So I just started using the app today, but I can’t get the chord perfect lesson to progress. It highlights the first string I need to strum, but it never changes off that string. So what exactly is the app listening for? Is is listening to my guitar itself, the output of the amp, or is there a piece of equipment that will help me out here. My best guess is maybe the guitar is out of tune and that’s why it’s not registering the string, but I wanted to ask here to check if I can simply use the app with the guitar completely unplugged. Thanks!
Hi Jacob, and welcome to the community! The app is basically just a timer: it will count down from 180 sec. It doesn’t ‘listen’ to what you are playing. What you should do during this exercise, is to carefully place each finger for the chord, strum the chord, strum every string seperately and adjust your fingersetting if the string doesn’t ring out, then strum the chord again, take your hand from the neck, then restart the process. Take a look at the Nitsuj video for grade 1, lesson 1 (Nitsuj is Justin learning to play left handed) and you will see what you are supposed to do.
Have fun playing!
1 Like
Chord perfect lessons don’t “listen” to you. Not sure I understand the question.
Welcome, @jschioppo !!!
@LadyOfTheCastle @LesPaulMoreRay I guess I’m a bit confused then. The app asks permission to use my microphone, and it looks like it’s very clearly listening with a mic meter. It definitely seems like it’s waiting for me to pluck a string with the right noise before it picks the next one. Here’s a screenshot of what I’m seeing.
Note the mic meter at the bottom that moves when I make any noise. The orange string also has a green meter on it for noise, but it never highlights the next string.
I’m curious now! Do you use Android or iOS? Mine is on iOS and my screen on the chord perfect is completely different, there is no mic indication.
As others already stated, my understanding is that cord perfect exercise is not designed to hear your sounds, it’s just a timer so you can go through each string to identify any issue and then do a final strumming to see how your cord is sounding. Then start again until the time ends.
I’m assuming yours is in Android and the App is trying to do something but at the end of the day it won’t do anything. Maybe asking in the App support is an option?
It is Android, and the orange string never changes for me so I definitely think it’s waiting for the right sound before moving on. The timer will hit 1 minute with no changes to which string is highlighted
1 Like
I used this function today. Took a few minutes but I can see it really helping.
Basically place the fingers for each chord, play the lowest string (don’t play the E string for a C chord for example) and then play each string in turn.
It is similar for chord changes and additional chord sections.
I was playing acoustic and there were occasions when an open E string would not reflect I had played the string. It also does not pick up buzzing or poor quality notes all of the time. I suspect this will improve over time.
Time spent in this section will be time we’ll spent imho.
1 Like
Do you know a way around the mic listening? I was able to tune it enough to where it could sometimes hear the note, but it’s not consistent enough so this practice feature is basically unusable for me which is really disappointing. I don’t understand why it’s forcing my mic to listen instead of just giving me a beat to practice with.
1 Like
My app updated yesterday and this function appears to me now. It works, but not all the time. I liked the older version more. However I can see it can be useful to detect that you are not muting a string or playing the incorrect one. Hopefully it will improve on later app updates…
1 Like
Andre, I’m feeling a bit silly…I can’t find Chord Perfect in the JustinGuitar app or the One Minute Changes app. My apps seem to be up-to-date (no indication otherwise from the App Store). Maybe I’m looking at the wrong app - which one are we discussing here? I’m on iOS…can you tell me how to find Chord Perfect on the app in question? Thanks!
1 Like
I was able to see the Perfect Fast Changes a few days ago, but now I can’t find it either.
@MusopiaApps can you tel us how to find it?
1 Like
@Tbushell @judi I can answer a way to get to one of these practices. Under module 1 I see Day 1 challenge where it teaches you to play your first song. Hitting that I see practice the Em chord. That’s the lesson where I first saw this. Note the guitar tuner feature uses the same functionality
1 Like
Thanks @jschioppo Jacob. I see that now. It seems it’s available through the practice routines in Grade 1 that include Chord Perfect practice. I don’t recall that feature being there when I did Grade 1. Very cool! I didn’t see any Chord Perfect practice in Grade 2. I love seeing the improvements to the app and everything else, even when they are in areas I’ve passed.
1 Like
Hi , put your phone/tablet close to your guitar, and play the indicated string loud, the bar will turn green, witch tells you you’re playing that string good
Hi all, I have the same issue with android and the practice function is not working for me at all. I just found out, the cause of this is, that I don’t tune my guitar with the app, but with an external device. When the Tune is aligned with the App, the practice funtionality starts working.
I just now have to figure out, why the 2 tuning sources are so different, but that’s another topic i guess 
.
1 Like
doreenHe,
I am so grateful to you for your last post … I had really lost faith with the “chord perfect” exercises since they appeared on the app but you are correct.
I had been tuning my guitar using a Snark and, as I worked down the strings, the app responded less & less. For an open D chord … D string fine, G a bit slower, B maybe - every now & then, E not a chance (tiniest little bit of a green flicker but it took 5 or 6 picks at the string to get a response).
Having tuned the guitar using the app things worked much better. Incidentally, checking the tuning with the Snark, showed no difference at all & all strings in tune.
I think success also depends on which device you are using to host the App. I have the App on an iPad Air 3 where the microphones are at the top of the case (one on the bevel & one under the rear camera). But, if the iPad stands in landscape orientation, this means that the microphones are at the headstock end of the guitar - away from the sound hole.
My personal eureka was to turn the iPad over (balanced against a coffee cup) so that the microphone is on my right hand side. All of a sudden everything works … my chord fingering has certainly not improved since I saw your post yesterday evening but I do have confirmation that it might not be as dire as the App first suggested.
Thank you, your post was a revelation,
Enjoy the journey,
Manskei
2 Likes
… and another thing …
Having started using the App tuner routinely (thanks again @doreenHe) and having realised that mic positioning is so vital I want to add that the “listening” ability of the App has revolutionised my “One Minute Changes” practice.
It took a little while to trust the App to keep up but blast into the chord changes, ignore the screen, and accept the displayed count at the end of the exercise.
It allows no cheating, miscounts or dodgy chords but it makes this exercise fun & relevant again. Beginner 1, 7-consolidation, is no longer a chore.
Well done Justin & Musopia.
Regards
Manskei
Hi Manskei,
I’m super happy the isea to use the app-tuner helped you. And thank you for sharing your good experiences with using the exercise “listening” ability.
It give me the confidence to open a support ticket to clarify my tuner-app issue. I’ve tried your tipp to turn the phones mic around in any way and placed it under and over the guitar, too 
. With the fender tuning app and my external device the guitar sounds great, with the justin app tuner it would be way out of tune over a semitone. So I’m looking forward to have this fixed and using the improved exercise too 
.
Kind regards,
Doreen
So I think I’ve figured out the issue as I was having the same issue with the app not picking up my chords when trying to play the chord perfect practice.
I used previously a tuner device to tune my guitar and it sounded good to me. But I just used the app’s tuner and it wanted small changes to hit it’s requirement for the strings.
After using it, the chord perfect now picks up every specific string pluck. So all I can think is that the app is listening for it’s preferred tuned string and if it doesn’t hear it, it doesn’t count it as being played. Like if you played the wrong string altogether.
So the mileage may vary on if you like the tuning of of the guitar by the app, but by making your guitar tuned to what the app wants, the chord perfect will pick up the individual strings.