The iPad is one of the best things to happen to guitarists since the locking tremolo bar. There are some great iPad apps on the market that can help any guitarist play and sound better, with more coming out all the time. Tuners, effects, amps, lessons – everything you need to become a great guitar player can now be downloaded straight to your iPad.

NOTE: To use some of these apps, you’ll need to get an adapter so you can plug your guitar into the iPad.

GUITARIST’S REFERENCE
From: Maj9
($5.99)

Guitarist’s Reference is a great app that provides you with all the knowledge you need to become a great guitar player. Guitar chords, scales, arpeggios, triads, standard tuning, alternate tunings and much more – it’s all here, presented in an easy to use format with excellent graphics and user interface.
With the Guitarist’s Reference app you can easily look up any note on the fret board and hear tones for every chord, scale, arpeggio, and triad. It supports both left handed and right handed guitarists.

ELECTRIC GUITAR HISTORY
From Maurice De Castro
($6.99)

The Electric Guitar History app shows users the evolution of the electric guitar. Browse through a timeline of the most important electric guitar events including videos and information about legendary guitars and guitarists.

AMPLITUBE
From: IK Multimedia
($19.99/Free)

Turn your iPad into a virtual stomp box with Amplitube – the ultimate mobile guitar and bass multi-effects processor! Easy to understand and use, the free version of Amplitube comes with a single track recording feature as well as three pedals (delay, noise gate and distortion) and a wide selection of amp models to choose from. Multi-track recording, additional pedals and presets are available with the paid version.

TAB TOOLKIT
From: Agile Partners
($9.99)

Download tabs from the Internet, and then save and catalog them for later use. Tabs are arranged by song name or by artist and can be bookmarked for easy recall.
The interface shows you the notes, tab, and the fret board position so you can see where the notes and chords are being played.

50 ROCK GUITAR LICKS YOU MUST KNOW
From True Fire
($4.99)

“50 Rock Guitar Licks You MUST Know” is available only for iPad. This wildly popular series of apps includes 50 interactive video lessons, standard notation and tab, text commentary and practice rhythm tracks. All video and lesson content is downloaded along with the app.

==== About the Author ====
James O’Donnell is an internet content specialist working for ScreenTek Inc., a Houston based company that specializes in providing OEM replacement iPad digitizer screens.