tune" holds steady at the edge instead of flickering.
Strobe
The stripes drift when you're sharp or flat and stand still when you're there.
Capo
Tune with the capo on, and each string shows the note it really sounds.
Winds
Trumpet, clarinet, horn and the saxophones show the note you read, not concert pitch.
A4
Set it anywhere from 430 to 450 Hz, or show cents instead of Hz for setting intonation.
Your own
Save a custom guitar tuning, or tune by ear against a reference tone.

Which instruments and tunings are includedThe full tuning list

Tonic's tuner set to guitar, standard tuning. The note E, 82.4 Hz, sits centered on the meter with "In tune" in green, above the six strings E A D G B E.

Practice lessons and drills

Lessons that open the right drill.

There's a guided course for guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo, violin, viola, cello and ukulele. Each one runs from the notes on your instrument to improvising in every key. A lesson is a short read, then drills already set to the right key, scale and tempo. Mark it done and the next one is waiting.

48 drills
Scales, arpeggios and triads, chord changes, licks, technique, rhythm and time, ear training, and knowing your neck. Each drill plays and shows on your neck or keyboard as it goes, in whatever tuning you use.
Clean +5
Play it clean and the tempo steps up 5 BPM. Missed it? It steps back 5. Your best clean tempo is saved.
Every key
Drills travel around the circle of fifths, so the scale you know in G turns up in D♭.
Today's Routine
One drill from each area, the one you've left longest first, each in a new key.
Listen
Play the drill yourself. Tonic follows you note by note through the mic and waits for each one.
Banjo
Every note is marked with its picking finger (T, I or M), the way banjo tab is written. There are three-finger rolls, and a Clawhammer & Old-Time unit with the bum-ditty, drop thumb, Double C and Sawmill.

How the lessons workClawhammer and three-finger banjo

The Guitar Lessons list, 3 of 33 lessons done. The First Steps unit starts with The Notes on the Neck, Steady Time and Your First Scale: G Major, each checked off.
A drill playing A minor pentatonic, position 1, on a guitar neck at the 5th fret, each note labeled by scale degree. Below it, the tempo at 70 BPM with Clean +5 and Missed −5 buttons.

Backing Band Beta

A band that follows your chords.

Drums, bass, keys and rhythm guitar, plus a pad, pedal steel or horn section. It plays 20 genres and 85 feels: Chicago and Texas shuffles, Detroit soul, funk, bossa nova, two-step country, '80s synth pop, spaghetti western and more. Give it a progression, or just start playing.

Follow Me

Start playing. Strum a few steady beats and a chord, and the band comes in on your next beat, at your tempo. Change chords and it changes with you, on the next beat. It keeps going until you stop it. Headphones help the mic hear you over the band.

12-bar
Pick a blues feel and it loads the 12-bar form in your key.
I–V–vi–IV
Start from 20 named progressions, or build your own. Make any chord a 7th or sus, switch it between major and minor, then save it.
Sections
Give the chorus its own chords, and move through the song by bar count or on a tap.
While it plays
Change the tempo, the groove, any sound, the swing or the energy without stopping. Each change lands at the next bar.
Your mix
Every part has its own fader. Turn the guitar down to make room for yours, then save the band by name.

How Follow Me worksAll 20 genres

The Backing Band's mixer, with faders for drums, bass, keys, guitar and pad or horns all at the band's own balance. The band is playing the verse, bar 7 of 8, on a G chord.

Theory and instruments

Know what every chord is doing.

Why the V pulls you home and the IV feels like a lift. How a diminished chord is built: lower the 3rd and the 5th, C – E♭ – G♭. How to harmonize a melody in 3rds and 6ths, move through a progression with triads, and what to aim for when you jam. Then see it all on your own instrument.

1–7
Every chord in a key, with its job, its notes and where it wants to go.
60+ progressions
In any key, with every mode heard as the progression that makes it sound like itself.
Triads
Any progression as smooth triads on any three strings of a guitar, mandolin, ukulele or banjo.
Reading
Reading rhythms (counted and played), tab, chord charts, song form and Nashville numbers.
Brass and woodwinds
Fingering charts from trumpet to bassoon. Tap any note to hear it.
The guitar Chord Finder for C major, with the open shape and four movable shapes (A, G, E and D positions) at the 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th frets.
Reading Rhythms, showing dotted notes, syncopation and triplets on a staff. Each has its count written underneath and a Play button.

Also included

All of it is in the same purchase.

  • The metronome at 100 BPM in 4/4, subdivided into 8ths, with a Tap Tempo button and a play button.

    Metronome

    Subdivisions, an accent on any beat, and odd meters grouped the way they're felt, like 7/8 as 2+2+3. There's a speed trainer and a gap click, and it keeps time with the screen locked.

  • The Key/Chord Finder showing C major and a C chord, with an eight-bar chart at 96 BPM in 4/4: G, Am, F, C, G, Am, F, C.

    Key/Chord Finder Beta

    Play, or play a song through your phone's speaker. It names the key and chord and charts them bar by bar.

  • The Practice Loop on a take called "Riff in A". The loop is set from 0:04.8 to 0:14.4 on the waveform, playing at 75% speed in its original key.

    Recorder & Looper

    Record with a count-in, then layer loops, undo or mute a layer, and save the mix.

  • Practice Loop

    Import a song from Files, loop the hard part, and slow it down to as little as 25% without changing its pitch.

  • Ear Training

    Intervals, chord qualities and the chords of a key, by ear.

  • Songs

    Sketch a song as a progression with a key, tempo, lyrics and notes, then hand it to the band.

Who it's for

  • Working guitarists

    Every tuning you play in, drop D to DADGAD to 7-string, with capo mode and a strobe. It's steady in a loud room and needs no signal.

  • Beginners and players coming back

    Open the Practice tab and start Lesson 1. Each day there's something to play next, and a tempo that grows with you.

  • Folk and old-time players

    Guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and uke in one app, in open G, Double C, Sawmill and cross tunings, with a Clawhammer & Old-Time unit.

  • Band and orchestra students

    Viola, cello, double bass, and wind presets that show your written note. There are fingering charts, a metronome that counts 7/8, and rhythms you can hear.

  • Teachers

    One app to recommend to every student, whatever they play. It has no account, no ads and nothing for a parent to approve, and courses for nine instruments give practice a shape.

Questions before you buy

$4.99 for a tuner?

It's a tuner, a metronome, lessons for nine instruments, a backing band and a theory reference. You pay $4.99 once, there's nothing left to unlock, and updates come through the App Store at no charge.

Is the tuner accurate?

It reads in cents, steadies the needle between readings, and has a strobe for the finest tuning. Raise the mic sensitivity for quiet instruments, and set A4 anywhere from 430 to 450 Hz.

Is it too much for one app?

Open it and it's a tuner. Tuner, Metronome and Practice are the three tabs you use every day. Everything else waits in the menu, and nothing pops up.

Does it need the internet, or my data?

No. Tonic never connects to the internet, has no account and collects nothing.

The Backing Band says Beta. Is it finished?

The feels, the mix, your progressions and saved bands are all complete. It's labeled beta because following live playing through a phone mic depends on the room and the instrument. It's included in the price, and headphones help.

Read all the questions