redLUX Guitar isn't a single trick. It follows the natural arc of making music — hear the key, build the progression, see the notes that matter, solo over it, and write the song. Every area below works fully offline, on iPhone and iPad.
The Circle of Fifths wheel is where every session begins. Tap a key to hear its diatonic chords, see its relative minor and closely related keys, and jump straight into Progression Studio with that key already loaded.
Start from a proven progression across 23 genres, build a modal progression from the mode you pick, or roll a random one drawn only from progressions that actually work. Then make it yours.
Most scales here are built on a pentatonic backbone, so the shape teaches you the sound. The tonic is a ring you can't miss. Characteristic flavour notes appear as triangles — not just a different colour, but a different shape you can spot out of the corner of your eye. Stable foundation notes stay as quiet grey dots.
Most guitarists already live inside the pentatonic box — it's muscle memory. Instead of asking you to learn a brand-new seven-note pattern for every mode, redLUX overlays that same familiar shape with a second, distinct shape for the notes that actually define the mode's character.
A mode isn't a new pattern to memorize — it's the pentatonic box you already know, plus two notes. Look at an A Dorian map and the A minor pentatonic jumps out immediately; the triangles simply show where the major 6th and major 2nd slot in to transform it.
Modal soloing means intentionally landing on the notes that create a mode's flavor. Stick to the circles for a safe, familiar sound, or aim for the triangles to unlock something specific — Phrygian's brooding ♭2, Dorian's bright 6th — instead of wandering.
Color-coding breaks down in bright sun and for colorblind players. Two distinct geometries read instantly, even in your peripheral vision, so you can spot the flavor notes without ever looking away from the strings you're fretting.
Hit a clashing note while practicing a mode? Glance at the map and see exactly which triangle you lingered on too long — and why. Modal tension stops being abstract theory and becomes something you can point to.
Layers puts one chord at a time on top of the scale, so you can see exactly which notes land on the chord you're playing over. Step through a progression and the highlighted tones move with it.
Strip away everything but the fretboard. Full-screen mode goes edge to edge in landscape or portrait, with every position for the scale stacked and ready.
Slide any chord shape through all five CAGED positions up the neck and see exactly how they connect — the moment every player chases. Then tap an extension and the ghost dots show which single finger moves to turn that shape into a maj7, a 6, an add9 or a sus.
A searchable library of every chord type, with inversions and slash chords — the common shapes and the complex, rarely-documented ones — so you keep discovering harmonic colours instead of settling for the first shape that fits.
Every three-note shape on every string set, in root position and both inversions. Turn on Voice Leading, pick a target chord, and its notes appear as ghost dots at the nearest inversion — so you can see exactly how each voice moves.
Add lyrics directly against your chords, organise your growing repertoire, transpose with smart capo suggestions, and print or export when you're ready.
Short ear-training games and theory quizzes built for a commute or a waiting room — something better to reach for than mindless scrolling.
A tuner you will actually reach for and a metronome that does more than click — both built in, both offline.
Fast, accurate chromatic tuning with automatic string detection. Choose a Needle, Bar, Strobe or Waveform display, set your reference pitch, filter out room noise, and mirror the whole thing for left-handed players.
Real drum grooves instead of a bare click, tap tempo, and a tempo trainer that ramps the BPM automatically while you loop a lick — the proven way to build clean speed.
Build a solo sheet from a key, your own chords, or a Songbook import: the scales, positions, arpeggios, triads and voicings for your song, gathered on one page. Swipe an item away to drop it, and reopen the sheet exactly as you left it.
A backing-track library with folders, and recording in perfect sync over any track — adjustable mix, USB-C input support, and a take library to play back, rename and share.
Star any chord, triad or voice-leading pair into folders you control, with quick reordering and search — your own reference book, built as you go.
Guitar (6, 7 and 8-string), bass (4 and 5-string) and ukulele, any tuning and capo. Full left-handed support, high contrast, bigger tap targets, bold text, reduced motion, Dynamic Type and VoiceOver — in eight languages.
redLUX Guitar is a universal app. On iPad the navigation moves to a sidebar-friendly layout, the fretboards get room to stretch, and solo sheets can show their diagrams in two columns — a layout that carries straight into full screen.
redLUX Guitar is being rebuilt for Android. It's actively in development — no release date to promise yet. The iPhone and iPad app is available today.
No accounts to create. No ads to dismiss. No usage data leaving your device. redLUX Guitar works completely offline after download — even in the middle of nowhere.
