Ear training on the staff

How to practise with it

1. Start with a few intervals going up: the major second, major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth and octave, as the page opens. Press Play, answer, then Next interval.
2. Once you name those easily, add the others one or two at a time, then practise them down, and together.
3. Then switch to melodic dictation at level 1. Listen to the whole melody before you write anything, and sing it back, quietly or in your head: where does it go up, where down, where does it jump?
4. Write it on the piano, from the first note on. Press Play as often as you need, and slow the tempo down if a passage runs away from you.
5. Press Check and compare your answer with the melody, note by note. Play your answer, then the melody, and listen to where they part. Take the next level once you get most melodies right.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. No account, no login, no ads.

Does it listen to me?

No. It never uses your microphone. You answer on the piano on screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard, and it compares your notes with the notes it played.

How do the intervals work?

Pick the intervals to practise, up, down or both, played one after the other or together. You hear two notes and answer with the interval's name, or by playing the second note on the piano. The staff then shows both notes. The intervals lie between middle C and the B two octaves above it.

Where do the melodies come from?

From the engine of our sight reading generator, in the key, time signature and level you choose. Every melody lies between middle C and the B above it, starts on a note of the tonic chord and ends on the tonic, and from level 3 it moves by step at least as often as it leaps. Each one has its own link: Copy link gives you an address that opens exactly this melody, so a teacher can send the same dictation to a whole class.

What do the levels change?

Level 1 is one measure of whole, half and quarter notes on steps 1, 4 and 5 of the scale, with the first note and the rhythm shown. Level 2 has two measures. Level 3 adds steps 2 and 6. Level 4 adds eighth notes and no longer shows the first note: the tonic chord plays before the melody instead. Level 5 has four measures and every step of the scale. At level 6 a few sixteenths come in and you write the rhythm too, with the note values above the piano. Under the level you can show or hide the first note and the rhythm yourself.

Can I put an exercise on my website?

Yes. Embed gives you a short piece of HTML for this dictation or this interval practice: paste it into your page and your students practise there, with Play and the piano. Nothing is uploaded or stored with us; the exercise lives in the link. A MIDI keyboard works on this page only.

Can I use a MIDI keyboard?

Yes, in browsers that support Web MIDI, such as Chrome and Edge: press Use a MIDI keyboard, allow it, and play your answers on it. Safari has no Web MIDI, so on an iPhone or iPad you answer on the piano on screen.

Who makes it?

PhonicScore in Vienna, the team that maintains OpenSheetMusicDisplay. The ear trainer draws its staff with OSMD and plays the melodies with its player.