They say that practice is the best teacher when learning to play a song on a guitar or any other instrument.
Riffstation seemed to be good at that as its primary function was to help you, a budding guitarist or a seasoned expert, learn songs the old-fashioned way while incorporating aspects of modern approaches.
Riffstation displays the chords of your favorite songs, allowing you to make several adjustments to help you play and listen at your own pace.
It was one of the best slow-downers in the market. Guitarists loved the tool for its chord detection technology. But things started going south with the once-powerful slow downer when Fender acquired it.
In 2018, Fender announced that Riffstation Pro would be free and that experienced and amateur guitarists would get the chords of any song on their desktop.
That was never the case, as many users complained that they could no longer play any popular songs and that the site was unavailable.
Luckily, there are several similar tools for you, so let’s get straight to the discussion and explore some of the best Riffstation alternatives in this article.
Best Riffstation Alternatives
1. Chordify
First on my list of platforms like Riffstation is Chordify. As the name suggests, the Chordify app is a song-learning tool that allows you to learn chords by streaming your choice of music off YouTube.
As you stream, the app shows you chord sheets moving in real-time as the song plays and is available for mobile and desktop web versions. You’ll love Chordify as a novice guitarist.
The platform has a starter package of hand-picked and easy-to-play songs to get you started as a ukulele, guitar, or piano player.
The world interacted with Chordify for the first time in 2013 during the Eurosonic Festival. Since then, more people have been chording and jamming to songs with this tool, making Chordify grow exponentially.
Chordify is way ahead of Riffstation, thanks to the products developed to serve your musical journey. Products like the digital guitar teacher Gituru and the multi-sting tuner Karang aim to amplify your musicality as a rock star and your fellow rock stars worldwide.
While Chordify is limited in its educational breadth, it still does an excellent job of quickly teaching chord progressions for any song you can access on YouTube. It is also a perfect choice if you prefer simpler interfaces with just chords and nothing more.
Chordify’s algorithm recognizes any audio file and calculates its chords within seconds using artificial intelligence.
It is a great app, and anyone looking for chords for other peoples’ music, including worship leaders, bass players, songwriters, and cover bands, will find Chordify helpful.
Enjoy up to 50% off of Chordify premium when billed yearly. Chordify allows you to unleash your musical talent in the mastery of songs you love through its premium plan.
The plan unlocks 12 premium features with a 14-day money-back guarantee. The best part is that you can cancel the plan anytime. Chordify Premium will cost you $6.99 when billed monthly.
Find out more platforms like Chordify in this post.
2. MusicTrans
MusicTrans is a powerful music learning tool that lets you play any song. What sets MusicTrans ahead of Riffstation is that it gives you a graphical view of the notes you are playing without you touching any control.
As an intermediate player, you can get basic chords by looking at the screen and from there, start using the different sound processing techniques included in MusicTrans to catch further details.
Like Riffstation, you can slow down a song, isolate selected frequencies, and remove vocals. MusicTrans is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux.
Start learning without any setup using MusicTrans’s note analyzer. Its waveform view lets you view each part of the song at a glance and zoom in or out till you get the segment you are looking for.
Other features that will interest you with MusicTrans include the Loop region for adjusting your loop.
Other features include Tempo slow down, voice removal, panning control to help you only hear from an instrument on the left or right of the stereo, and ten band equalizer to listen to bass or remove it altogether.
MusicTrans desktop version operates seamlessly on your favorite operating system, and you can get unrestricted access to the tool by purchasing a license at $12.99.
The license is processed using a registered email upon payment. You can run MusicTrans with up to six computers with one license.
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3. Sonic Visualiser
Sonic Visualiser is an excellent Riffstation alternative designed to be the first choice to reach for when you want to study a music recording closely. The open-source application is suitable for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
It is best for archivists, musicologists, signal processing researchers, and anyone needing a friendly way to analyze the inside of an audio file.
Its user-friendly interface resembles the Riffstation, but the tool is more outstanding than Riffstation for its set of useful standard visualization facilities and its support for a plugin format for extra automated analysis methods.
Sonic Visualiser is a family of four applications. It is the first application, and the most general program, for highly configurable and detailed visualization, analysis, and annotation of audio recordings.
Sonic Lineup is made for rapid visualization of multiple same-source audio files. Tony is the third app, which supports high-quality pitch and allows for note transcription for scientific applications for solo recordings.
Lastly, we have Sonic Annotator, which is non-interactive and more of a command-line program for batch audio feature extraction using similar plugins as Sonic Visualiser.
Sonic Visualizer is free.
4. Amazing Slow Downer
Amazing Slow Downer is a platform similar to Riffstation that offers an easy way to slow down music without interfering with the pitch. The tool is available for Mac and Windows computers and Android and iPad/iPhone devices.
When using Amazing Slow Downer’s desktop version, you can change the speed of your music from 20% to 200% without changing its pitch.
