ScaleBlitzer makes playing scales and arpeggios fun and exciting. Instead of just playing them over and over in the same old way, ScaleBlitzer asks you to practice them with all different methods e.g. ‘descending only’ or ‘loud and fast’. By applying a huge variety of practice methods to your scales, you’ll never get bored PLUS it improves your technique enormously!

The other thing that ScaleBlitzer does is make you THINK when you practice, making you really aware of what you are playing, rather than just being on ‘automatic pilot’. Active listening and thinking while practising ensures that when you go to perform, it’s just as good as it was in the practice room.

An iPad search defaults to iPad only apps. Whilst ScaleBlitzer works on iPad, it was originally written for iPhone. Therefore, when you search for ScaleBlitzer on your iPad it will come up with ‘no results’ until you select the ‘iPhone apps’ tab at the top.

The ScaleBlitzer app enables you to set up your user account, your character, and your position on the leaderboard. Once this is done, you’ll need an instrument pack to work with. Think of this as your workbook for the level you are up to. Stage 1 is free (for any instrument) and covers Preliminary to Grade 1 in most syllabuses. The higher Stages are far more complex and have tens of thousands of possible combinations for practice.

No. Your music teacher does that. ScaleBlitzer simply makes it fun to practice and revise them!

ScaleBlitzer will certainly help you prepare because you’ll just want to keep on practising! But it’s your teacher who will tell you exactly what you need to know for any music exam.

You tell ScaleBlitzer what to test you on by entering tasks in the homework screen.

Your teacher will tell you how many octaves he/she wants you to play. Some scales may be different from others, so ScaleBlitzer does not tie you down when it comes to the number of octaves.

You can ignore it and just play the scale any way you like. Maybe show it to your teacher next lesson and ask for help. Remember, this is all about self-rating.

All of the practice methods involving rhythms and accents display a sound icon. Tapping this gives you a demonstration of how that rhythm/accent sounds. Occasionally there are other practice methods that also have a sound icon, helping you to understand exactly what to do.

ScaleBlitzer chooses tasks at random but also has a complicated weighting system that remembers which tasks you’ve done well and those you’re having trouble with. You won’t often get the same task twice in a row, but if you don’t have many tasks entered for homework then each one will certainly come up more often.

The easiest thing to do in this situation is to create a new user account. However, if you have accumulated points on the leaderboard and want to continue with your current username, you can email it to us through the ‘contact us’ page and we can retrieve your password for you.

Tap the ‘quaver’ icon on the main menu page to see which instrument packs you have loaded. If you purchased a pack but it does not appear, it could be that your Wi-Fi connection was weak at the time of downloading. Try downloading again (you will not be charged twice, even though it says to tap ‘buy’) when you have a strong connection. You could also try closing and re-opening the app.

If you purchased a pack but it does not appear, it could be that your Wi-Fi connection was weak at the time of downloading. Try downloading again (you will not be charged twice, even though it says to tap ‘buy’) when you have a strong connection. You could also try closing and re-opening the app.

Entering your username twice means you are very unlikely to accidentally misspell it. Once you have created your username you can’t change it, and your username will appear on the ScaleBlitzer Leaderboard on the ScaleBlitzer website.

Logging in ensures that no-one else can practice with ScaleBlitzer under your username and account. There will be plenty of brothers and sisters who may be tempted to muck up each other’s stats!

Yes, but they will need separate user accounts. You can add as many users as you like and each user will need to buy their own Instrument Pack.

By logging in with your username and password each time you use ScaleBlitzer. Make sure you don’t turn on the ‘automatically login’ feature.

No. Your points are tied to your username, not your character. In this way you can change character whenever you like and not have to worry about losing any points.

Very easily – just go to the ‘edit details’ screen in Character Options.

ScaleBlitzer’s new ‘Device Transfer’ feature allows you to switch devices without having to start again. You retain your user name, character, wardrobe and all of your points. The only catch is that the instrument packs you’re using are not transferable – you will need to download them again on your new device (and you won’t have to pay for this if it’s the same AppleID). So although you will lose your practice statistics and homework history, you won’t lose your place on the ScaleBlitzer leaderboard!

To transfer your character and points to another device, select the ‘Transfer Character’ button in the Character Options screen. You’ll get a message warning you that your character is about to be transferred (it goes up into the cloud). Once you say ok, you simply log in on any other device that has ScaleBlitzer. You can also bring your character back to the original device! (If you do this you’ll come back to all your packs and practice stats.)

Tap the ‘quaver’ icon on the main menu page to see which instrument packs you have loaded. If you purchased a pack but it does not appear, it could be that your Wi-Fi connection was weak at the time of downloading. Try downloading again (you will not be charged twice, even though it says to tap ‘buy’) when you have a strong connection. You could also try closing and re-opening the app.

If you purchased a pack but it does not appear, it could be that your Wi-Fi connection was weak at the time of downloading. Try downloading again (you will not be charged twice, even though it says to tap ‘buy’) when you have a strong connection. You could also try closing and re-opening the app.

The ScaleBlitzer app enables you to set up your user account, your character, and your position on the leaderboard. Once this is done, you’ll need an instrument pack to work with. Think of this as your workbook for the level you are up to. Stage 1 is free (for any instrument) and covers Preliminary to Grade 1 in most syllabuses. The higher Stages are far more complex and have tens of thousands of possible combinations for practice.

