PracticeMap: Practice by Ear

Slow a song to half speed and the pitch stays put. Split it wherever you like and loop the phrases you can't play yet. Requires an Apple Music subscription.

[An active (paid) Apple Music subscription is required to play any music.]

PracticeMap is a player for people practicing an instrument and for anyone learning songs by ear. It works with the Apple Music you already have - no file prep, no importing - and lets you loop the phrases you can't play yet as many times as you need.

■ Slow it to half speed, and the pitch stays put Play back anywhere from 50% to 125%. Nothing sags a semitone, so the note you hear is the note you play. Work through fast passages one note at a time, still in the original key.

■ The song becomes a map Every song is laid out across ten rows, whatever its length, so you always know where you are.

■ One tap to split Tap "+" and a marker drops at the current position. No naming, no dialogs. The stretch between two markers becomes a practice unit, and you can loop just that.

■ Leave yourself notes "The chord changes here." "Different fingering from here." Attach a note to any marker. It stays on screen while you play, so you can read it without stopping.

■ Speed Trainer Set a number of laps, and the playback speed steps up automatically each time you hit it. Start slow and creep up to the original tempo.

■ Your practice adds up Time spent playing and the number of loops are recorded automatically. Today's total is waiting on the home screen.

■ Find the tempo Tap along with the song for four beats or more and PracticeMap works out its BPM.

■ Pick up where you left off Markers, playback position, and speed are saved per song, automatically. Open it tomorrow and carry straight on.

WHAT YOU CAN PRACTICE WITH

• Songs from the Apple Music catalog
• Songs already in your Apple Music library, including your own MP3s and CD rips that you imported in the Music app and synced through iCloud Music Library

WHAT ISN'T SUPPORTED

• Reading files directly from your device (MP3s sitting in the Files app)
• Songs from other streaming services

PLEASE NOTE

• This app works with Apple Music only. An active (paid) Apple Music subscription is required; without one, no songs will play.
• All playback happens through Apple Music. The app never downloads, copies, or exports audio.
• Requires an iPhone running iOS 17 or later.
• No ads. No usage data is collected. Everything you record stays on your device.

PRICING

• Free for up to three songs. No feature is held back - markers, looping, speed control, Speed Trainer, practice records, and tempo detection all work from the start.
• From the fourth song onward, a one-time in-app purchase removes the song limit. It is a single payment, not a subscription.
• This is separate from your Apple Music subscription. Buying it does not give you access to Apple Music.

One day the phrase you've been chasing simply falls under your fingers. May the patient repetition that leads up to it be a little more enjoyable. Here's to a richer musical life for all of us.