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Cub Climb
Reasoning puzzles

New from Cub Climb · Ages 3 and up

Learn to read music, one note at a time.

Cub Climb Melody puts a note on the staff and asks your child to tap its name. A right answer plays the note on their own instrument and earns a star. Five in a row is a party, and the cub plays back the tune those five notes make. A cub climbs with them, one new set of notes at a time.

  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • A
  • B
Download on theApp Store

iPhone and iPad. Free to start, then $14.99 once for the whole family. No account, no ads, nothing about your child leaves the device.

A new note: F on the treble staff, in green, with its name under it and only its own button lit

Inside the app

A note, its name, and a cub who climbs with them.

  • The climb: the notes already learned, where the child is now, and what is still to come

    The climb

  • A wrong answer: the right name, C, under the note, and where it sits on the staff

    A wrong answer, and a hint

  • A card with a sharp: a sign button, then the letter

    Sharps and flats

  • A Rhythm & Signs card: a musical sign and its meaning to tap

    Rhythm & Signs

How it works

Every card ends with the answer seen.

  1. 01

    Meet the note

    Each new note arrives in its colour, with its name under it, its sound, and only its own button lit.

  2. 02

    Tap its name

    C to B, or Do to Ti. A right answer plays the note in their instrument’s voice and earns a star.

  3. 03

    Learn from a miss

    A wrong answer shows the right name under the note and says where it sits: “It’s on the bottom line.”

  4. 04

    Climb higher

    The climb goes on when the notes are learned: read with no colour, and mostly right.

Help that fades

As a note is learned, its colour fades to a pale tint and then to plain ink. A note only counts as read when it’s right with no colour showing, so matching colours can’t fake it. A miss brings the colour back for that one note.

Review just before forgetting

Notes come back after a day, then at growing gaps. A child back on a new day warms up on what they learned before. Forgetting sends one note back for practice; no one slides back down the climb.

Built for their instrument

It starts where their first lesson does.

Middle C for a pianist, the open strings for a violinist, bass clef for a cellist, alto clef for a violist. Every right answer sounds in their own instrument’s voice.

  • Piano, or “not yet”

    Treble, then bass clef

    Middle C, D, E

  • Violin

    Treble clef

    The open strings: G, D, A, E

  • Viola

    Alto clef

    The open strings: C, G, D, A

  • Cello

    Bass clef

    The open strings: C, G, D, A

  • Guitar

    Treble clef

    E, F, G on the top string

  • Recorder, flute

    Treble clef

    G, A, B

  • Clarinet

    Treble clef

    E, F, G

  • Trumpet

    Treble clef

    C, D, E

For every age from about 3

As much reading as they can do.

Children of 7 and up start with a short check of what they can already read, so a child who reads starts where they read.

  • Ages 3–5

    Sees
    Only the note buttons they’re learning, big; almost no words.
    Hears
    The question and every answer, spoken by the cub.

  • Ages 6–7

    Sees
    All seven buttons and short words.
    Hears
    Every answer spoken; the question when they tap the speaker.

  • Ages 8+

    Sees
    All seven buttons and full written hints, including the rhymes for the lines and spaces.
    Hears
    The question when they tap the speaker.

What it teaches

From a first note to key signatures.

  1. Lines and spaces

    Across the staff a line or space at a time, then ledger lines. Piano does it again in bass clef.

  2. Sharps, then flats

    Sharp Summit and Flat Rock, on every note read so far. The sign, then the letter.

  3. Octaves

    Octave Echo: a named note, and the same letter eight notes away.

  4. Naturals

    Natural Nook: a sharp or flat in a bar, then the same note again, plain or cancelled.

  5. Key signatures

    Key Castle: G, D, F and B♭ major, and which notes the key changes.

And a second climb from age 5: Rhythm & Signs

A sign on the card and its meaning to tap: note lengths, rests, dots and ties, time signatures, loud and quiet from pp to ff, getting louder or quieter, and tempo words from Adagio to Presto. Each answer plays what the sign means.

For families

Made the way Cub Climb is made.

Short sessions with an end

15 to 25 cards, then “Today’s climb is done”. Playing on is allowed; stopping is the default. Stars are never taken away.

A profile for every child

Each with their own name, buddy, age and instrument. Behind a parental gate, grown-ups see which notes are solid, due for review or still being learned.

$14.99 once, the whole family

Free to start. One purchase of $14.99 opens all the music for every child in the house. Nothing renews, there is nothing to cancel, and Family Sharing is on.

Nothing leaves the device

No account, no ads, no analytics, no microphone. Progress is saved on the device, and the cub’s voice and the instrument sounds work offline.

Is there a first lesson coming up?

A few minutes a day, a note at a time, on any instrument or none yet. Free to start, then $14.99 once — nothing renews.

Download on theApp Store