Best interval ear training apps in 2026: 10 options compared
If you want to learn intervals by ear, the app matters less than whether it lets you drill the right intervals, in both directions and as harmonic dyads, every day. Ten interval trainers compared on price, platforms, and what they actually let you practice.
Interval recognition is the first thing most musicians try to train by ear: hear two notes, name the distance. Almost every ear training app has an interval drill. They differ in three ways that decide whether you get better. Can you choose which intervals to drill? Does it cover ascending, descending and harmonic (both notes at once)? And does it push you back to the intervals you keep missing?
We make one of the apps below (Fifths, which opens on a fourths-and-fifths lesson in your browser). It is not first on this list, because for pure interval drilling some other tools do specific things better. Pricing below is as of October 2026, taken from each developer’s site or the US App Store. Prices change, so check before you buy.
If you’d rather try something first without installing anything, our free interval ear trainer runs in the browser.
Quick answer
| App | Platforms | Price (Oct 2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Ear Trainer | iOS, Android | Free; full version $6.99 one-time | A structured interval path on your phone |
| Tonedear | Web (paid app for offline use) | Web exercises free to use | Fully configurable drilling, including 9ths |
| Fifths | Web | Free tier; Pro $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr | A guided path plus stats on which intervals you miss |
| Theta Music Trainer | Web, iOS | 3 free levels per game; $9/mo or $39/yr | Interval games instead of quizzes |
| Tenuto / musictheory.net | iOS / Web | $4.99 one-time / free | Quick, no-frills drills |
| teoria.com | Web | No prices listed | Answering on a MIDI keyboard |
| Perfect Ear | iOS, Android | Free; Premium $14.99 | Cheap all-rounder with custom exercises |
| EarMaster | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | All-Access $49.95/yr; iOS modules from $1.99 | Interval singing as well as identification |
| Auricula | iOS | Free; Pro $8.99 | Drilling your weakest intervals on iPhone |
| MyEarTraining | iOS, Android, Web | Free; Premium $12.99 | A free option with lots of exercise types |
Short version: if you want a phone app that walks you through every interval in order, get Complete Ear Trainer. If you want total control for free in a browser, use Tonedear. If you want a guided path that tells you which intervals and directions you keep missing, try Fifths.
What makes a good interval trainer
Before the list, here’s what to look for. Most “best app” lists skip it.
- Custom interval selection. Early on you should drill two or three contrasting intervals (say, a perfect 4th against a perfect 5th), not all twelve at once. An app that only offers “all intervals” makes the beginning much harder than it needs to be.
- All three presentations. Ascending, descending and harmonic intervals sound different, and they are learned separately. Many people can name an ascending major 6th but miss the descending one. A good app drills each.
- Error-weighted repetition. The intervals you miss should come back more often. Some apps do this for you; with others you have to track it yourself.
- A tonal anchor, eventually. Intervals in real music happen inside a key. Pure interval drills are useful, but on their own they tend to plateau (we wrote about why in why interval drills alone don’t make you hear music). Look for an app that also trains scale degrees, or pair your interval app with one that does.
If you’re new to the topic, musical intervals explained covers what each interval sounds like and the song-mnemonic trick, including its limits.
The apps
1. Complete Ear Trainer
A free iOS and Android app from Binary Guilt with a one-time $6.99 unlock. The full version has more than 150 drills across 28 chapters in 4 levels, and covers 24 intervals (so compound intervals beyond the octave are included) along with chords, scales and melodic dictation. There’s also an easier mode and an arcade mode. A paid add-on gives cloud sync and web access.
Pros: a real progression through the material instead of a menu of quizzes; one-time price; covers the compound intervals most apps stop short of; actively updated. Cons: mobile-first; the chapter structure decides what you practice next, which some self-directed learners find restrictive. Best for: anyone who wants to be told what to do next and prefers to pay once.
2. Tonedear
A free-to-use website with interval, chord, scale, scale-degree and melodic-dictation exercises. The interval trainer is the most configurable one we found. You can choose ascending, descending, both, or harmonic, and pick exactly which intervals to include, from a minor 2nd up to a major 9th. Presets (“Simple”, “Diatonic”) help you start, and there are speed, fixed-root and keyboard-shortcut options. Tonedear sells iOS and Android apps for offline use; the site says they’re otherwise the same as the web version.
