Support is available by pressing the CONTACT button at the top of this page or by sending an email with comments, questions and issues to [email protected].

Before sending an email we recommend you first review the following information about the Fretboard Practice app and iOS Voice Control.

Application Help

Fretboard Practice is an iOS application to help the user learn the location of each note on the instrument’s fretboard. Think of it as a (1) automated deck of flashcards with each card showing a different note and string to play, and (2) audio system to display what note was played. Current capabilities are for a six-string acoustic or electric guitar with open strings tuned to E, A, D, G, B, E.

iOS Settings Required for Full Functionality of Fretboard Practice:

(1) Allow microphone usage — for sound capture to determine frequency and what note has been played
(a) When Fretboard Practice is used the first time after installing and the User touches any of the buttons, a dialog will appear saying “Fretboard Practice Would Like to Access the Microphone…”.
(b) If the User gives approval the application can detect notes being played.
(c) If the User declines approval, all is not lost… Microphone usage still can be granted by going to iOS Settings > Fretboard Practice and turning the Microphone “On” using the toggle switch.

(2) Enable Voice Control — see separate Help Text for Voice Control details

Three sections to Fretboard Practice:

(1) Note to Play on the bottom half of the screen shows the note to play on a particular string.
(a) Picker control allows the user to choose what strings of notes are in the note card deck… All Strings and individual strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
(b) Next button advances the displayed note to the next card in the deck.
(c) Back button does the opposite.
(d) Text in a small rectangle at the bottom of the screen displays what options are selected in the Drop Down Menu

(2) Audio Recorder on the top half of the screen shows the note being played based on the frequency picked up by the microphone.
(a) Start/Stop button starts and stops the audio recording and note display. This is a single button that toggles between Start and Stop.

(3) Settings and Help dialog window (accessed by pressing hamburger icon in upper right corner of app) has options that control the Note to Play plus Help buttons:
(a) Natural Notes Only (no # or ♭) — this toggle button restricts the displayed note to natural notes only (i.e. only A, B, C, D, E, F, and G… no sharps or flats).
(b) Do Not Shuffle Notes — when selected the notes to play appear in order starting with the open string rather than randomly shuffled
(c) Repeat Notes — instead of stopping at the last note in the sequence of notes (shuffled or not shuffled), the note to play cycles back to the beginning. This should be particularly useful when practicing a single string where the number of notes to play is limited
(d) Show Fret to Play — when selected the fret to play is shown in the Note to Play rectangle
(e) Application Help
(f) Voice Control Help
(g) Enharmonics Help

Using Fretboard Practice is straight forward:

(1) User selects Picker control to choose which strings of notes are in the note card deck.

(2) User selects Note to Play options to enable/disable in Settings and Help dialog window.

(3) Note Card displays a note to be played on a particular string.

(4) User plays a note on the fretboard.

(5) Audio Recorder displays what note has been played.

(6) Audio Recorder is highlighted in blue if the Audio note is the same as the Note Card note, i.e. whether the user successfully played the correct note.

(7) User then says “Click Next” (or just “Next” if you have made the Settings change discussed in Voice Control Help) to advance to the next note to be played.

Voice Control Help

Voice Control is a feature of Apple devices that allows the user to verbally “click” the application’s buttons. With Fretboard Practice the guitarist can keep both hands on the guitar and “click” the Start/Stop, Next and Back buttons by simply saying “Click [name on button]”. For example, “Click Next” will advance the displayed Note Card to the next card in the deck.

(1) Turning Voice Control on and off — simply go to iOS Settings > Accessibility and turn Voice Control “On” using the toggle switch. If you have Siri enabled you can simply say “Hey Siri, turn on Voice Control.” Similarly you can turn it off by saying “Hey Siri, turn off Voice Control.”

(2) Voice Control Settings Adjustment — It is also recommended that the user make a change in Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control > Customize Commands > Basic Navigation. There you will find a list item named “<item name>”. If you change the default setting from Off to On, you will be able to activate the Fretboard Practice buttons by just saying the button name (for example, “Next” or “Back”). This eliminates the need to say “click Next” or “click Back” which appears to improve Voice Control performance.

(3) Voice Control Effect on Other Apps — Be aware that turning on Voice Control enables it with all apps on your iOS device. For example, when Messages is open the words you speak will appear in the Message text field. If you don’t want Voice Control to have this effect you should turn it off when not using Fretboard Practice. It is easy to turn Voice Control on and off using Siri as mentioned in #1 above.