Ear Training Site Profile: TrainEar.com
Continuing in our series of ear training site profiles… Interval association is a method of ear training in which you find specific examples of each interval in popular songs, thus giving you a little more context for memorizing each one. This can be especially...
Ear Training Site Profile: Big Ears
Continuing in our series of ear training site profiles… The Big Ears online ear trainer is not complicated. It’s not one of those programs with a million settings, or an overwhelming list of scales and modes. It’s simply an interval trainer. But if you want to...
Ear Training Site Profile: IWasDoingAllRight.com
IWasDoingAllRight.com offers online ear training apps. Unlike some of the other ear training app sites featured in this series though, the site has far more to offer than just these programs. We’ll do another article in future dedicated to the site’s jazz...
Learning to Recognize Intervals
When you learn to recognize intervals you build your core sense of relative pitch which lets you play by ear, improvise and create your own music.
What is an interval?
An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes. Intervals are the building blocks of melody and harmony, and learning to recognise the different types of interval can help you understand harmony, transcribe melodies, and play by ear. It powers your sense of...How can I improve at harmonic intervals?
If you’ve mastered the ascending and descending forms of an interval but are having difficulty with the harmonic version (both notes at once) there are a number of things you can try: 1. Sing it back Singing is probably the most powerful way to improve your...Why do unison and octave intervals sound the same?
Harmonic unison and octave intervals are difficult to distinguish. It can be frustrating when taking a quiz, but it does reflect a real musical challenge. The problem is that two notes an octave apart share the vast majority of the ‘overtones’ from which...What comes after intervals ear training?
It depends what you want to improve on in music! Depending on your instrument and interests, there are various areas which can be worth developing your ear for. For example: If you’re a guitar player, it’s likely that chords ear training will be a useful...Is it better to master certain interval types before moving on to others?
This really depends on how you personally progress as you learn intervals. Learning to recognise intervals is quite a specific skill, but it gradually builds your overall relative pitch ability. This means that there aren’t hard “dependencies” about...Why can't I tell whole steps from half steps?
Distinguishing intervals which are close together, like semitone and tone (a.k.a. whole step and half step / major and minor seconds) is a sticking point for many students as they learn interval recognition. The RelativePitch app begins with these intervals and while...How do you use intervals to recognise notes by ear?
When musicians ask themselves “why learn intervals?” often the answer is “to recognise notes by ear”. Intervals can be seen as the “building blocks” with which melodies and harmonies are created, and so interval ear training helps...
Join Musical U
Musical U membership provides you with dozens of training modules, tools for goal-setting and planning, and a friendly, supportive community who will help you succeed.
Start reaching your true musical potential:
Listen/Watch The Podcast:
Ear Training Apps
Download free ear training apps to help you improve your ear for music:
