iReal Pro App Reviews

The application is good and serves its purpose well, but with one exception --- if you enter 3, or 4 chords per bar, they overlap and become unreadable both in the application, and print version. I think this needs to be fixed. Otherwise, I give this app a solid thumbs up.

I purchased this app for my iPhone on the advice of my son a couple of years ago. I practiced with it for several months, and then began to use the app as my "backup group" for performances in local shopping centers and busking. Im absolutely amazed at what this little app can do. Without it, it would be impossible to perform the Classic Pop, Jazz and Blues that I do on my tenor sax without having to rely on a keyboardist, guitarist, bassist and drummer. It is completely portable and always ready with no excuses or missed gigs. My repertoire consists almost entirely of songs that I downloaded directly from the iReal b forum and edited on my iPhone. I downloaded more than 1400 songs, 400 of which I perform regularly, and about another 100 or so that I use on occasion. I recently purchased the app for my Mac, and it has made editing so much easier and allows me to make changes, test, and save the edited songs in a fraction of the time that it used to take on my iPhone. During my performances, I set up two linked speakers, connect my wireless sax microphone, and mount my iPhone directly onto one of the speakers, and I can literally play for hours. Last Friday I played for 7 hours straight and Saturday I played for another 8 hours straight. On each of those days I did not repeat any song, I have gotten many compliments and requests to play at weddings and parties, and I have made more money each day that I play than I ever did on any day at any job I worked, and Im doing what I truly love to do. The iReal b app makes everything possible. I cannot say enough about this app. It is the very best investment (along with my sax) that I have ever made as a musician. Tim Lillard (PrimeSax in the iReal b forums)

I wish you could enter numbers, or be able to flip from a chart view to a numbers view. Some songs only need a quick number chart on a blank piece of paper. Makes bandstand transposition easier once the chart is printed, or imbedded in another app - (Set List Maker).

It is indeed a great app and very easy to use. The forums offer a unique way to share material and learn from what peers are doing. It would be great to improve the layout to allow multiple chords in a bar without overlapping. It could ideally be a tool to print chord sequences.

Been running this app through an Alessis IO iPad dock into mixing board/amp at gigs. Have it on my iPhone, too. This app allows us to create our songs & sets for performing and practice. As I get better at writing with it, I can create original intros/outros, compositions, arrangements. One glitch: it has a problem restoring my in app purchases to the Macintosh app. Please fix!

Ive been using this app for quite some time. LOL! I cant seem to perform a gig without it now. For many years, Ive relied soley on using the chord method while playing until recently I gave the Nashville Number System a try. Well, long story short…this app EASILY converts ALL of my songs into the number system!!!! Seriously, I dont play a gig without iReal Pro! Oh yeah…nice upgrade too! Thanks for making the interface more user-friendly! You guys rock!!!!!

I’ve been using iReal since it was originally released on iphone/ipod and it’s continuously improved. When I saw it was released for Mac I had to hop on it. You see, I had purchased Band In A Box only a few years ago (for Windows) and was hoping to install the Mac version of the same version I had purchased (you know, how all other software companies give you both PC and Mac versions when you purchase their product) but they would only allow me the Mac version if I repurchased it. That was enough for me to never want anything to do with them again. Along comes iReal and here it is… the Band in a box killer for a fraction of the price. Plus, it’s more intuitive and has a modern look and interface. The forums are amazing too, and sharing charts is easy and fast. Once the “jam track” feature was added it gained a ton of value. I would encourage the developer to go all out with it. Add better instruments/sounds, or even copy the “real track” feature from BiB. Maybe even improve the midi features to add more “humanazing” feels, and improve the walking bass algorhythm. I’d gladly pay for those type of add ons. As I said, it’s a great app and keeps getting better. I hope the developer sees the potential here to be the real band in a box killer.

This program is a great practice tool. If you have ever use a program called "Band in a box" this is similar. Its not the greatest "band in a box" but it gets the job done. Its a great value.

I can’t say enought about how great this app is. This is such a well thought out and exucuted teaching and practicing tool! It’s so easy and so much fun to use and learn from and the developers are top notch as is their customer service. If I could I would give iReal Pro more than 5 stars…Great App!

I was having trouble downloading songs to this app. The iReal Pro people couldnt have been more helpful including telling me what to Trash, along w/Terminal command and a new download, all unnecessary in the end but greatly appreciated. They told me to try a Guest Account login and it worked there on the other account. I was having some other hard drive issues and initialized my HD and reinstalled iReal Pro and it works like a champ! They could allow you to change speed as a song plays, but you have to stop and re-start for the change to take effect. The excellent support brought a 4 to 4 1/2 to a 5 star review.

I love this app. It’s to practice with the programmed songs and styles to have an accompaniment any time you want to practice. I also use it to memorize my band’s songs. I put in the chords and all and I can work on our tunes any time. It’s quick and easy to program. I also recommend the optional upgrades.

This has become a very valuable songwriting tool for me. Sharing charts with the members of my band is a lot more seamless, and we can all practice our parts by ourselves before rehearsal. Best of all, the MIDI files it generates when using the “Share” tool drop right into Logic Pro X, and it automatically assigns the correct instruments to each track, so if you really need more than GM instruments, and want to humanize the accompaniment, and record your noodling, this is a fantastic companion for that. Seriously, this is one of the most useful apps that has come out for performing and gigging musicians in a long time. *Update* I also checked to see if it works in Garageband - IT DOES! You have to drag and drop the midi file into the main window.

An amazing teaching tool…I think the best on any iOS or Mac platform hands down…. excellent practice for musicians, of all levels…work on standard, progressions I VI II V altered chords and use auto transpose for working in all keys …. see scale suggestions for chords…. select a difficult seciton or bridge and loop it... with consistent practice it gets better real fast…the results speak for themselves…the brest investment I ever made bought it for Mac and iOS!!!!!! Thank You Massimo and iReal Pro!!!!!!!!!

i cannot upload playlists from the forums. so disappointed i just wasted $20!!!!

As a jazz hobbyist, this app has been a godsend. Easy to use, easy to edit chord changes, easy to enter new songs. It has quickly become something I could not live without. Amazing practice tool.

It was the best and only thing like it before, and it is now. Thanks for the update, keep it up!! This app is still the most compelling reason to have an iPad.

iReal Pro is one of the best valued music apps available from the App Store. It is essentially “Band In A Box” for less than 15% its cost. I’m using it as an analysis tool by improvising different mode scales over various jazz chords and determining which particular mode fits best with the chord progression being played in the iReal Pro App. It’s also works well for improving or learning new rhythm styles, progression recognition, and for those of us that don’t have the ability to here a composition in our heads, it gives you that ability by allowing you to program different music theory concepts into the app and then listen to how they interact during playback. There is also a forum provided that has several thousand songs available, in different genres for free download. I was also surprised when I needed support, because usually for me, getting competent or sometimes any support is a rare occurrence, so when the support department quickly replied to my issue, found the problem and then quickly fixed it, I must say that I was pretty impressed.

After not being able to get a simple function to work, I emailed iRealPro support. I got quick response, and was not scolded for being stupid, which I was. This app is incredibly useful for teaching, learning and rehearsal. Wish I would have gotten it sooner.

The program is okay once you figure it out, but it’s far from intuitive. Also, it wasn’t clear to me before beginning that it’s substantially dependent on input from other users. For this particular musician, there are better applications.

I really like the ability to edit on my laptop and then quickly share charts with rest of band via email or Dropbox. Tech support from Technimo is super too.