Jimi Guitar. A Rockin’ Guitar Simulator App for Android!
by Paul Wilks
Nov 15, 2011 10:02 AM –
Install
Jimi Guitar is guitar simulator for Android. The app comes with a variety of modes and guitar types to play in addition to chord settings, free play, pre-set songs with lyrics and even a guitar tuner function. While it’s not going to replace an actual guitar, it’s still great for practice and has some cool tracks you can learn on it.
Price: Free, $3.99
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Huge range of features and functions!
- Guitar tuner!
- Easy to navigate and play!
- Responsive!
Cons
- No means to record your efforts.
Features:
Jimi Guitar is an excellent guitar sim for Android. First of all you can choose your weapon from a nice selection: steel-string, 12 strings, nylon string, Electric (chorus), Electric (overdrive) and Electric (distortion). The viewed area on your device replicate the strings and the frets- squeezing it onto your screen. You might want to hold on quite tightly when you’re rocking out with your device, as it lacks the strap a real guitar might have!
Under preferences you’ll find the variety of options and tweaks that are the heart of this app. After choosing your guitar you can alter orientation, whether you are left or right handed. You can increase the number of frets you see up to 9, although this reduces the space you have for strings and strumming. Notation settings can be switched from the usual (A B C D E F G) to the Latin (Do Re Mi Fa So La Si). As we’ll get onto later, you can go into song mode and have lyrics presented as you play along. There’s a setting here too for altering the font size of these lyrics. You can also rearrange the custom chords you get in chord mode to suit your own preferences.
There are 4 modes to choose from. Firstly there’s Free Mode which basically lets you do whatever you like. Chord Mode removes the frets and lets you instead select the chords you want to play. Song Mode lets you select a song from the catalogue that you can then play with assistance. There’s an eclectic mix of tastes here from the ancient Frog Went A-Courtin’ and Greensleeves to the majestic House of the Rising Sun. There is also a wide selection of songs that can be downloaded from the service. In just a few moments I had downloaded REM’s ‘Shiny Happy People’ and was playing along. You can also select the ‘Fingerings’ mode which shows you which frets cause which chords; great for practice.
There are also a smattering of other settings and features worth a mention; tuner, capo settings, in-depth help section and UI customizations such as how strings are highlighted. One thing I felt was missing was the ability to record yourself playing, and subsequent ability to share your efforts. It just seems weird something like this couldn’t be included in this otherwise thorough and brilliant app.
Watch on Mobile
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Jimi Guitar – Typical view
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Jimi Guitar – String view
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Jimi Guitar – Chords and strings
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Jimi Guitar – Song player (1)
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Jimi Guitar – Song player (2)
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Jimi Guitar – Splash screen
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Jimi Guitar – Song list
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Jimi Guitar – Modes
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Jimi Guitar – Guitar choice
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Jimi Guitar – Capo settings
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Jimi Guitar – Options
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Jimi Guitar – Settings
Usefulness:
For guitar fans, people learning the instrument or people who have exhausted everything Guitar Hero could throw at them, this is a great app with stacks of features.
Ease of Use:
Jimi Guitar is simple to use and navigate, and the help section is good if you’re a little unsure of some of the phrases and jargon.
Frequently Used:
This very much depends on the user. It doesn’t really replace a real guitar (and certainly doesn’t have a strap!) but it’s perhaps good for people to be playing with on public transport and it’s much more practical to carry around!
Interface:
The UI is very smooth, responsive and polished. The different guitars look great and the menus, etc. are clear and smart.