If you realize you are working with the wrong key, you can change the pitch in semitones. If out of tune, you can also adjust your pitch to suit your instrument.
The good thing about Amazing Slow Downer is that you can control the desktop version using a USB HID device connected to your PC. You’ll prefer Amazing Slow Downer over Riffstation as the tool offers excellent help for those striving to learn music by ear.
Additionally, the tool can slow down a recording from a CD or MP3 and retain its key to help you quickly hear what’s happening with the recording and duplicate it. The only downside to this tool is that you might end up with higher notes when speeding up the audio.
Overall, Amazing Slow Downer is a great tool used by music pros to transcribe and work on tricky parts, and you should use it too.
Its pricing packages include a user license with a code to help you remove limitations in the trial version, free email support, and free updates for up to seven years.
If using the Windows or Mac version, the toll will cost you $39.95, $14.95 for iOS devices, and $9.95 for the Android version. For updated pricing, click here to access the “Price List” on the left side of the site.
5. ChordU
Another tool with the same functionality as Riffstation is ChordU. ChordU is an online solution made for people who live and breathe music.
It is your go-to place for all your chord progressions as it enables you to dive deeper into the spectrum of innovation, learning, and creation.
ChordU can transform your songs and music chords directly from YouTube alongside your other favorite songs. Once you select a piece, the tool will automatically recognize its chords and sync them with a simple and interactive player you can control.
It uses cutting-edge technology to identify chords for your songs and helps amateur and professional musicians to play the music they want, how they want, and whenever they want to play.
The tool is about simplicity and ease of use and is more accurate than Riffstation. ChordU uses complex technology and processes that operate in the background to offer a seamless experience and provide the most precise chord progression for most instruments.
Unleash the musician in you with ChordU premium for $2 per month or $20 per year. The premium packages help you easily edit and analyze complex chords, access up to nine premium features, and easy chords to complex offline songs.
6. Song Surgeon
Song Surgeon is known for its ability to deliver audio of the highest quality. Since its release in 2007, the platform has grown into one of the most popular and valuable platforms for music students and teachers.
As per the recent count, Song Surgeon was sold in more than 120 countries globally by musicians playing over 37 instruments.
What sets Song Surgeon ahead of Riffstation is its new version 5, which takes the tool to a new level, filled with additional features for automatic beat detection, chord, and key detection.
When you open a song on Song Surgeon, the tool automatically detects the song’s tempo in BPMs. Song Surgeon then determines the key signature, detects the chords, and displays the information on the main UI for you to see and use.
The tool is also home to a list of valuable features. So, regardless of whether you are looking for simple key transportation or a worker whose job entails listening to pieces of audio repeatedly, Song Surgeon will be of great help to you.
Song Surgeon is free.
7. Guitaa
Guitaa is a great substitute to Riffstation that provides the best way to play any song. The web and mobile-enabled tool is best for musicians and aspiring musicians to learn songs of their choice through tutorials in less than 20 seconds for piano, guitar, and ukulele.
This tool helps you create simple and accurate chords for any song and learn to play songs along with their music video.
Guitaa is better than Riffstation, thanks to its unique infinity songbook feature that helps you get simple yet accurate chords for any song you choose.
It then magically merges the entire chords and video into an interactive screen that can be customized for a better learning experience using Tempo, Capo, and Transpose. With Guitaa, you can learn to play music from more than 12,000 offline and online interactive music classes.
Guitaa is free to use.
8. SongBook
SongBook is another great tool that functions like Riffstation. SongBook saves you the hassle of organizing and carrying chord charts and lyric sheets with a simple app on your iPad, tablet, or laptop.
Like Riffstation, this robust music app lets you manage your song collections, complete with their chords and lyrics. It is a commercial site created by LinkeSoft and is also available for Android and iOS devices.
Additionally, the app has comprehensive and extensive features, including chord libraries for piano, guitar, and most powerful instruments.
SongBook uses a plain text format called Chordpro format, where chords are written within the brackets in square brackets, and the format also uses tab files. The tool effortlessly stores all songs in your device’s built-in storage, so feel free to get your songs into the SongBook app.
SongBook is simple and easy to use and does not require registration, signing up, or any information to get started.
You can try SongBook for free on Android, iOS, and Fire limited to 12 songs. The free desktop version lasts for 30 days, but to access the full version on Android, you have to pay $11.99.
9. TuxGuitar
TuxGuitar is an open-source multitrack player and tablature ideal for those who want to learn about music. Julian Casadesus created TuxGuitar, and its latest version, 1.5, was released in February 2018.
It is a Riffstation-like platform that allows you to use its advanced features like score viewer, tablature editor, effects, and note duration management to compose music.
The simple yet powerful platform lets you do more than create your songs. With TuxGuitar, you can adjust your music settings and all other music-related things.
The app does not require personal information or registration; therefore, you can enjoy all its features without limitations once you download it to your cell phone or tablet.
