This is a short blog to explain why such a great app ended up being obsolete.

A tiny bit of background to start:

In October 2012, after extensive writing, testing, developing, piloting and adjusting, and a HUGE monetary investment, Apple finally approved our ScaleBlitzer app – a tool for students to use to practice and perfect their scales.

We – being myself, my husband Andrew and my wonderful co-author Abe Cytrynowski – were SO excited, because in our minds this app was a game-changer. It was going to revolutionise the way students approached their scale practice.

The app didn’t replace teaching, and it didn’t actually teach any scales at all. It only TESTED scales and encouraged students to self-assess at every point. And let’s face it, self-assessment is the point of all music practice, at all times!

Anyway, soon after the 2012 release, Apple released iOS7 (yes, that’s how long ago this was!). There were bugs. We had to pay the developers to fix the bugs. This cost LOTS of money, but we of course could not increase the cost of the app (which most people complained wasn’t free).

Then, over the years 2013 – 2016, more iOS versions came out. Every new version meant more bugs to fix. We couldn’t not fix them, because then people would be annoyed. And there was no way of keeping it to a certain iOS version. So we spent lots and lots of money… and meanwhile, everyone
loved the app but still complained about having to pay for it.

Eventually, we had to stop supporting ScaleBlitzer, as we could simply no longer afford to keep up with the constantly evolving iOS. We were so sad to let it go, and MANY teachers have contacted us asking when it will become available again.

So that’s why this site looks as it does. Watch the video to watch how ScaleBlitzer works (and also to see my daughter when she was 13 years old and had not yet shaved her head bald for charity). There are some great worksheets you can purchase which function in mostly the same way – Abe and I worked on these quite a lot, and they are very useful!

If you are reading this and you are also feeling sad about the demise of ScaleBlitzer, please feel free to leave a comment and tell us why, We’d love to know how it worked for you and your students. Please also take the time to fill in the form on the site so that we can notify you if something changes… our dream is to resurrect it one day and include your feedback!