1. Get the game for free
The game can be installed from the iOS AppStore for iPhones and iPads, or from Google play store for Android phones and tablets. Below are links to the product pages in the shops. Tadadaa Bow Quest works on all modern Apple and Android phones and tablets.
2. Choose your instrument
You can choose between violin or viola. Once you select the instrument the game will contain all the right content for that instrument.
Tadadaa Bow Quest has a built-in tuner, so you can check that the instrument is properly tuned or verify your pitch. In general, we consider A4 to be 440Hz, but you can change this if needed (in some places A4 is 442Hz, so this is fully supported).
The tuner even shows which string is being played and which fine-tuner to adjust. Strings with good tuning are marked with green, so that you do not need to worry about what it is in tune and what is not.
3. Have fun
This is Violin World, filled with music and stories. The pieces are organized into 12 areas. Each of the areas deals with one violin/viola skill (pizzicato, bowing, finger patterns etc.). The stories tell about the creatures of the world and their adventures. Maybe you want to read them all at once? Go ahead, but you will need to play your violin to read the stories(!)
Zoom around and explore different places. Each area has a story to tell and music to play. The pieces start from very simple and progress to more advanced.
Now it is time to select some music and play! You can play with a metronome or a piano accomaniment. The tempo is also adjustable, and you can even use a walk-through mode to learn the piece one note at time.
Immediately after playing, you get to see how well you did. The better you play, the more you earn coins.
After playing the game, you can look at the details of your gameplay. Tap on the bars to see how good your pitch and timing was for each note.
As you play, you also earn coins. The are used to unlock the stories. More coins, more stories.
4. Loudspeakers and microphones
Tadadaa Bow Quest plays the click signal and performance samples via loudspeakers. You can use the loudspeakers of the phone/tablet or connect the device to external loudspeakers. We recommend the latter as it gives better sound quality – it is just more enjoyable. You can use Bluetooth loudspeakers/home audio system or connect to the amplifier with a cable, whichever is easier for you.
When you start the game, it will ask for access to the microphone. This is needed, so that the game can hear what you are playing and can grade it and give feedback accordingly.
You can easily test the operation of both loudspeakers and microphones within the application.