EarWizard
By Wizdom Music

EarWizard releases July 11 2013

Wizdom Music has been designing music apps for iOS a long while now. Jordan Rudess is one of the more recognizable names in music to start with and even more so among those who enjoy iOS as a creative option. We are used to seeing innovative music apps we can use as instruments or controllers from the Wizdom Music team.
EarWizard is something different and, at least speaking for myself, unexpected.

EarWizard is a fun learning tool that helps one become familiar with scales & keys using a take on “Simon”. This makes the presentation of EarWizard as a game of sorts immediately understandable. It is familiar and fun while being educational at the same time.

I don’t think I need to describe how “Simon” works, but I will describe how EarWizard puts its own spin on things. The concept is simple: you can change the key and game speed from the settings or begin with a tutorial.
You start off in a particular scale and key. Then select a level. Instead of boring sequences of increasingly complicated tones that must be repeated perfectly, there are windows displaying a short video of Jordan playing a chord. Starting off slowly and then progressing to a more complex series of chords to repeat. Easy enough.
Each correct interaction is followed by a pleasant audible indication. Make a mistake and you’ll hear about it with out of tune chords. A clear indication an error has been made.

As you play through it becomes more and more challenging. I found that along the way I had been learning to recognize keys. Such is the benefit of this game.
What really kept my attention other than just trying to concentrate on recognizing each key, was the videos of Jordan. He makes different facial expressions for each video where he strikes a chord on a piano. They range from benign to hilarious. I found myself a little distracted at times because I ended up laughing at the expressions he would make. I mean this as a compliment. It kept me interested and always looking forward to seeing what he would do next.
I really thought that was a great idea, and it works for me. You really gotta just see it for yourself.

EarWizard is a fun way to either develop or exercise an existing skill and have some fun while at it.

EarWizard was tested on iPad 3 & 4

Additional Screen Shots