Pros: total control over what you drill; instant to start; includes 9ths; has an “intervals in context” exercise as well as isolated ones. Cons: no curriculum and little progress tracking, so you decide what to practice and when to move on. Best for: self-directed learners who know which intervals they need to work on.
3. Fifths (ours)
Fifths is a browser-based ear training app built around short lessons and per-item statistics. The interval section starts with harmonic perfect 4ths and 5ths. It then moves through 3rds, 6ths, 2nds, 7ths and tritones/major 7ths, each in harmonic, ascending and descending versions, and ends with all intervals mixed. The stats screen breaks your accuracy down by interval and direction, so you can see that your descending minor 6th is the problem rather than “intervals” in general. Fifths also has scale-degree, chord, progression and rhythm sections, which covers the “tonal anchor” point above.
Pros: a clear harmonic-then-melodic path; accuracy broken down per interval and direction; also trains scale degrees and chords in the same app; runs in any browser with no signup for the first lessons; no ads. Cons: no compound intervals (9ths and up) yet; you follow its groupings rather than choosing any set of intervals yourself; newer and smaller than most apps here; iOS and Android apps aren’t in the stores yet, so on a phone you use the browser. Pricing: the free tier includes the 4ths/5ths and 3rds lessons along with the foundations, tonality and scale-degree sections. Pro is $4.99/month or $39.99/year and unlocks the 6ths lessons, advanced chords, progressions and jazz harmony, plus full stats history and cloud sync. Best for: learners who want a guided route through intervals and want to see exactly which ones they miss.
Try the first interval lesson →
4. Theta Music Trainer
A web and iOS collection of about 50 ear training games across 12 courses. Seven of them are interval games, including Melodic and Harmonic Drops, Flash Intervals (melodic and harmonic), and Two Tones. The first three levels of every game are free, with three weekly credits for higher levels. An individual plan is $9/month or $39/year on the website (the iOS in-app price is listed at $7.99/month).
Pros: games are a good way to get repetitions in if quizzes bore you; separate harmonic and melodic games; generous free levels. Cons: the game format means less control over exactly which intervals you drill; the iOS app has few ratings and was last updated in March 2025. Best for: learners who will practice more if it feels like a game.
5. Tenuto and musictheory.net
musictheory.net offers free browser exercises for keyboard, note, interval, scale and chord recognition. Tenuto is the same team’s iPhone and iPad app: $4.99 paid up front, no in-app purchases, 24 exercises plus calculators. The interval exercise is simple: two notes play, you tap the name.
Pros: fast, plain, no signup; Tenuto is a one-time purchase; pairs with some of the clearest free theory lessons on the web. Cons: no curriculum or long-term progress tracking; Tenuto is Apple-only. Best for: students who want a quick drill alongside a theory class.
6. teoria.com
A long-running free music-theory site with melodic and harmonic interval identification, plus melodic, two-voice and four-voice dictation. One feature stands out: you can answer by clicking the interval name, picking the note on an on-screen keyboard, typing, or playing the answer on a MIDI keyboard. We couldn’t find any published prices; the site asks for donations.
Pros: answering by playing the note trains your hands as well as your ears; strong dictation modules for later. Cons: dated interface; little guidance on what to practice next. Best for: students with a MIDI keyboard, and those whose teacher already uses teoria.
7. Perfect Ear
An iOS and Android all-rounder from Crazy Ootka Software. It covers intervals (comparison and recognition), chords, scales, rhythm, solfège and a theory reference, with a custom exercise editor. It’s free to download. On iOS, Premium is $14.99 and individual packs (intervals, chords, scales, rhythm) are $0.99 each.
Pros: inexpensive; custom exercises let you build your own interval sets; broad coverage if you want one app for everything. Cons: breadth over depth, since the interval drills are standard multiple choice; we couldn’t confirm from the listing whether Premium is a one-time purchase or a subscription. Best for: phone users who want one cheap app covering several skills.
