Free ear training exercises for intervals, chords and scales
This ear training page plays a sound and asks you to name it — the core drill behind relative pitch, playing by ear, transcribing solos and singing in tune. Three drills are built in: intervals (the distance between two notes, from a minor second to an octave), chords (major, minor, diminished, augmented and five kinds of seventh chord) and scales (major, the three minors, pentatonics, blues and the common modes).
Each question starts on a random note, so you learn to hear the shape of the sound rather than memorise one pitch. Your score, accuracy, current streak and best streak are kept for each drill — only in your browser’s local storage, never on a server — so you can treat it as an ear training game and try to beat your record.
How to use the Ear Training
- Pick a drill: Intervals, Chords or Scales.
- Open Choose what to practise and tick the answers you want in the mix. Start with a few that sound very different, such as a major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth and octave.
- Press New question. The sound plays once; press Replay as often as you like.
- Click the answer (or press its number key). A green answer means right; if you miss, the correct one lights up and the feedback names the notes.
- Add harder answers as your accuracy passes about 90%, switch intervals to descending or harmonic, and play chords as arpeggios when they are hard to separate.
Ear Training features
Ear training intervals
All twelve intervals within an octave, played ascending, descending, together or mixed, from a random root between C3 and C4 or always from C4.
Chord quality drill
Major, minor, diminished and augmented triads plus major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th, half-diminished and diminished 7th, as block chords or arpeggios.
Scale recognition
Twelve scales and modes built from the same interval formulas as the scale finder, ascending or up and back down.
Score, streak and weak spots
Accuracy and streaks per drill, plus a session table that shows which answers you confuse most.
Fast to use
Number keys answer, N asks a new question and R replays. Sound is synthesised with Web Audio, starts only after you press a button, and can be muted.
Interval reference and song cues
Many musicians learn intervals by linking each one to the opening of a familiar tune. Pick cues you already know well; the classic examples below are all ascending.
| Interval | Semitones | Sound / cue |
|---|---|---|
| Minor 2nd (m2) | 1 | Tense, close — the shark theme from Jaws |
| Major 2nd (M2) | 2 | “Happy Birthday” (first change) |
| Minor 3rd (m3) | 3 | “Greensleeves”, dark and sad |
| Major 3rd (M3) | 4 | “When the Saints Go Marching In”, bright |
| Perfect 4th (P4) | 5 | “Here Comes the Bride” (Wagner’s Bridal Chorus) |
| Tritone (TT) | 6 | Unstable — “Maria” from West Side Story |
| Perfect 5th (P5) | 7 | “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, open and hollow |
| Major 6th (M6) | 9 | “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” |
| Octave (P8) | 12 | The same note, higher — “Somewhere over the Rainbow” |
How the sounds are made
Notes are synthesised in your browser with the Web Audio API: a soft plucked tone built from a triangle wave plus a quiet second harmonic, shaped by a filter and a decaying envelope. Pitches use twelve-tone equal temperament with A4 = 440 Hz, the concert-pitch standard of ISO 16, so an interval of n semitones is a frequency ratio of 2n/12 (a perfect fifth is about 1.498).
Chord tones and scale steps come from the same music-theory engine as the scale finder and the piano chord finder, so a half-diminished chord here is exactly the m7♭5 shown there.
Tips for faster progress
- Practise little and often: ten minutes a day beats an hour once a week.
- Sing the notes back before answering — it trains your ear and your voice together.
- Listen for character first: major sounds bright, minor dark, diminished tense, augmented unresolved.
- Check yourself on a real instrument: find the notes on the online piano or the guitar fretboard map.
Ear Training FAQ
What is ear training?
Ear training is practice at recognising musical sounds — intervals, chords, scales, rhythms — by ear. It builds relative pitch, the skill of hearing how notes relate, which helps you play by ear, transcribe, improvise and sing in tune.
How do I start ear training intervals?
Begin with three or four intervals that sound very different (major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, octave), answer until you are right about nine times in ten, then add one more. Practise descending and harmonic intervals once ascending ones are easy.
Can ear training give me perfect pitch?
This trainer develops relative pitch, which is what most musicians rely on. Each question starts on a random note so you learn relationships, not fixed pitches; it does not claim to teach absolute (perfect) pitch.
Is this ear training game free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no limit. Your score and streaks are kept only in this browser’s local storage, and you can reset them per drill.
Why do I hear nothing?
Sound starts only after you press New question. Check that Mute is off, that your device volume is up, and that a silent switch is not on (iPhone).
Which chord types are included?
Major, minor, diminished and augmented triads, and major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th, half-diminished (m7♭5) and diminished 7th chords.