Support
Answers to the questions we get most. If yours isn't here, email Chris and a musician will write back.
Getting started
- Open the Instrument tab. The capsule at the top says which instrument and tuning you're on. Tap it to choose another.
- Play one string. Its pill lights up, the needle swings, and the readout shows how far off you are in cents. Turn the peg until the needle turns teal and stops. That's in tune.
- Switch to the Metronome tab. Tap play. Drag the tempo, or tap TAP a few times to set it. The capsule at the top picks the kit and the groove.
Questions
What is TuneTheory?
A precision tuner and a live metronome for iPhone and iPad. The tuner listens every ten milliseconds and shows pitch to a fraction of a cent. The metronome places every click at an exact audio sample, so it never drifts.
Is it free?
Yes. The free app includes Standard tuning on guitar, bass, and ukulele, the chromatic tuner, 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4, the Classic and Pulse kits, and the Straight groove.
What does TuneTheory Pro include?
Everything else: every instrument and tuning, the retune guide, strobe mode, every kit and groove, the living grooves, 5/4, 6/8, and 7/8, swing, tempo ramps, and presets. Pro content is always visible in the app, with a lock. Nothing is hidden.
Is there a subscription?
No. TuneTheory Pro is one purchase, and it's yours forever.
I bought Pro. How do I get it on a new phone?
Sign in to the same Apple account, then open Settings in the app and tap Restore purchases. The upgrade sheet has the same button. Apple handles the purchase, so nothing else is needed.
What are the string pills, and why did one turn teal?
The pills are the strings of your current tuning. When you play a string, TuneTheory works out which one it is and lights its pill. Teal means that string is in tune.
What is the retune guide?
When you switch from one tuning to another, the retune guide shows which strings change and which way each one goes, up or down, one peg at a time.
What does "What am I tuned to?" do?
Play your open strings, one after another, and TuneTheory names the tuning you're already in. Useful when you pick up a guitar someone else left in an open tuning.
What is a groove?
A groove is a pattern with its own meter and length: Backbeat, Shuffle, Waltz, 6/8 Jig, Bossa Nova, One Drop, Train Beat, or plain Straight. Pick one and the grid fills in. You can still edit any cell afterwards.
What is a living groove?
A groove that changes as you play. Challenge drops beats out so you have to hold the time yourself. Evolve builds over sixteen bars. Surprise rewrites the pattern every four. Turn them off and the groove plays exactly as written.
What is a kit?
The set of sounds the metronome plays. There are eight, from the clean clicks of Classic to the felt kicks and kalimba of Soft Focus. Tap the play button next to a kit to hear it without changing anything.
How do I edit one beat?
Hold a cell in the grid. You can rest it, accent it, or give it a different sound from the kit.
Why did choosing a meter change my groove back to Straight?
Most grooves are written for one meter. Backbeat is 4/4, Waltz is 3/4, the Jig is 6/8. When you choose a meter the groove wasn't written for, the metronome falls back to Straight in the new meter. Choose the groove again and it brings its meter with it.
Why does the metronome stop when I lock the phone?
Right now the metronome runs only while the app is on screen. Background playback is planned.
Can I use it in landscape on iPhone?
Not yet. iPhone is portrait only for now. iPad works in both orientations.
Troubleshooting
The tuner doesn't hear my instrument
- Check the microphone permission: iOS Settings, then TuneTheory, then Microphone.
- Play one string at a time and let it ring. Chords confuse any tuner.
- Low strings take a beat longer to read than high ones. Give the low E a second.
- Move away from fans, traffic, and other players. The tuner picks the loudest steady pitch it hears.
The needle won't settle
- Pluck once and let the note decay, rather than picking repeatedly.
- On an acoustic, mute the other strings with your palm so their overtones don't compete.
- Very old strings can hold two pitches at once. New strings settle faster.
I can't hear the metronome well
- Turn the phone up. The metronome follows the system volume.
- Try the Pulse kit. It cuts through an acoustic instrument better than Classic.
- In the metronome settings, turn the Room setting down for a drier, more direct click.
- Turn on haptic feedback and put the phone on your leg or the body of the instrument.
Pro is unlocked but a feature still shows a lock
Open Settings in the app and tap Restore purchases. If the lock stays, quit the app fully and open it again. If it still shows, email us with the Apple receipt and we'll sort it out.
Contact
Email chris@cagefreemedia.com. Include your device and iOS version if the question is about a bug. We read everything, and most replies go out within a day or two.
For how the app handles your data, which is to say it doesn't, see the privacy policy.
