Interval ear trainer
Hear two notes, name the interval, get instant feedback. Free, no signup.
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Hear two notes, name the interval, get instant feedback. Free, no signup.
Leave random starting note on. If every question starts on C, you can end up recognizing the second note's pitch rather than the distance between the two notes.
Interval ear training is learning to recognize the distance between two pitches by sound. A few habits make the practice pay off:
Every interval within an octave, counted in semitones (half-steps), with an example from C. The ascending song cues match our longer guide, musical intervals explained; descending cues are listed only where the opening is a clear, well-known example.
| Semitones | Interval | From C | Ascending cue | Descending cue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minor 2nd (m2) | C–D♭ | Jaws theme | Für Elise (opening) |
| 2 | Major 2nd (M2) | C–D | Happy Birthday ("Hap-py") | Mary Had a Little Lamb ("Ma-ry") |
| 3 | Minor 3rd (m3) | C–E♭ | Greensleeves | Hey Jude ("Hey Jude") |
| 4 | Major 3rd (M3) | C–E | When the Saints Go Marching In | Swing Low, Sweet Chariot ("Swing low") |
| 5 | Perfect 4th (P4) | C–F | Here Comes the Bride; Amazing Grace | Eine kleine Nachtmusik (opening) |
| 6 | Tritone (A4/d5) | C–F♯ | The Simpsons theme; Maria (West Side Story) | — |
| 7 | Perfect 5th (P5) | C–G | Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; Star Wars theme | The Flintstones ("Flint-stones") |
| 8 | Minor 6th (m6) | C–A♭ | The Entertainer | — |
| 9 | Major 6th (M6) | C–A | NBC chimes; My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean | — |
| 10 | Minor 7th (m7) | C–B♭ | Somewhere (West Side Story); original Star Trek theme | — |
| 11 | Major 7th (M7) | C–B | Take On Me (a-ha) | — |
| 12 | Octave (P8) | C–C | Somewhere Over the Rainbow ("Some-where") | — |
Perfect intervals (4th, 5th, octave) come in one "perfect" size; 2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths come in major and minor versions a semitone apart. The tritone, six semitones, sits exactly halfway through the octave and can be spelled as an augmented 4th or a diminished 5th. When the trainer shows you the notes it played, they are spelled to match the interval: a major 3rd above E♭ reads E♭–G, and a minor 3rd above F♯ reads F♯–A.
Song cues are a good on-ramp: when you hear two notes, you run through your list and find the tune that matches. The catch is that they're built for isolated two-note tests. In real music the same interval does a different job depending on the key around it, and nobody has time to hum Greensleeves mid-phrase. Over time the goal is to hear intervals as movements between notes of a key: "the 5th of the scale going up to the tonic", rather than "a fourth". We cover the reasoning in functional vs interval ear training.
If major vs minor thirds are your sticking point, you're not alone. It's one of the most common places learners get stuck. Why major and minor thirds are hard to tell apart explains why and what to do about it. For the bigger picture of how keys relate, try the free interactive circle of fifths, and if you're also learning to read music, the note identification trainer drills treble and bass clef.
Practice at recognizing the distance between two notes by sound alone: you hear two pitches and name the interval, such as a perfect fifth or a minor third. It's a core skill in aural-skills courses because melodies and chords are built from intervals.
Start with a small set that sounds very different, like the perfect 4th and perfect 5th, and only add more once you're consistently right. Thirds (major vs minor) make a good second step. Training all twelve intervals at once is the slowest way to begin, because too many options sound alike.
A harmonic interval is two notes played at the same time, so you hear their blend. A melodic interval is two notes played one after the other, either ascending (low then high) or descending (high then low). They're heard differently, so it's worth practicing each.
Yes. Most learners find descending intervals harder, and recognizing an interval going up doesn't automatically mean you'll recognize it going down. Get comfortable with one direction, then train the other on its own before mixing them.
They're a useful starting point, because a familiar tune gives you something to compare against. Their limit is that they work on isolated two-note tests and transfer poorly to real music, where hearing notes relative to a key matters more. Treat them as training wheels.
Yes. There's no signup and no email gate, and the audio is generated in your browser. On iPhone, sound starts after your first tap, because iOS requires a user gesture before a page can play audio. If you hear nothing, check that the silent switch is off.
Ready for more than 10 questions at a time? Fifths is an ear-training app that tracks every answer, brings back the intervals you keep missing, and builds from intervals into scale degrees, chords and melodies.
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