1. What it is
Tenuto is a paid app from the makers of musictheory.net. It bundles a wide set of customisable exercises — note and interval identification, scales, chords, key signatures, plus ear-training and keyboard/fretboard drills — all running offline on the iPad with no ads.
2. Why it’s great for young learners
The exercises are short and give instant feedback, and you can tune the difficulty precisely so each student gets drills pitched at their level. Because it’s a one-off app purchase that runs offline, it’s reliable in a lesson room with patchy wifi — a polished, distraction-free upgrade on the free website for students who use it regularly.
3. Best use case
Warm-up & structured drilling. Two or three minutes of targeted drills at the start of a lesson, or as a focused theory block. Especially strong for ear-training, where the offline reliability and clean interface help the student concentrate.
4. iPad-specific notes
Screen layout: Designed for iPad — the on-screen keyboard and staff are large and touch-friendly.
Rotation: Works in both orientations; landscape gives a bigger keyboard for the keyboard drills.
Mirroring: Mirrors cleanly to a projector for a whole-group ear-training warm-up.
Offline: Fully offline once installed — no internet needed, which makes it dependable between students.
Cost: A one-off App Store purchase (no subscription).
5. How to set it up
- Download Tenuto from the App Store onto the classroom iPad.
- Open an exercise (start with Note Identification or Note Ear Training).
- Tap the settings for that exercise to set the clef, note range and difficulty.
- Save a couple of preset exercises for different student ages so you can launch them fast.
- Turn sound up for the ear-training drills (check the iPad isn’t on silent).
6. Sample lesson idea
“Two-minute ear warm-up” (start of lesson). Open Note Ear Training set to a small range the student knows. Play a note, the student sings or names it, then taps their answer for instant feedback. Two minutes of this primes their listening before they pick up their instrument, and you can widen the range as they improve.
7. Troubleshooting
Too hard / too easy: Open the exercise settings and narrow or widen the range.
No sound on ear-training: Check silent mode is off and the volume is up.
Student guessing quickly: Ask them to sing the answer before tapping, so they commit to a pitch first.
8. Links & tutorials
musictheory.net/products/tenuto · Pairs naturally with the free musictheory.net website for home practice.