The best apps for learning to read music, including free music apps for toddlers! These music theory apps for kids are a wonderful addition to a music classroom or for reinforcing music theory at home.
As a piano teacher, I obviously have a soft spot for all things music related.
When I'm teaching my students, I like to ditch the traditional theory worksheets for something more fun like music board games or activities, especially for my youngest beginners. Just recently, I've been supplementing with fun music theory apps for kids as well.
These learning music apps are my personal favorites and cover topics such as note reading, rhythm, ear training, and more! They are ones that I personally use with my piano students as well. They are some of the best apps for learning to read music.
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Best Music Theory Apps for Kids
1. Rhythm Cat Pro HD - Learn To Read Music
In this app, you have to tap along with the rhythm of the song shown. There are songs of various tempos, which make the game challenging at points. A great app for my piano students! Bundle up and save with all three of these music cat games!
A great app for working on naming notes in the treble clef. Bundle up and save with all three of these music cat games!
A great app for working on naming notes in the bass clef. Bundle up and save with all three of these music cat games!
4. Noteworks
What I really like about this app, especially as a piano teacher, is that I can set up accounts for each of my students and it keeps track of their progress. You can also customize each game's speed, prompting, and how the kids answer (by pressing the correct key on the piano keyboard, naming the correct letter, or using Do Re Mi). It's a nice little note naming game, but I think it is better suited to non-beginners because the notes go quite quickly, even on the so-called slow speed.
What I really like about this app, especially as a piano teacher, is that I can set up accounts for each of my students and it keeps track of their progress. You can also customize each game's speed, prompting, and how the kids answer (by pressing the correct key on the piano keyboard, naming the correct letter, or using Do Re Mi). It's a nice little note naming game, but I think it is better suited to non-beginners because the notes go quite quickly, even on the so-called slow speed.
Such a cute game for working on naming notes in the bass and treble clefs. Bundle up and save with the notes and rhythm bundle!
This game encourages kids to tap the correct rhythm. It also includes brief instructional videos. Bundle up and save with the notes and rhythm bundle!
A silly ear training game for smaller kids. The blob monsters each sing a note and you have to match the notes that sound the same. My kids find this game hilarious!
This app looks a bit clunky at first, but it's a really great app for working on ear training and intervals with my piano students. It would also be a great app for kids to practice their ear training at home when in between lessons.
First of all, this app has some insanely catchy music! It will seriously get stuck in your head. There's two modes to play: practice and arcade. There's also various levels of difficulty for targeting note names, symbols, terms, key signatures, and intervals.
This app has three modes: lessons, songs, and free play. The lesson progress from individual keys on the piano to accidentals (sharps and flats), and eventually to scales and arpeggios. After each lesson, the kids can play a song based on what they learned in the lesson
This app is a great music appreciation app for kids, especially if they are interested in learning about music history. Kids can listen to, and follow along with the scores, music written by famous composers such as Bach, Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven.
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