By combining traditional music methodologies with the latest digital technology, today’s young musicians have the best of both worlds. While learning how to play an musical instrument, kids have an opportunity presented to them unlike any other from previous generations.

They have the chance to learn music faster and retain it longer by accessing hundreds of adaptive music tools through their smart devices. Here are a few reasons why apps are good for young musicians:

1. They help children learn to read music, which includes scales, chords, and notes. Apps like Music Tutor improve sight-reading for beginners. Users can choose to practice between treble clef, bass clef, or both for a duration of 1, 5, or 10 minutes. After each test, users can review their mistakes and see their overall progress. This app eliminates the need for paper tests and calculates users’ accuracy more efficiently.
2. They allow children to make creative compositions. Apps like Morton Subotnick’s Pitch Painter combines art and music. Kids use their finger to “paint” on a blank canvas, which creates a short musical composition. Children can choose from a variety of instruments, so they can see and hear the music they’ve created.
3. They teach kids basic music fundamentals. Other apps like Noteflight allow kids to create more complex musical compositions than Pitch Painter by adjusting the crescendo and other neat effects. This app also teaches more advanced students the basic fundamentals of music theory and notation, so they can study outside of the classroom environment.
4. They give kids the opportunity to play on the go. Classical instruments can be heavy and hard to carry around, so to keep your kids practicing, download an app like MiniPiano, which turns the screen into 14 piano keys and a foot pedal, or Music Sparkles – All in One Musical Instruments Collection HD, which comes with a drum kit or xylophone (and 12 more instruments upon paid upgrade).
5. They connect young musicians from around the world. Instead of letting your child find their way across social media like Twitter or Facebook, use an app like Franktown Rocks. This social networking app is a safe spot for kids to listen to parentally pre-screened music with other young musicians. Franktown Rocks comes with easy games, informative videos, and a virtual world to explore and appreciate music with your musically minded friends.
6. They expand their musical horizons. Music streaming apps like Pandora Radio, Apple Music, and iHeartRadio give young listeners the chance to expand their musical horizons. Pandora lets users choose a station based on artist, genre, time period, and other niches while Apple Music provides access to more than 30 million songs, hand-selected playlists, and a global radio station. iHeartRadio brings live commercial radio to a multitude of devices based on region, genre, or format. The best part is that all of these music-streaming apps come with censorship options, so you can block the insensitive content.

Though we listed only nine of our favorite apps on the market, there are about 1.5 million music apps available for your young musician as of June 2015. After your kids get your permission, they can start downloading as many of these beneficial apps as your device can store. It’s definitely worth it.