No. Once you have purchased a pack with your AppleID, it is available to any user on any device associated with that AppleID.

Packs aren’t really shared because they store all of the statistics for the user. However, each new user can download a fresh version of the same pack, as long as it has been purchased once.

No. ScaleBlitzer caters for everyone, whether you are doing exams or not. As a guide, the five Stages are suited to these approximate levels:
1. Stage 1 – Elementary/Preliminary – Grade 1 approx.
2. Stage 2 – Early intermediate/Grades 2-3 approx.
3. Stage 3 – Intermediate/Grades 4-5 approx.
4. Stage 4 – Late intermediate or early advanced/Grades 6-7 approx.
5. Stage 5 – Advanced/Grade 8 + approx.

Since Stage 2 caters for students at around Grade 2-3 standard, it would probably be best to buy Stage 2. However, if you’re near the end of Grade 3 and just about to graduate to Grade 4, Stage 3 would be a better purchase.

It’s always good to discuss these things with your teacher but it would probably be best to buy Stage 4.

Yes. If you have already purchased another pack for your second instrument, all you need to do is tell ScaleBlitzer which instrument you’re practising that day. Go to ‘My Instrument Packs’ (quaver icon) and tap on the correct pack.

You tell ScaleBlitzer what to test you on by entering tasks in the homework screen.

If you take your device to your lesson, your teacher can enter your homework straight into the homework screen. Currently there’s no way for your teacher to set your homework remotely.

Go to Practice Studio and do a few practice sessions there, where you’ll be tested only on the 16 items on the current list. Once you’re feeling confident with those, you can go back to the homework screen and any or all of those tasks with new ones. You won’t see the old ones in Practice Studio anymore, but you’ll still be tested on them in Go on Tour.

As soon as you enter a task in the homework screen, Go on Tour remembers it to test to you later, even if you delete it immediately. We’re currently working on an ‘edit all homework’ feature so you can permanently delete any mistakes, but for now if you get a task you don’t want, just rate it ‘Awesome Playing’ and move on. Go on Tour will think you know it really well and it’s less likely to come up again.

It may be you’ve purchased a pack that’s too easy for you. You might need to upgrade to the next level.
If you are having trouble finding the tasks you need in the category of minor scales, remember that you need to enter whether it’s harmonic minor, melodic minor or natural minor. If you select only ‘minor’, the only options you’ll get are broken chords and arpeggios.

Most of the time you’ll have a pretty good idea of how you went. If you don’t get it perfect the first time, keep trying until you do. This is when you might rate yourself ‘Got it Eventually’ or ‘Could be better’. If you really can’t get it, you might press ‘Having Trouble’ or ‘Booed off Stage’.

ScaleBlitzer will remember this and will test you on that task more often.

Not through ScaleBlitzer. But when you go to your next lesson, your teacher will most likely ask to hear the scales you’ve been practising and will know which ones to help you with!

There is a complicated scoring system behind the scenes! Basically, you get points for every task, but you get more points for trying more difficult modes. For example, a warm-up task does not carry as much weight as a thrill-seeker task.

Yes. You get points for every scale you play. It’s important to be honest when you rate yourself because ScaleBlitzer remembers which tasks you’re having trouble with and tests you on those more.

The new ‘Device Transfer’ feature in v.1.2 allows you to do this. You retain your user name, character, wardrobe and all of your points. The only catch is that the instrument packs you’re using are not transferable – you will need to download them again on your new device (and you won’t have to pay for this if it’s the same AppleID). So although you will lose your practice statistics and homework history, you won’t lose your place on the ScaleBlitzer leaderboard!

To transfer your character and points to another device, select the ‘Transfer Character’ button in the Character Options screen. You’ll get a message warning you that your character is about to be transferred (it goes up into the cloud). Once you say ok, you simply log in on any other device that has ScaleBlitzer. You can also bring your character back to the original device! (If you do this you’ll come back to all your packs and practice stats.)

The ScaleBlitzer leaderboard is a fantastic resource for students and teachers. You can compare points with your friends, and your teacher can track your progress. Teachers can also track multiple students and set up an intra-studio competition!

Your username and total points will appear automatically on the Leaderboard when you create it, and will update the next time you have an internet connection.

We don’t. ScaleBlitzer relies on the honour system. But the most important thing is that YOU know YOU are not cheating. And your teacher will certainly know you’re not cheating when he/she hears all these wonderful scales!

It’s not your character’s name that appears on the Leaderboard, it’s your username (the one you login with).

To get to the Recording Studio, go to the Practice Studio, select a mode to practice in, then press the microphone icon. You’ll be asked to record the task that was on the previous screen.

ScaleBlitzer encourages you to listen critically to your playing. Recording a task three times is a great performing and self-assessment tool. You’ll be surprised at what you hear!

At the moment the recording feature is specific to the tasks on the screen. You could record something different, but the name of the recording on the ‘achievements’ screen can’t be changed.

Your reward for playing lots of scales in Go on Tour is that you’ll be offered an encore. If you say ‘Yes’ you’ll be taken to the wardrobe.

No. You’ll have just as many options for your new character.