TuxGuitar is free to use, but you can voluntarily donate towards the software if you find it helpful.
10. Simply Piano
Another great Riffstation alternative is Simply Piano. It is a fast and fun way to learn piano and is best for beginners and experts.
This excellent app works with any keyboard or piano and features an array of songs like the Chandelier, All Of Me, Imagine, and LA Land, among others. Like Riffstation, the app has courses for different musical playing levels and tastes.
Apart from piano, the platform attracts millions of learners in more than 180 countries worldwide who come to learn about guitar, piano, or even singing.
The platform boasts an ever-growing fan base, better than Riffstation, and is considered one of the top global subscription services for creatives.
Simply Piano has a mission to actively explore music, art, and other creative hobbies to spark joy and create meaningful ways to connect people.
You can subscribe to Simply Piano premium to get full access to all courses, songs, and advanced features. The Plus package has a seven-day free trial and the subscriptions vary based on the country where you access the app.
11. Guitar Tricks
Guitar Tricks is the most fun way to learn guitar. The intuitive platform allows users to learn iconic guitar songs from their favorite artists, and the more exciting part is that over 1,000 songs are released weekly.
It is available on Android and iOS, and the platform offers tricks for experts and beginners alike. The application has various unique instruments to use and a real-time experience.
With Guitar Tricks, you can access up to 11,000 lessons. Every lesson introduces new stuff to help you become a professional guitarist.
If you are a beginner, you’ll love Guitar Tricks more than you’ll love Riffstation, especially the song-made-easy version that simplifies complex songs into basic chords.
Start by downloading the app on your mobile device, then create a profile and gain access to all features without limitations.
Accessing the full version of Guitar Tricks is like attending a world-class guitar school available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Get full access at $19.95 per month or opt for a free membership with limited features and 24 lessons added daily.
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12. Ultimate Guitar
Ultimate Guitar is an excellent alternative to Riffstation, considered one of the world’s most extensive catalogs for tabs, guitar, bass, and lyrics to your favorite songs.
It features one million pieces, and the platform boasts one of the fastest-growing communities that create, learn, and share tabs worldwide. Ultimate Guitar also provides reviews, the latest industry news, and blogs about music making.
You can easily access the platform via mobile apps to play sounds on the guitar anywhere and anytime. It is a magnificent app that is feature-rich and offers a fun way to learn.
Unlike Riffstation, Ultimate Guitar uses guitar techniques to discover songs for particular moments from expert guitarists.
Ultimate Guitar Pro offers you the best way to learn and play songs on guitar. Start with a free trial or try their welcome offer of 80% off of their annual membership, Pro Access.
13. Yousician
Yousician makes learning instruments fun and easy regardless of your skill level. It allows you to play piano, guitar, bass, and ukulele.
Unlike Riffstation, Yousician is an educational app and is best for those who want to become good musicians. The app also allows you to enjoy thousands of popular songs on your instrument of choice.
The app is more of a personal music tutor for the digital age, which allows you to learn at your own pace anytime and anywhere.
Another thing you’ll love about Yousician is how it analyzes your songs and precisely gives you instant feedback on your timing and accuracy. It is a powerful tool with a guide to help you improve your work.
Yousician offers premium memberships in three categories: Premium at $2.33 per month, Premium + Personal at $3.33 per month, and Premium + Family at $4.99 per month. These plans are billed annually and come with a seven-day free trial.
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14. Coach Guitar
Coach Guitar lets you learn how to play easy songs, chords, and tabs. It helps you grow your guitar skills, step by step, with the help of a coach or with a personalized program for beginners that lets you learn at your pace.
Unlike Riffstation, the app does not offer any music theory. Still, it shows you step-by-step videos with an animated freeboard to help you play electric and acoustic guitar songs by mimicry. Professionals create all lessons for musicians of all levels.
Register to start a seven-day free trial and discover premium plans for $19.99 per month, billed monthly, or $9.99 per month when billed annually.
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15. OnSong
OnSong is a fabulous app developed by Gareth Evans and suited for iOS and Android devices. The tool is designed for singers, musicians, and worship leaders, who are allowed to view chord charts and lyrics from their mobile devices.
With OnSong, singers and songwriters can write and perform songs with built-in editors. OnSong is used by over 400,000 users worldwide and supports over 15 languages.
What sets OnSong apart from Riffstation is its support for music therapists. The tool enables easy mobility, flexibility, and safety in any healthcare setting.
OnSong is free to use. To access premium features, you can upgrade to the Solo – Essentials plan for $2 per month or the Solo – Premium plan for $4 per month billed annually.
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Final Thoughts
I hope this review of the best Riffstation alternatives will help you make a decision that meets your music needs. While the platforms seem similar in functionality, they are unique in their ways.
If you are looking for a feature-rich tool that helps you learn chords by streaming your choice of music off YouTube, we recommend Chordify.
The platform has a starter package for beginners, and you’ll enjoy their collection of easy-to-play songs to get you started.
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