Quartet app

[Campos]

It looks really interesting!
Has anyone tested it yet?


Home '-' The 'live' jazz standards play'-'along app for iPhone & iPad

[bleakanddivine]

I think Dutchbopper has posted some clips on his YT channel using it.

[marshallplexi]

I just downloaded 1 & 2. Sounds great!

[ledocs]

I'm very interested in this app, but it won't work on my older Mac, it's not even set up to work on a new Mac, as I understand it, it will only work on a newer iPhone or iPad. An iPad would be ideal, therefore, but I don't have an iPad, although my wife does (but she won't let me borrow it for this, she uses it constantly). I do have a new iPhone 16e.

Has anyone used this app on a phone? I'm just wondering how cumbersome it is to use the app on a phone. I would run the phone through a hifi sytstem using a wired adaptor, not going to a bluetooth-equipped amplifier, although I have one of those too, but not in my little music room/studio, and I don't really want to move the bluetooth amp. Nor do I really want to buy a bluetooth amp for my studio, mainly because it's already so crowded in there. My main question is, how well does this app work on a phone? I've never used iReal, for example. I like the sound of these Quartet backing tracks. Seems like a great technological update of the Aebersold concept, especially if you're an iPad user already, as a lot of musicians are. I've got Band-in-a-Box, but these Quartet tracks are considerably better than that, no comparison, really. Plus, they've recorded so many tunes that jazz musicians actually play. One does have to learn the melodies to all the tunes, but that's OK.

Thanks.

[Spook410]

Running on an Apple MacBook Air. Later model.

Use this every day. Great way to learn jazz standards and practice. Sound quality is good enough to use as backing tracks for casual gigs. Of course a higher fidelity system is needed for playback.

[Freddels]

I have it on my ipad but I just downloaded it to my iphone 13 and it works great on that too.
It's just a smaller screen but still works.

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

Hi all.

Paul here from Quartet - the 'live' jazz standards playalong app for iOS.

Dirk Laukens has kindly invited Quartet to run a competition exclusively for the Jazz Guitar Online forum.

Quartet is the top-selling jazz standards playalong app for iOS. 100% audio performed by 9 of the world's best jazz musicians. Change key, change tempo. Royalty-free exportable audio. 4.7/5 average worldwide rating.

Quartet is built for iOS (minimum requirement iOS 12.6) but will also play on silicon Macs (M1 onwards).


COMPETITION

There are 3 bundles of either Quartet 1+2 or Quartet 3+4 (you choose) apps up for grabs!

To enter, please answer this question: How many jazz standards are included in total across the 4 x Quartet apps... a/ 400 b/450 or c/500?

Please email your answer to [email protected] and include your email address plus the name you appear as on the Jazz Guitar Online forum.

We will pick 3 winners at random after the competition closing date: 18.00 (BST) on Sunday 10th August 2025. We will notify winners by email.

PS. The answer to the question (and lots more about Quartet) can be found at www.quartetapp.com

[Alter]

Sounds great! Any plans to port it to Android?

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

We did launch a version of Quartet for Android in January 2025. It was called 'Quartet LITE' because it didn't have many of the features of the iOS app: no tempo change, key change, no animated chord diagrams nor animated chord screen but the audio was exactly the same. We had loads of feedback from buyers that the app should be the same as the iOS so we withdrew it from sale rather than risk damaging Quartet's reputation.

Quartet is a very intensive app in terms of processing power. Real time tempo and key changes and user-defined track lengths with animated chord displays require a lot of power especially on bigger screen sizes. The challenge in the Android market with so many manufacturers and devices and screen sizes was developing a product with all of the features of the iOS app that we could guarantee would work smoothly across all the various devices. This requires a huge and ongoing investment.

We recently increased the minimum requirement for the iOS version to iOS 12.6 (reluctantly) but even an iPhone 8 will play Quartet really smoothly on iOS 12 and these can be picked up for around $50/£40.

Sorry it's not on Android right now.

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

Quartet works really well on iPhone. Even an iPhone 8 running iOS 12.6 or above. The small screen uses less processing power than iPad. Quartet will also play on a silicon Mac (M1 and above). I personally think Quartet works best on iPhone and songs can be exported in literally a few seconds. We have recently upgraded the Airplay 1 and 2 streaming features so there are a variety of ways to play Quartet through bigger speakers / other set-ups. Hope this is useful.

[ledocs]

I have it on my ipad but I just downloaded it to my iphone 13 and it works great on that too.
It's just a smaller screen but still works.

Thanks, Freddels. I replied to you a week ago but I did something wrong, apparently. Dirk sent me an email saying that I had replied in the wrong way.

