Top 5 Guitar Apps for Android

If you’ve been a longtime reader here on the site, you’re probably aware of the fact that I’m a bit of a closeted musician. Whenever some MIDI controller or wayward tuner walks across my desk, I’m inordinately excited. It’s always nice to revisit the cold, dark studios from my past. Especially if I can do it from an Android phone without leaving the armchair!

Which brings us to today’s topic du jour: Making the most of your daily shred sessions on the six-stringed guitar. Yup—we’re talking about becoming a righteous axe master.

The musical world isn’t as rife with gold on Android as it is with our iOS cousins. That being said, you’re not without some incredible options. We’ll be detailing our Five Top Guitar Applications for Android here. We’ll bring the apps, and all you need is the string wizardry to go with it!

 

1. gStrings Tuner: Face it—the very first thing you’re going to want to do is tune up that guitar like it’s a newborn.

You could do this by ear, but if you’re not quite Steve Vai enough to do that yet, we’ll help you out.

gStrings Tuner is our favorite option on Android: it features a well-designed, inviting interface, as well as the kind of chromatic accuracy a stage musician craves.

It works when and how you need it to, even providing specific hertz information.

That’s a solid winner to us! Not to mention the free price tag helps you keep even more of that gig money in your pocket.

 

2. Guitar Chords and Tabs: We’ll talk more about tablature in just a moment, but if you’re looking for a chordal reference, you’re going to want to stick with this little gem.

The ability to search for specific songs is nice, as is the option to save them for use later.

However, the real kicker here are those diagrams that pop-up beside chordal arrangements.

Not sure how to fret an F#maj7? Not to worry, grasshopper!

With this app, a lot of patience, and a tweed-amp-and-cigarettes vibe, you’ll be Pat Metheny in no time.

 

3. Guitar Pro: But what if you want to get serious with your arrangements?

What if you need a little more composing rather than consuming of your tablature? Not to worry! Android has you covered with the truly (very, very, very truly) stunning Guitar Pro.

Out of all my life’s regrets, I regret most the fact that Guitar Pro didn’t exist when I was a student. Its sleek, sexy interface enables you to add your own, fully-staffed tabs or notes with the utmost of ease.

No more nights spent laboring over ink and paper. Use the on-screen guitar or the built-in keyboard to succinctly illustrate your shred sessions.

It truly is a wonderful thing to behold.

 

4. Audio Evolution Mobile Studio: Now that you’ve got your next doom metal track all laid out (or whatever) it’s time to take it to the studio.

Here’s where Android really shows its open-source roots—rock-solid production utilities you can trust aren’t exactly plentiful, at least not compared to the iPhone.

Which is why we’re telling you now: just get Audio Evolution, and don’t ever, ever look back. It’s an absolutely amazing, power-packed utility. We’re just impressed it fits all that junk into your phone’s trunk.

It provides a more-or-less life-like studio recording atmosphere for your noodling.

You’ll get sequencing, mixing, MIDI control, some effects modulation and a whole lot more.

As far as options go, it is heads, tails and feet above the competition.

 

5. PocketBand Pro: Which makes this awkward, seeing as how we’re going to mention another DAW worth looking at.

PocketBand Pro is a different animal than Audio Evolution, but one still worth a mention. It features a more social approach to music creation, and offers a tighter focus on looping.

It enables you to sample, layer, and produce whole tracks, then share them with the community in a self-supportive way.

It’s a neat idea, and one that in practice is every bit as fun as it sounds.

Add some of your bets guitar wailing, and we imagine you’ll have a real following in no time.

As a final pro-tip, we leave you with this thought: When in doubt, remember that YouTube has launched more than one musical career. Just as a demo tape back-in-the-day could change a studio musician’s life, so too can a solid cover remake your outlook. So go ahead and use that fancy Android camera to snap your use of these apps, and then throw it out on the Web. You never know what might come back!