8. EarMaster
The most comprehensive commercial ear trainer, available on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, with more than 4,000 exercises. It has separate Interval Identification and Interval Singing sections, and the singing exercises grade your sung pitch through the microphone. On iOS each module is sold separately (“Interval Identification” and “Interval Singing” are $1.99 each). The One-Year All-Access Pass is $49.95 for all devices, and the desktop EarMaster Pro 7 licence is $59.95 one-time.
Pros: interval singing with pitch feedback is rare and very effective; huge depth once you outgrow intervals; exam-prep content for ABRSM and RCM. Cons: more app than you need if you only want interval drills; the per-module pricing on mobile takes some working out; no browser version listed for individuals. Best for: learners who want to sing intervals, not just name them. More in our EarMaster alternatives comparison.
9. Auricula: Interval Ear Trainer
A focused iPhone interval trainer. It’s free, and Auricula Pro ($8.99) adds descending, random and harmonic intervals plus the option to drill all intervals, your weakest ones, or a custom selection.
Pros: the “weakest intervals” mode does error-weighting for you; cheap; does one thing. Cons: iOS only; most of the useful options are in Pro. Best for: iPhone users who want a dedicated interval app and nothing else.
10. MyEarTraining
A free app for iOS and Android, with web exercises as well. It has more than 100 exercises covering intervals, chords, scales, progressions, melodies and rhythm, plus custom exercises and a daily challenge. Premium is $12.99 on iOS. The App Store privacy section lists advertising data, so expect ads in the free version, and the iOS app was last updated in May 2025.
Pros: wide exercise range at no cost; custom exercises. Cons: ads; slower update pace than the leaders. Best for: a free alternative to Perfect Ear.
Also worth knowing
- Interval Ear Trainer by JustinGuitar ($1.99, iOS) is still listed, but it hasn’t been updated since 2020.
- Good-Ear (good-ear.com) is a free browser quiz site that has been around for years, but it doesn’t appear to be maintained.
How to choose
- You want structure and a phone app: Complete Ear Trainer.
- You want to pick exactly what to drill, free: Tonedear.
- You want to see which intervals and directions you’re missing, and keep going into scale degrees and chords: Fifths.
- You get bored by quizzes: Theta Music Trainer.
- You want to sing intervals with feedback: EarMaster. Singers should also read best ear training apps for singers.
- You’re on iPhone and want one cheap, focused tool: Auricula or Tenuto.
Whatever you pick, two habits matter more than the app. First, drill descending and harmonic intervals as well as ascending ones. Second, practice a little every day: ten focused minutes daily beats an hour on Sunday (spaced repetition for musicians explains why). Once intervals feel solid, start hearing notes as scale degrees in a key. That’s the step that makes transcribing real music possible.
For a broader comparison that isn’t limited to intervals, see our best ear training apps roundup.
FAQ
What is the best free app for interval ear training? Tonedear is the most flexible free option and runs in any browser. musictheory.net is the simplest. Complete Ear Trainer, Perfect Ear, Auricula and Fifths all have useful free tiers, with paid upgrades for more content.
Which intervals should I learn first? Start with two that sound very different. Perfect 4th against perfect 5th, or major 3rd against perfect 5th, are common choices. Add one interval at a time once you’re above about 80–90% accuracy. Learning all twelve at once is the most common reason beginners give up.
Should I learn ascending, descending or harmonic intervals first? Most methods start with ascending. Fifths starts with harmonic 4ths and 5ths, because the blend of the two notes is easy to tell apart at first. Either way, you need all three eventually, and descending intervals usually lag behind. Drill them on purpose.
How long does it take to learn intervals by ear? It varies a lot. With daily practice, many adults can reliably name the simple intervals within a few weeks. The full set, in every direction and at speed, takes months. Daily consistency matters more than session length.
Are song mnemonics a good idea? They’re a useful crutch at the start (“Here Comes the Bride” for a perfect 4th). The catch is that you end up recalling a song instead of hearing the interval, which is too slow for real music. Use them to get started, then drop them.
Do I need perfect pitch to learn intervals? No. Interval recognition is relative pitch, which almost anyone can develop with practice. See can adults learn perfect pitch? for the separate question of absolute pitch.