Ear training

Ear training means learning to recognise what you hear: which way a melody moves, how far apart two notes are, whether a chord is major or minor. It is what lets musicians pick out a tune by ear, sing in tune and hear their own mistakes as they play. A good ear is not only for musicians: it helps you learn songs, sing in tune with others and simply listen to music more closely.

Most of it is relative pitch — hearing notes in relation to each other. Unlike perfect (absolute) pitch, which names a note with no other note to compare it to, relative pitch is built by practice: short, but regular.

The first skill is direction: is the second note higher or lower than the first? On the piano, higher means further to the right.

The smallest step on the piano is a half step (a semitone): from one key to the very next, black or white. E–F and B–C are half steps too, because there is no black key between them. A whole step (a tone) is two half steps: C–D, or E–F♯. A half step sounds close and tight, a whole step a little more open.

Black keys are named after their white neighbours: C♯ is a half step above C, D♭ a half step below D — the same key with two names.

An interval is the distance between two notes. Its name counts the letter names it spans, both ends included: C–D is a second, C–E a third, C–G a fifth (C, D, E, F, G — five letters), and C up to the next C an octave.

Intervals of the same size can differ by a half step: C–E (four half steps) is a major third, C–E♭ (three) a minor third. Counted in half steps, a perfect fourth spans five, a perfect fifth seven and an octave twelve. The trainer asks for the size only, from a second to an octave — the right place to start.

Many people tie intervals to tunes they know: “Happy Birthday” climbs a second on “Birth-”, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” opens with a leap of a fifth, and “Somewhere over the Rainbow” with an octave.

A triad is three notes stacked in thirds. In a major triad the middle note is four half steps above the bottom one (C–E–G); in a minor triad it is three (C–E♭–G). The top note, a fifth above the root, is the same in both. That one half step in the middle is what most listeners hear as bright (major) or darker, sadder (minor).

In the trainer a triad sounds first as a chord, then note by note from the bottom up.

You hear two or three sounds — numbered discs pulse as they play — and you can replay them as often as you like. Then you answer. After your answer the keyboard lights up the keys, names the notes and plays them once more, so what you heard connects with what you see. Five levels:

• Higher or lower — two notes;
• Half or whole step;
• Intervals — second to octave;
• Major or minor — triads;
• Mixed — steps, intervals and triads.

A round is 10 questions. The optional 3- or 5-second timer starts only once the sounds have finished. At the end you see your first-try score, your longest streak and your best result for each level, which your browser remembers.

Short and often: five minutes a day beat an hour on Sunday. Sing or hum the two notes before you answer — your voice is the best ear trainer. Use headphones or decent speakers, start at the first level, and move on when you get 8 or 9 out of 10. Learn intervals in pairs that sound very different, such as a second and an octave, and add close pairs — a third and a fourth — later.

And listen actively to music you like: does the melody go up or down? Is that chord major or minor?