Flashnote Derby is a fun, effective way for kids to learn and practice reading music notes.
Perfect for piano, guitar, band, orchestra, and general music students, this teacher-created app turns note recognition into an engaging game that works equally well at home or in music lessons.
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Race to Learn Music Notes
Each race is a fast-paced challenge: identify notes correctly to speed your horse toward the finish line. Missed or slow answers allow the other horses to catch up.
After each round, students can review the notes they missed—turning every race into a meaningful learning opportunity.
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New! Practice Mode (No Timer, No Stress)
Students can now choose a relaxed 'practice mode' with unlimited time for each note.
Perfect for beginners, this mode builds accuracy and confidence before racing competitively.
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Multiple Ways to Answer
Players can answer flashcards in a variety of of ways:
•Play the note on an any instrument. Flashnote Derby will hear and understand what you play. (Works with transposing instruments too!)
•Use a MIDI instrument
•Tap on-screen letter names
•Or play notes on the on-screen piano keyboard
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Fully Customizable for Any Student
Tailor each drill to match your student’s level:
•Treble, bass, alto, or tenor clef
•Select specific note ranges or individual notes
•Add sharps, flats, or full key signatures
•Adjust time limits (or remove them entirely in Practice Mode)
•Expand difficulty all the way up to five-and-a-half ledger lines above and below the staff.
As skills grow, you can increase the challenge. Higher difficulty earns higher scores—keeping students motivated.
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Multiple themes keeps practice fresh.
In addition to the classic horse race, students can take flight with the whimsical Pretty Pegasus course, blast through an arcade-style space challenge in Ecliptic Encounter, or switch to the seasonal Reindeer Race during the holidays.
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Built for Teachers, Loved by Students
Flashnote Derby is designed to fit easily into lessons:
•Quick to set-up and perfect for a 1–2 minute warm-up
•Send homework assignments directly to students
•Track progress automatically
•See which notes need more review
Teachers see real improvement. Students stay engaged. Parents appreciate the progress.
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Why Flashnote Derby Works
Many students struggle because drilling note names feels boring and difficult. Flashnote Derby turns this essential skill into a game—one they’ll want to keep playing.
A little daily practice adds up quickly, and early success builds confidence that lasts.
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Get on the road to confident music reading today!
Download Flashnote Derby and help your young musician master notes with joy—not frustration.
My piano teacher makes me use this all the time :( it works but I still don’t like it :,(
A little upset…
Lizajane87
Oh no! Updated this app and it completely wiped all my student data and names and I wasn’t able to access the settings, as that had disappeared as well. Had to reinstall and I’ve lost my student names/data. THEN worst thing is I have already made worksheets to use along with this app with the old speeds of Walk, Trot, Canter and Gallop - which my students are working their way up the speeds - now it’s all changed (after I’ve got several new students to purchase it)- the timer has one less category and the unlimited is not useful as a replacement of one of the speeds you had. Can you reinstall the speed options you had? The sliding scale is very difficult to toggle when using a phone as well - including the selection of how many questions you want as well. I’m sorry to say - this is a little bit of a downgrade for people like me who have been using this successfully prior to this update. I’m a little distressed by the changes…can you reinstate some of the old features please. It was great the way it was!Hope you can appreciate the feedback from a consistent user over many years.
Disappointing
BennyDavis
Pretty counter intuitive that the actual gameplay doesn’t teach the note names of the staff, but they have to be learnt from some very dry 7-minute videos hidden in the settings menu. Even then, the notes aren’t sung or played so there’s no connection between the visual and the aural, a real basic music ed principle. Was hoping for the price that it would have levels for progressive advancement and rewards to encourage children to learn, but it’s very bare bones and as my 5 year old said, “Boring”. Wouldn’t be so upset by it if I hadn’t paid $8 for it when it’s worse than most $2 apps. Going to ask for a refund.
Perfect for learning the musical staff
Graciiiieee
Great app! I use this in private & group sessions with my students and they love it. It’s been a big help in my group lessons, and there are a lot of different levels available. Perfect for any instrument also, as it offers all 4 clefs.
Fixes an issue where the app wasn’t recognizing played notes on some devices.
Version 4.0.4
The developer, Luke Bartolomeo, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Contact Info
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Luke Bartolomeo
Size
96.3 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.6 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 16.6 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 16.6 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 13.5 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
Languages
English and 5 more
English, German, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese