The Tools
Ear Training
Name what you hear. Three modes — intervals, chord quality, chord progressions — across three difficulty levels, in ten-question rounds. Song anchors for the intervals you don't know yet, streaks for the ones you do.
Mode
Difficulty
Hints
Train your ear.
Two notes, played one after the other and then together. Name the gap. Ten questions a round. Five minutes a day, every day, and songs start to sound like math.
Keys: number keys answer · R replays · N next
How to practice
Five minutes a day beats an hour on Sunday. Start in Intervals → Easy with the song anchors on: unison, both 3rds, the perfect 5th, and the octave. Those five cover most melodies and every basic chord. When you clear a round above 90%, switch the hints off and run the same set again — the hint is scaffolding, and the point is to take it down.
Then move up. Medium adds the rest of the diatonic set (2nds, the 4th, 6ths, 7ths); Hard adds the minor 2nd, the tritone, and the minor 6th — the three that trip everyone up. Chord quality and progression modes gate the same way: triads, then 7ths, then 9ths, sus chords, and m7♭5.
The whole thing is keyboard-driven: number keys pick an answer, R replays, N moves on. You can run a round without touching the mouse, which is the difference between a drill you do daily and a toy you open once.
The study path
This trainer is the drill; the theory behind it is written up in two guides. Read them in this order:
- Intervals explained — the twelve intervals welded to twelve songs you already know, each one playable in the article. This is the source of the hints in the trainer.
- Learning songs by ear— the four-step process working musicians use to pull a song off a record. Ear training is step zero; this is what it's for.
Then take the ear back to the instrument:
- Scale Explorer — hear any scale ascending and descending, then name the gaps
- Circle of Fifths — the map that explains why the I-IV-V progression sounds like home
- Chord progressions — the full library behind the progression quiz, with songs that use each one
- Metronome — pair the drill with a click when you take it to the instrument
Why intervals come first
An interval is the distance between two notes, and everything else in music is intervals stacked. A major chord is a major 3rd with a minor 3rd on top. A minor chord flips them. A dominant 7th adds a minor 3rd above that. Once your ear names intervals reliably, chord quality stops being a memory game — you hear the 3rd, you know whether it's major or minor, and the label follows.
Progressions work the same way one level up. The reason I-V-vi-IV is recognizable in any key is that the ear tracks relationships, not absolute pitches. Learn the shape once and you own it in all twelve keys.
FAQ
Common questions.
What is ear training?
Ear training is the practice of naming what you hear — the distance between two notes, the quality of a chord, the shape of a progression — without seeing it written down. It's the skill that lets you learn a song off a record instead of off a tab site.
How long does it take to recognize intervals by ear?
Most players lock in the five easy intervals (unison, both 3rds, the 5th, the octave) within a couple of weeks of daily five-minute drills. All twelve usually takes two to three months. Consistency beats session length — ten minutes every day beats an hour once a week.
Should I use the song hints?
Yes, at first. Welding each interval to a hook you already know — Jaws for the minor 2nd, Twinkle Twinkle for the perfect 5th — is the fastest way in. Switch the hints off once you're above 80% accuracy; the crutch dissolves and the sound becomes the label.
What's the difference between melodic and harmonic intervals?
Melodic intervals play one note after the other, like a melody. Harmonic intervals play both notes at once, like a chord. Melodic is easier to hear first; harmonic is what you actually need for identifying chords, so this trainer plays both on every question.
Do I need to read music to do ear training?
No. Every answer here is a name — 'Perfect 5th', 'Minor 7th', 'I-V-vi-IV' — not a notated staff. Ear training and sight-reading are separate skills, and plenty of great players have one without the other.
Is my progress saved?
Your best streak per mode and difficulty is stored in your browser's localStorage. There's no account, no email, and nothing leaves your device — clearing site data resets the streak.
Which mode should I start with?
Intervals on easy. Intervals are the atoms — chord qualities are stacked intervals, and progressions are chord qualities in motion. Get the five easy intervals solid before you touch chord quality.