So I bought the entire bundle. Question for anyone. I'm running the app on new iPhone under iOS 18.x I don't think the piano chord diagrams are displaying correctly. At least, they are not displaying what is being played. I'm just getting triads and seventh chords, no extensions or altered chords. The piano chords displayed represent the simplified chords in the lead sheet. I had assumed that I would see what the pianist is actually playing on the virtual keyboard, and he's not playing simple triads and seventh chords. These remarks apply to "Nica's Dream." I'll try some other tunes and see if the same thing happens.

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

Paul here from Quartet.

I'm afraid the chord diagrams for Piano, Guitar and Uke are not designed to represent the chord voicings played by the performers...the diagrams are all first inversion chords and meant to be indicative. None of the songs feature Uke and only 25% or so include guitar so these diagrams are there for users who want to be able to work out the basic first inversion chord in order to play along in some way on those specific instruments.
This is very much a secondary feature of the app. Sorry if you were led to believe that they followed the exact chord voicings of the performance. If you contact us via our help [[email protected]] we can refund you if wish.

Thanks, Freddels. I replied to you a week ago but I did something wrong, apparently. Dirk sent me an email saying that I had replied in the wrong way.

So I bought the entire bundle. Question for anyone. I'm running the app on new iPhone under iOS 18.x I don't think the piano chord diagrams are displaying correctly. At least, they are not displaying what is being played. I'm just getting triads and seventh chords, no extensions or altered chords. The piano chords displayed represent the simplified chords in the lead sheet. I had assumed that I would see what the pianist is actually playing on the virtual keyboard, and he's not playing simple triads and seventh chords. These remarks apply to "Nica's Dream." I'll try some other tunes and see if the same thing happens.

[ledocs]

I don't want a refund. The app still has a lot of utility, which is to use it as a backing track for practicing soloing, and it represents good value for that purpose. It's not required that a beginner soloist know exactly what chord voicings the piano player is playing.

I wonder, however, if it would not be worth considering eventually making available pdf's that show the actual chord voicings being played and naming those chords properly, maybe eventually showing the bass lines in standard notation too. Then the app goes from being a useful practice tool and a very good starting point for learning a lot of tunes to becoming a 2-year to 4-year course in fundamentals of jazz harmony. I can try to figure out what the chords are, I can start by comparing what's being played to what is notated in the Realbook or elsewhere, but that's going to require a lot of work. I do have a version of "Nica's Dream" in Band-in-a-Box, and BIAB does have both a virtual keyboard and standard notation to display what is being played. What is being played by BIAB is not as "hip" as what is being played in "Quartet," however, that's my superficial impression. What I have in BIAB is what some random BIAB user entered into the program and was eventually made available on the internet, I get that. When I say "random," that's not quite accurate. If I did some research, I might be able to identify who did the data entry for my BIAB version of "Nica's Dream."

The Quartet piano player could probably reproduce what he did pretty easily on a midi-enabled keyboard, and he could work from the actual recorded version in the DAW, the bass part and drum part don't change. From there, I'm assuming that you can get a good first draft of the piano part in standard notation using an automated program. So I don't know how much time and expense would be required to produce something that would be quite useful to a lot of people. Maybe something to consider for the future. You probably can't be sinking more money into this app until the demand for it has been established.

[voxo]

buying an iphone 8 and quartet...and working with band in a box ...solos will be fun

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

You have some really good suggestions here and we are definitely up for enhancing the chord diagram aspect of Quartet.. even if it means transcribing the main piano parts of all 4 apps and so users can learn them! Thanks for your constructive comments. Paul

I don't want a refund. The app still has a lot of utility, which is to use it as a backing track for practicing soloing, and it represents good value for that purpose. It's not required that a beginner soloist know exactly what chord voicings the piano player is playing.

I wonder, however, if it would not be worth considering eventually making available pdf's that show the actual chord voicings being played and naming those chords properly, maybe eventually showing the bass lines in standard notation too. Then the app goes from being a useful practice tool and a very good starting point for learning a lot of tunes to becoming a 2-year to 4-year course in fundamentals of jazz harmony. I can try to figure out what the chords are, I can start by comparing what's being played to what is notated in the Realbook or elsewhere, but that's going to require a lot of work. I do have a version of "Nica's Dream" in Band-in-a-Box, and BIAB does have both a virtual keyboard and standard notation to display what is being played. What is being played by BIAB is not as "hip" as what is being played in "Quartet," however, that's my superficial impression. What I have in BIAB is what some random BIAB user entered into the program and was eventually made available on the internet, I get that. When I say "random," that's not quite accurate. If I did some research, I might be able to identify who did the data entry for my BIAB version of "Nica's Dream."

The Quartet piano player could probably reproduce what he did pretty easily on a midi-enabled keyboard, and he could work from the actual recorded version in the DAW, the bass part and drum part don't change. From there, I'm assuming that you can get a good first draft of the piano part in standard notation using an automated program. So I don't know how much time and expense would be required to produce something that would be quite useful to a lot of people. Maybe something to consider for the future. You probably can't be sinking more money into this app until the demand for it has been established.

