If you’re good enough you might win the opportunity to perform the piece on stage.

Minimalist composer Steve Reich isn’t the most obvious subject for a video game, but a new iOS app based on his 1972 piece Clapping Music might be the toughest rhythm action title since Rock Band.

The original piece is, as the name suggests, entirely performed by clapping. Two people clap the same short rhythmic pattern while one shifts the pattern by a beat until the patterns align again.

If you’ve ever played a rhythm action game you’ll know exactly what to expect – follow the pattern and try to hit each note as it illuminates. Being based on Clapping Music however it’s fiendishly difficult – on the easiest setting we barely achieved a score of 299.

Conceived by the London Sinfonietta and developed by Touchpress and Queen Mary University of London, the app isn’t just a meant as a distraction for the commute – if you’re good enough, you can submit your high scores for the chance to perform the piece live on stage with the London Sinfonietta.

The app is also part of a research project run by Queen Mary University of London to discover whether games can help people learn musical skills and develop a deeper engagement with the arts. There are prizes being offered for those willing to answer some questionnaires – more on that here.

You can download the game for free at the App Store now, and when you’ve finished with that, check FACT’s list of the best quick, cheap and easy music-making apps for iOS. [via Ask Audio]