01 — Pick your level
Start where you are
Six presets from Beginner (Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 3rd, Octave) through Advanced (all 13 intervals from unison to octave), plus focused sets for thirds, perfect intervals, and thirds-and-sixths. Start small and add intervals as your ear catches up.
02 — Listen
Three ways to hear an interval
Ascending plays the lower note first. Descending plays the higher note first. Harmonic plays both at once — the hardest because the pitches blend. Mix randomizes per question, which is the closest to how intervals show up in real songs.
03 — Identify
Pick the interval, get instant feedback
Tap an answer and the trainer immediately tells you whether you got it and what was actually played. Wrong answers reveal the correct one so the next time you hear it, you'll know.
04 — Track your streak
Daily habit, built in
Your current and best streaks save to your browser. Share a preset URL like ?set=beginner&dir=ascending in a YouTube description or text message so anyone can land directly on the drill — useful for teachers, song breakdowns, and viewer challenges.
What is an interval and why train your ear to recognize them?+
An interval is the distance between two notes. Training your ear to recognize them is how you go from struggling to figure out a song to hearing the melody and knowing what to play. Every chord progression, every melody, every riff is a sequence of intervals — once your ear knows them, the fretboard becomes a much smaller place.
What are the difficulty presets and which should I start with?+
Start with Beginner — Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 3rd, and Octave. These four intervals are the easiest to recognize and they cover most pop and rock songs. Intermediate adds 5 more (m2, M2, m3, M6, m6) for 9 total. Advanced unlocks all 13 intervals from unison to octave. Plus three focused sets: Perfect Only (P1, P4, P5, P8), Thirds Only (m3, M3), and Thirds & Sixths.
What's the difference between ascending, descending, and harmonic?+
Ascending plays the lower note first, then the higher. Descending plays the higher note first, then the lower. Harmonic plays both notes simultaneously, which is the hardest to identify because the two pitches blend. Mix randomly picks one of the three each question — recommended for real-world ear training where intervals show up in all forms.
Can I share a specific drill in a video description?+
Yes. The tool reads URL parameters so video creators can link to a preset drill directly. Examples: ?set=beginner&dir=ascending starts a beginner ascending drill, ?set=thirds-only loads the thirds-only set, ?set=advanced&dir=mix loads everything randomized. Send viewers straight into the configuration you used in the video.
How is the streak tracking saved?+
Your best streak is saved to your browser's local storage so it persists across visits. The current-session score (X correct out of Y answered) resets each time you change the difficulty preset or direction — the question pool changed, so it makes sense to start the count fresh. Best streak survives those changes.
What's the difference between A4 = 440 Hz and 432 Hz?+
440 Hz is the modern international standard for the A above middle C. 432 Hz is an alternative reference some players prefer for certain genres or feel. The interval relationships are identical in both modes — only the absolute pitch shifts. If you've been practicing with an instrument tuned to 432 Hz, set the trainer to match.
What waveform does the trainer use?+
Pure sine waves. Ear training works best with clean tones that let you focus on pitch relationships without timbre cues confusing the issue. The trainer plays sine tones through the Web Audio API with a soft attack and release envelope to avoid clicks.
Is the Interval Ear Trainer free?+
Yes, completely free. It's part of the Guitar Lick Lab toolkit — a free set of music tools built by Music With Marky.
Guitar Lick Lab
Brought to you by Music With Marky