Ear training
Five minutes a day, a real piano sound and instant feedback. Pick a drill and start listening.
- IntervalsHear the distance between two notes, from a half step to an octave.Start →
- Chord qualitiesMajor, minor, diminished, augmented and the five kinds of seventh chord.Start →
- Note namesHear one note and find it on the keyboard.Start →
Why train your ear?
A trained ear is what lets you pick out a tune without looking it up, hear when a string has drifted out of tune, follow the chords in a band and sing in harmony. It is not a talent you either have or don’t: it is a skill, and it grows with short, regular practice like any other.
These drills train relative pitch, the ability to hear the distance between notes and the colour of a chord. That is the part of musical hearing that helps most in everyday playing, whatever your instrument.
How to practise
Each drill follows the same loop: you hear a question, you answer, and you know at once whether you were right. After a wrong answer the right one plays again, so your ear connects the sound with its name straight away.
- Start small. Two or three intervals or chord types are enough at first; add more when you get eight out of ten right.
- Sing or hum what you hear before you answer. Your voice is the fastest way to make a sound stick.
- Practise little and often: five minutes every day beats an hour once a week.
- Use the replay button as much as you like. The goal is to hear, not to guess fast.
A simple four-week plan
Week one: major and minor chords, then the octave, fifth and major third. Week two: add the fourth and the minor third, and try intervals played downwards. Week three: the single-note drill with white keys only, always starting from the reference C.
Week four: seventh chords and the remaining intervals. By then you will notice the work paying off away from the drills: chords on the radio start to sound like names, and finding a melody on your instrument gets quicker.
Your scores stay with you
Scores and settings are stored in your browser only. There is no account and nothing is sent to a server, so your progress is private and ready on this device whenever you come back.