Chordify: Songs, Chords, Tuner

This is the worst app I’ve used for guitar chords in terms of trying to nickel and dime the user. Constant popups and other asks for a premium subscription while very poorly communicating the advantages of paying. Other reviews indicate there are vocal coaching, songwriting, and other beneficial features in this app beyond the basic functionality of giving you chords for songs. For me, I was linked to this app after repeatedly googling for the chords to a song that I had mostly figured out but felt one section I must have been playing incorrectly but couldn’t work out what the error was (I have over 20 years experience playing guitar). The links to the chords for this one (admittedly kind of obscure) song all pointed to downloading this app. For my narrower purposes the app has largely failed in most applications. Every song I look up (several of which I know *very* well just to test the app’s library) is close to , but not quite, correct. Turns out one of the features the devs are quite proud of is the software auto-detecting chords for music it can find online. The problem is this software is (again, in my limited testing) very often if not always wrong to a technical but more often even more importantly very *noticeable* degree. But the app does a terrible job communicating that this feature was used to get the progression being shown—that no human musician has vetted the outcome in any way. So I fear that newer musicians will assume the info provided is correct when it’s better used as a best guess for experienced musicians that can work through the noise. Two stars for the features other reviewers seem to appreciate that I can’t even find.

I’ve been using Chordify for quite a few years now. It’s an excellent program and friendly for beginner musicians. However recently i’ve noticed some changes to their website and app that constantly urges me to get premium. i understand the push, the company might be getting less popular and people are cancelling subscriptions as covid is calming down and people spend less time at home practicing their hobbies. but why am i only allowed to practice three songs a day? why did all of my history and liked songs get deleted? the pop ups are manageable and i’m sure this is a wonderful platform that are willing to spend money, but i no longer consider this a free tool. beginners aren’t as willing to pay for a program for their hobby as more advanced musicians, and this program is at its base not meant for more intricate songs. i have refined many, many chords for songs on this app and website and i’m sad to stop using it. but it’s unmanageable for me. i practice music to relax and get my mind off the real world. being constantly reminded of winter deals and limiting how much i can use the program just because i don’t use it enough to feel the desire to pay for it is beyond annoying. if your company needs more revenue, maybe implement some ads before videos, not berating your customers to the point of which they feel the need to pay to continue using it. implementing ads is not only a more stable flow of income, but also will be less likely to deter users from the platform.

I learned to play piano using this app. I have learned 150+ songs in the 3 years or so I’ve been using this app. It’s a great way to give yourself small, achievable goals and learn to play an instrument one song at a time. Each new song will likely add a few new chords and after learning about 30-40 songs I had encountered every major and minor chord and become comfortable with them. Now, after 150+ songs, I have picked up a lot of music theory as well and been able to apply those tools to my own songwriting. I will note that this is not always accurate. It’s actually not too uncommon to encounter the wrong chords being given. But since you are playing along with the actual track, it is pretty easy to notice the spots where the chords are wrong. This can be a negative, however I feel that these occasional errors have helped improve playing by ear. The chords are usually right enough to orient you in a key, and if a chord here and there is wrong, you can figure out what’s needed by ear. Overall, great app! I’m sure I wouldn’t be at the level I’m at on piano without it!