Chordio is an interactive music composition and theory app for iOS and macOS, with workspaces for composition, scales, modes, sheet music, music theory, and lessons. Its library contains more than 40 scales. Connect a USB, MIDI, or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard and Chordio recognizes played chords, naming them on the grand staff in real time. Harmony Explorer finds matching scales and suggests diatonic chords, borrowed chords, secondary dominants, and tritone substitutions. Progressions can be dragged into Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, and other DAWs as MIDI; MIDI chords can also be imported for re-harmonization. Sheet Music includes tempo adjustment, looping, separate-hand practice, transposition, and PDF printing. Lesson Packs let users play pieces in any key and at any tempo. The free download includes every workspace, built-in sounds, an on-screen keyboard, and real-time MIDI chord detection. Full Unlock costs 14.99 USD once and includes Mac, iPad, and Vision Pro, with lifetime updates and no subscription. The iPhone version is separate, and there is no Android app.
Who it is for
Chordio suits producers, composers, teachers, and learners who want composition, theory, MIDI chord recognition, or sheet-music practice tools. It is for Apple-platform users; there is no Android app.
What is good
- Includes more than 40 scales.
- Recognizes chords from connected MIDI keyboards.
- Exports progressions to DAWs as MIDI.
- Sheet Music supports looping and transposition.
- Free download includes every workspace.
What to know first
- No Android app is currently available.
- The iPhone version is purchased separately.
- Content Packs have no listed price.
Verdict
Chordio brings composition, theory, MIDI workflows, and lesson tools into one app, with a free download and a one-time Full Unlock option. Check the separate iPhone purchase and the lack of Android support if those platforms matter to you.
Chordio plans and pricing
All plansCompared on chord finder software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Reverse chord lookup
- Yes
- Progression generator
- Yes
- Voicing explorer
- Yes
- Supported instruments
- piano
- Chord chart export
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- ios
- Chord audio playback
- Yes
