JamBuddy for Android.
Visualizations to help your eyes train your ear, browse and edit collections of tunes with playable, rendered sheet music and tabs, transpose them into any key with a click, swipe through chord charts for guitar, mandolin, uke, or bass, slow audio down, loop the tough bars, save loops, record ideas, transcribe into ABC with your instrument, and keep your ABC songbook, lyrics, and backing tracks in one offline place. There's also a built-in metronome and a tuner. All with no accounts, no subscriptions and no ads, ever.
Built nights and weekends by a guy who didn't want to pay $5 a month for a Strum Machiene that didn't even give him sheet music. And who wanted to learn more Kotlin and the latest trends in Android UI design. With a wife with a PhD in Ethnomusicology to help with the theory.
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Every window earns its place
Watch a live updating circle of fifths, which rotates to always show the current key at 12 o'clock, and circles the notes in the current chord, along with other visualizations like a chord histogram, spectrogram, timeline, plus practice tools, chord charts, and your tunes library side by side. Nothing here is marketing fluff—just the things I've wanted to make myself as I practice.
Listen
Real-time chord detection with the chord chart and fretboard for the currently playing chord and the likely next chords based on the current chord and key.
Learn
Lock in timing with the visual metronome, strum-pattern coach, chromatic tuner, and looping audio player. Slow tracks down without changing pitch and save per-song loops for tough spots.
Write
Keep your ABC charts, lyrics, PDFs, audio, and set notes together. Edit progressions, attach recordings you captured in-app, and organize tunes by key, genre, or groove.
See JamBuddy in Action (The app has been improving faster than I've been updating these)
Real-Time Chord Recognition
Live chord detection with Circle of Fifths visualization showing key relationships and chord progressions.
Chromatic Tuner
Precise chromatic tuner with visual feedback for all stringed instruments.
Comprehensive Chord Library
Browse and learn chord fingerings for guitar, ukulele, mandolin and more with detailed chord charts.
Song Library Management
Organize and manage your personal collection of songs with lyrics, chords, and backing tracks.
Metronome & Next Chord Predictions
Built-in metronome with strum patterns and intelligent next chord predictions.
Full Screen Chord Charts
Large, clear chord charts for easy reading during practice and performance.
Sheet Music Support
View and manage sheet music alongside your chord progressions and lyrics.
Audio Player & Looping
Play and loop audio tracks while following chord progressions and lyrics.
Chord Editor
Create and edit chord progressions with an intuitive chord sequence editor.
Multi-Instrument Support
Support for guitar, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and more stringed instruments.
What you actually get
Every pane, dialog, and toggle comes from a real practice need. Here’s how they add up.
Circle of Fifths + Key Lock
See detected chords in context, pin a key when the band settles in, and reset instantly with a tap.
Chord Histogram & Visualizers
Switch between histogram, spectrogram, waveform, heatmap, and timeline to see what the detector hears.
Next Chord + Fingering Cards
See four likely chords, complete with the right fingering chart for guitar, uke, mando, baritone, or bass.
Tunes Browser & Set Lists
Filter by key, groove, or genre, jump into ABC charts, lyrics, PDFs, and keep track-specific notes in one place.
Audio Player & Recorder
Attach your own tracks, adjust tempo, set named loops, or capture ideas with the built-in recorder.
Themes, Layouts & Focus Mode
Dial in font scaling, theme colors, focus layouts, and window order so the info you need is always on top.
🎯 Real-time clarity
Chord names, key confidence, note histogram, and next-chord hints stay in sync with what you hear.
🎧 Works with whatever’s playing
Phone mic, Bluetooth speaker, or saved MP3—JamBuddy listens, slows down, and loops without needing the cloud.
🎸 Multi-instrument grip
Instant chord charts for guitar, ukulele, mandolin, baritone uke, and bass, plus a tuner that handles them all.
🗂️ Local songbook
Keep ABC charts, lyrics, PDFs, audio, and notes together. Filter by key, groove, or vibe in a tap.
🔧 Tweakable detection
Adjust confidence thresholds, bass boost, and rolling history so the detector matches your instrument and room.
� Built by one musician
No venture funding, no pushy upsells—just a side-hustle app updated after jams and before work.
A quick note from the builder
I’m Steve, the developer of JamBuddy. JamBuddy started as a neat python tool to match chords to templates via FFT. It became a way to learn Kotlin at the same time as mandolin and eventually evolved into a full-fledged app. All the things in it are there because I thought they'd help me learn or play better with others. If you find a bug or need a tweak, you’re emailing the person who built the thing.
Ready to Jam Smarter?
Grab JamBuddy, fire up a playlist, and let the Circle of Fifths, chord charts, loops, and recorder keep pace with you.
Available now • Android 12.0+ • One-time purchase • Free updates whenever I get another weekend