TabToolkit Receives Update and Opens the Tab Store

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My iPhone has become an invaluable tool while playing the guitar. Two apps pretty much cover everything I need, and both are developed by Agile Partners. GuitarToolkit takes care of tuning, chords and scales and TabToolkit keeps all of my tabs in order.

As a hobby guitarist, I love to collect all of my favorite song tabs in one place. When playing on the deck with friends, it is best to have the chords and words to look at. TabToolkit has been my go-to app for both my phone and iPad to keep everything with me at all times.

When the folks at Agile Partners release a major update, it always brings some new, fantastic features, and it was time for TabToolkit to get an overhaul. The new version includes retina support and the Tab Store, which provides an in-app store to buy licensed versions of songs with full score transcripts. The app not only is a place to store music, but it provides a method to practice and perfect those songs. In celebration, the app is now free for a limited time.

Here is more from Agile Partners.

TabToolkit 2.0 New Features:

  • iPad Retina support
  • Tab Store offering full-score, multi-track music notation for 500 popular songs with many more in the pipeline
  • A/B looping, to allow a specific section of a song to be practiced
  • Rhythm notation – this adds timing information to the standard guitar tablature notation view
  • Enhanced support for keyboard/pianists (left and right hand tracks shown together)
  • Enhanced support for drummers (new visual drum guide)
  • Easy-to-use volume mixer
  • Improved instrument audio based on all new samples
  • Vocal engine based on actual male and female voice samples
  • Improved metronome sounds for a total of 27 pairs of samples

The Tab Store: Open for Business!

TabToolkit now includes a Tab Store right inside the app, with instant access to hundreds of officially licensed, full-score transcriptions with complete notation for each guitar, bass, drum, and keyboard part, as well as vocal tracks with lyrics. The Tab Store includes hundreds of popular songs in a wide range of genres and more songs will be added weekly. Here are just a few examples of the many officially-licensed songs in the Tab Store: “Limelight” by Rush, KoRn’s “Freak on a Leash,” “Smoke on the Water” from Deep Purple, and The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.” Each song is available as an affordable in-app purchase for only US$0.99.

A Better Way to Learn Your Favorite Songs

Thanks to A/B looping (new in 2.0), tempo control, full-score music notation with all instruments, and real-time instrument guides, TabToolkit makes learning a snap. You can easily select the part you want to learn, slow it down, and loop it with individual control of each instrument’s audio. On guitar, bass, keyboard, and (new in 2.0) drum tracks, handy instrument guides show where to put your fingers, or which drums to hit. There’s no better way to accelerate your learning or have a fun jam-along session!

Drummers will appreciate the fact that all Tab Store and most Guitar Pro / Power Tab songs include drum parts that are not normally part of traditional sheet music. Drummers also get their own interactive drum guide, which visualizes drum hits synchronized with the drum track of any song (new in 2.0).

The new TabToolkit just went from a cool music application to one that all aspiring rockers must have. Not only can the tabs be stored in one place, but full music scores with A/B looping and the ability to play along with midi accompaniment is now in one app. Check out more here on the Agile Partners website and download the app here via the app store.

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About the Author

Travis Ehrlich
Travis is a high school teacher and coach in a small South Texas town. His love for gadgets began at a very early age, and he has been a cross between a jock and a geek for most of his life. He has two boys and a wonderful wife who lets him be a gadget freak. He is a Mac convert and has drank the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid! He is also an avid guitar player and loves the outdoors, especially hunting with both a bow and rifle.