Dylan’s app, Chord Solver, is based upon a website that he previously created, but with a slightly new approach.
Available for purchase on the iOS app store, “Chord Solver is a music theory app to help you spell chords, scales and identify intervals. Enter a note and that note will become the root of the chord or scale. Or, enter two different notes and Chord Solver identifies the interval.”
His hope for this app is "to be a supplement to learning complex music theory chords, as well as exposing others to experiment with chords and scales that they didn't know existed. This app can extend your musicianship by helping you learn more complex scales, as well as the more complex chords in those scales.”
Throughout the process of creating the app, Dylan was able to learn a new programming language, how apps are developed, and bridge the gap between his degree programs - a major in Computer Science with minors in music performance and music theory and history. As a project-based learner, completing a fairly simple project was the perfect way to introduce himself to the new concepts while also creating a product that could be useful to both himself and other students in the future.
“The time in my life that I started creating this app was a big transition for me as I was going from primarily focusing on music to primarily focusing on computer science,” Dylan explains. “This app allowed me to really stretch my knowledge about chords and scales, as well as truly begin my career as a software engineer as I turned the notes into numbers, finding patterns between them, and turning those patterns into useful methods to "solve" chords and scales.”
The process of creating the app was not only a great learning experience, but it was also something he really enjoyed as well.
“The most rewarding part of this process was seeing a usable product on my own phone as I coded. I was able to show my friends the app on my phone as I coded more and more. I was spending hours and hours writing code, so once I was able to put it onto my phone and show others my progress, it encouraged me to power on to finish the app.”
The Chord Solver app is available on the iPhone app store.