iReal Pro – a great jazz chords app

iReal Pro is an app for iPhone, iPad, Android and OS X that is jam packed full of useful functions for musicians. Not only can you use it to store and view chord progressions, but you can also play them back at any tempo, key and feel. Even more amazingly, you can type in your own chord progressions and play them back too, which means that it’s a brilliant device for composers! The app simulates a real-sounding band, so it’s a great tool for singers who want to practise with a band but don’t have one to hand. One of my favourite functions is iReal Pro’s ability to store playlists, so you can make set lists for gigs, repertoire lists and lists of your favourite tunes and store them all in one place. There is also an inbuilt mixer, so if you want to turn up or down the guitar, piano, bass or drums then you can with easy sliding bars. You can also replace the drums with a click track if you so wish.

iReal Pro is brilliant for jazz musicians who want to go and join in at jams as thousands of tunes are easily downloadable from an online forum completely free. I recommend iReal Pro to anyone who teaches, too, as practising playing along with a band is not only beneficial but is great fun!

Like what you read? This amazing app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play for around £5 – an absolute bargain for what has come to be recognised as one of the very best practise tools around. Why not download it and give it a go?

To download 1300 jazz standards for free, (yes really) click on the “Forums” button, choose “Jazz” and then click on “Jazz 1300 standards”. There should be a link that you can click which downloads all of the tunes instantly! (It’s split into four links for Android).