Most of my time goes into making guitars play better: adjusting necks, levelling frets and fitting fresh strings. But a guitar that plays well is only half the story. You also have to practise, and that’s a lot easier with the right tools close at hand. So I’ve added a set of free guitar tools to GuitarBuddy: a tuner, a chord library, chord progressions, a circle of fifths and a metronome. They’re free for everyone, with no sign-up and no ads.
Meet GuitarBuddy Play
All the tools are part of GuitarBuddy Play, a free guitar app made by GuitarBuddy. It runs in your web browser, so there’s nothing to download from an app store. Open play.guitarbuddy.nl on your phone, add it to your home screen, and it opens full screen like any other app. You can also use every tool right here on guitarbuddy.nl: just pick one from Tools in the menu.
The tools
Guitar tuner
The free online guitar tuner listens through your microphone and tells you whether to tune up or down. In Auto mode it works out which string you’re playing; in Manual mode you pick a string and hear how it should sound. Besides standard tuning it knows Drop D, D Standard, half-step down, Open G, Open D, DADGAD and bass. Your sound is analysed on your own device and is never recorded or uploaded.
Chord library
The guitar chord library has 96 chords: all 12 root notes as major, minor, 7, maj7, m7, sus2, sus4 and power chords. Search for a chord like “Am7”, see the chord diagram, try other shapes and hear how it should sound. Tap the heart to save the chords you’re working on.
Chord progressions
Most songs are built on a handful of chord progressions. Pick one, from the pop progression (I–V–vi–IV) to the 12-bar blues, choose a key and press Play along. The tool strums the chords at your tempo, lights up the current chord and suggests a capo position when a key has awkward chords.
Circle of fifths
The interactive circle of fifths shows how all 12 keys fit together. Tap a key to see its chords with diagrams you can play, plus its key signature and relative minor. When you find a key you like, open it straight in the progressions tool.
Metronome
The free online metronome keeps steady time from 30 to 250 BPM. Tap in the tempo of a song, choose 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8, add extra clicks per beat and accent the first beat of the bar.
Free, private and made for practising
- Free: every tool is free, with no account needed.
- Private: the tuner uses your microphone on your own device. Nothing is recorded.
- Everywhere: it works on your phone, tablet and computer, in your browser or as an app.
- No ads: just the tools, so you can focus on playing.
A simple 15-minute practice routine
Not sure where to start? Try this:
- Tune up (1 minute). Always start in tune. It makes everything you play sound better.
- Chord changes (5 minutes). Pick two chords from the chord library and switch between them with the metronome at 60 BPM.
- Play a progression (5 minutes). Choose a progression in an easy key like G and play along.
- Explore (4 minutes). Tap a new key on the circle of fifths and try its chords.
Do this most days and you’ll be surprised how quickly your chord changes and timing improve.
Where to find the tools
You’ll find all of them under Tools in the main menu, or on the free guitar tools page. Try them out and let me know what you think, or which tool you’d like to see next.
And if your guitar is fighting you, with buzzing strings, high action or tuning that won’t hold, a proper setup makes practising a lot more fun. Book a guitar setup and I’ll get it playing its best.