[Freddels]

You have some really good suggestions here and we are definitely up for enhancing the chord diagram aspect of Quartet.. even if it means transcribing the main piano parts of all 4 apps and so users can learn them! Thanks for your constructive comments. Paul

That would transform the app into not only a play-along type app but a teaching app too. That would increase the value and usefulness of an already great app.

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

That would transform the app into not only a play-along type app but a teaching app too. That would increase the value and usefulness of an already great app.

Cheers Freddels

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

Paul here from Quartet app. Thanks to all of those who entered the competition. The winners have been emailed to ask which app bundle they would like.

The winners are... Spook410, jazzgtrl4 and w.gerdes.

Congratulations and we hope you enjoy the apps.

[Spook410]

Paul here from Quartet app. Thanks to all of those who entered the competition. The winners have been emailed to ask which app bundle they would like.

The winners are... Spook410, jazzgtrl4 and w.gerdes.

Congratulations and we hope you enjoy the apps.

Wait... what? I don't actually ever win anything. How great is that? And I only have Quartet 1/2 so 3/4 will be that much more to drive me nuts trying to learn the foundation of jazz guitar.

I will get back in email, but wanted to thank you. You've come to one of the last bastions of jazz guitar with all our feats and flaws to discuss your unique wares. And you reward our attention with insights and gifts. Thank you. Your software will instruct, engage, amuse, drive crazy (in a good way), and make the world a better place. A path to creative engagement and the joy of music is a rare gift. I wish you further success.

- Andrew (aka Spook410)

[Jazzism]

hey Paul, just purchased Vol 2. I agree with the suggestions made that this app also has educational uses by including the actual voicings the musicians made on the recordings. Further, I would also like the functionality of a mixer included, so that for whatever configuration of instruments I’m working with, some additional control over the output would be great.
cheers!

[Campos]

Hi Paul, I’m enjoying the Quartet app — I’ve got all 4 volumes on my iPad.
I’ve run into a problem, though. How can I edit an existing playlist to add songs using the search? What I’ve noticed is that once a playlist is created, there doesn’t seem to be an option to search and add more songs. Instead, it just shows all the songs from all volumes with no way to filter them. Am I missing something? Thank you!

[voxo]

bought it for iphone 8..works a dream...will use it with band in a box solos...has about 130 jazz standards...plus Django books band in a box solos..

[gvurrdon]

I've been using it on an iPad, which I otherwise use only for iReal, PDFs of sheet music, etc. I got all four versions.
The backing tracks are great.
The only minor nuisances are:
1. It's fiddly to change the tempo, particularly by large amounts.
2. The way the changes are shown whilst the track is playing looks (to me) rather distracting; I'd rather see the whole chart with the current bar highlighted, or even just the chart with no highlights.

[voxo]

do i think about how to improvise..why should i when i have it all on the screen..lol.. all i need now is some AI monitor ..like/dislike with human sensibilities

[PAUL@QUARTET APP]

Hi Paul, I’m enjoying the Quartet app — I’ve got all 4 volumes on my iPad.
I’ve run into a problem, though. How can I edit an existing playlist to add songs using the search? What I’ve noticed is that once a playlist is created, there doesn’t seem to be an option to search and add more songs. Instead, it just shows all the songs from all volumes with no way to filter them. Am I missing something? Thank you!

Hi Campos. Paul here from Quartet. We have just launched an important update (yesterday) with a number of new and logical improvements to Playlists and Favourites. You should easily be able to add new songs to an existing playlist but only alphabetically - even in the version before yesterdays update. Here's how...Go to MY PLAYLISTS, select the Playlist and tap EDIT. Scroll down through the existing list of songs in the playlist and you will see an alphabetical list of ALL the other songs in the song library (500 less the ones already in the playlist). Tap the + symbol to add any of the songs to your playlist. Tap SAVE CHANGES to save. You can also change the order of songs by holding down the 3 horizontal lines and sliding a song to another location.

If you are looking to do a SECONDARY search (e.g. Frank Sinatra) to add to an existing playlist...that's a step too far at the moment. Good idea though!

In the updated version, there are various NEW ways to add songs to either a NEW or EXISTING playlist. For example, you can now add a song directly from the chord screen (tap the + symbol at the top right of the chord screen). This is the feature that most people have asked for. Makes sense.

Plus, we have redesigned favourites, so they now show up in the main song library and they are all in one place regardless of which version of the app they come from. Another new feature (SAVE FAVOURITES) lets you create a playlist from all of your favourites with one tap. And in the main song library, a small triangle next to the heart symbol lets you sort your favourites to the top of the library.

You can also now add a count-in preference to all 500 songs (and change the transposition status of all songs if you need to) with one tap in Global settings - which again is new.

Hope this all makes sense!