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Genre: Guitar sim
Developer: Moo Cow Music
File Size: 56.5MB
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Requirements: iPhone 2.1 software
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
Price: $2.99

Guitarist is an app developed by Moo Cow Music that attempts to be your on-the-go guitar. It’s not going to replace your real guitar, but it might help you seize the moment when creativity strikes.

Since the iPhone has multitouch, using it as a guitar simulator makes sense. There is one striking negative about this app, and I want to get it out right at the start. Since you’re only working with a piece of glass, there is no tactile feedback. It should be noted that this is not a problem with the app, but a limitation of the device itself. If you can get over this one point, then you’ll love this app.

You are presented with choices when you open up the app, but likely, you’ll just want to start playing right away. You have several options of how you want to go about playing your melody.  Modes to choose from include manual fret, hammer-on, tab guitar, and scale guitar.

Manual fret mode is just like a real guitar. You place your fingers on the screen to fret the right strings and strum with your other hand to actually produce sound. This can be a little awkward, especially if you have bigger hands. The screen on your device is kind of small, and there are only two ways of figuring out if the positions of your fingers are being recognized correctly; either you can look at the fret number display on each string, or just strum and hope. Even though this mode is the most realistic, I didn’t like it very much.

Hammer-on mode is much better in my opinion, as long as you aren’t playing chords (which are frustrating in the previous mode anyway). Just tap the fret that you want to play, and it is heard. They could have called this EVH mode if they wanted to. It works great for any non-chord work. This is my favorite mode, and is where I spend the majority of my time with this app. It’s great for experimenting with new riffs.

Tab Guitar is somewhat the opposite of hammer-on mode. You program in the notes that you want to play, and after that’s all said and done, you manually tell the app when to strum. Notes are programmed in through standard guitar tablature notation. This mode is great for writing and storing songs or ideas you may have and don’t want to forget.

Scale Guitar plays scales, like the name implies. You can choose the key and the scale to play a run through. This might be useful even if you have a real guitar close by since you can follow along with the scales. Scales are a great tool to have when learning to play the guitar.

In any mode, the app allows for acoustic or electric guitar simulation, with some options as to how it is effected. I just left mine on acoustic and distorted electric guitar, since that’s what I use the most often. You can have two patches stored and accessible for recording at any time.

Overall, the app works as advertised. You can play guitar on the go, and let out the creativity from within. You could even use this app to drive your real amp, if you are so inclined. You have many options of how you want to tell the app to simulate a guitar, and you can record your ideas with the tab guitar, or through the record feature,

But, at the end of the day, this app is best used for experimentation on-the-go. It’s not going to replace your real guitar. But if you go in just wanting to have some fun, then you’ve got the right mindset.

I really enjoyed using this app to think of new song ideas when I was away from my real guitar.  Even with the limitations of the iPhone (mainly the difficulty of fretting chords manually), I think this app is well worth the price of admission for anyone who enjoys playing a real guitar.

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