PLAYER app breaks songs down into chords and keys

For the musical souls among us, singing along to a song but not being able to figure out the chords can be a drag. Musician, engineer and app-maker Johnny Quattro (a rocker's name if ever there was one) knows that feeling all too well - or, rather, he used to.

With funding from local investors, the Hong Kong-based 43-year-old Australian spent a year developing PLAYER, a music app that breaks down songs into their guitar chords and piano keys.

Launched this month, the app has already scooped the Editor's Choice award in the Apple App Store. Quattro believes PLAYER is popular because it allows anyone - from beginners to expert songwriters - to play along to the songs on their playlist.

"When I was 13, I learned guitar by playing and pausing vinyl records over and over again," Quattro says.

"That's a common way to learn music in the West, so I decided to combine my music-learning experience with smart-phone technology."

PLAYER is connected to a user's iTunes library. Once you press the "learn" button next to a song, the app analyses it and shows sheet music for the guitar, ukulele or piano. You can then play along either in real time, three-quarter time or at half-speed.