Little Session

Little Session is a companion app for Irish traditional musicians that lets you search, learn and play over 22,000 tunes from the world's largest Irish trad music database; the app renders each tune as clean sheet music from ABC notation, supports adjustable playback speed and looping for practice, and displays real-time fingerings so you can follow along on your instrument.

Key Features

Search and play over 22,000 tunes with clear ABC-based notation, control playback speed and loop sections for focused practice. Tune recognition identifies melodies you play or whistle by comparing them to the large tune database. The app shows real-time fingerings for 14 instruments, including tin and low whistle, Boehm flute, uilleann pipes, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, banjo, cistre, piano, diatonic and chromatic accordion, and Anglo concertina. Automatic chord suggestions are derived from modal analysis and can be edited per measure. Build and manage sets, drag to reorder and tag sets by session or level. A community map helps find traditional music sessions and import venue repertoire into your sets (session discovery currently limited to France).

Advantages

The large tune library gives quick access to archival material for learning and performance. Practice-focused tools such as speed control, looping and clear notation make learning efficient and precise. Little Session keeps your music on your device, requires no account, contains no ads and does not track you. A one-time premium upgrade unlocks all 14 instrument fingerings, unlimited sets, tune recognition and chord suggestions without subscriptions.

Disadvantages

Little Session's session discovery via the community map is currently limited to France and will expand over time. The free tier is limited to two instruments and five sets, and advanced features require the premium purchase. The app is focused on Irish traditional repertoire, so it may be less useful for other musical genres.