Ear Training Blog

The relationship between two notes is called an "interval" and they are the most basic building block for what we call music. I firmly believe that a comprehensive understanding of intervals is a necessity to improving as a musician, songwriter, composer, and singer. It's also invaluable for improving upon one's appreciation for music.

What Are The Intervals?

Perfect Unison (ie the same note played with itself. An example would be on a guitar where you can play the same note many places on the fretboard.)

Minor Second (like C & C#)

Major Second (like C & D)

Minor Third (like C & D#)

Major Third (like C & E)

Perfect Fourth (like C & F)

Augmented Fourth or Diminished Fifth (like C & F#)

Perfect Fifth (like C & G)

Minor Sixth (like C & G#)

Major Sixth (like C & A)

Minor Seventh (like C & A#)

Major Seventh (like C & B)

Perfect Octave (like a C & another C one octave up.

Learning Intervals

To improve one's musical ability, it's important to learn the sound of the intervals by heart. You should be able to hear a C and an A played on the piano and automatically know that it's a major sixth. You should also be able to hear a D and a B and know that is also a major sixth. You see it's the relationship between the two notes that makes up an interval.

Relative pitch ear training is the method for learning intervals (and also learning what chords sound like, which is the next step you need to take after you master intervals).

How can you know what note to play on your guitar or piano if you cannot properly hear music? How can you know what note to sing if you don't even know what key the song you are singing is in?

Ear training is immeasurably important for both singers & musicians (and doubly so for those who are both singers & musicians!) You must have a good sense of relative pitch to be a good musician or singer. And also it should go without mentioning that it is paramount to being a good songwriter.

What is relative pitch? It is the ability to understand how notes and chords relate to each other. When you have a good sense of relative pitch you can know which note will sound good next. It's also vital to being a quality singer and/or musician.

The good news is that these days is it easier than ever before to get quality ear training. Why? The internet. You can now download a top quality ear training program online within just a few minutes and get started right away.

Probably the most popular (and most effective) ear training program available for instant online download is Pure Pitch Method which will help you develop an excellent sense of relative pitch along with perfect pitch. Yes you read that right you can develop perfect pitch. It's a myth that you have to be "born with" perfect pitch. It is possible to develop!

While perfect pitch is not essential to be an excellent musician or singer like relative pitch is, it is still a valuable tool that can take your musical skills to the next dimension. When you have the skill of perfect pitch you can name a note just by hearing it. You can also sing any note off the top of your head, without reference!

In the past it was believed that only people like Mozart & Beethoven had perfect pitch and that the ability was beyond the grasps of most "normal" people. Of course like many other ideas from the past (like "the world is flat" & "the world is the center of the universe") it is now known that is not the case. Almost anyone can develop this skill with the right training methods.

Relative pitch ear training has long been a part of most musician's lives. What is relative pitch ear training? Basically it's learning the relationship of notes to each other. For example knowing that a C to a G is a perfect fifth and being able to hear that interval. But you see what's important is the relationship between the notes, not the notes themselves. For example D to A is also a perfect fifth. Someone with this skill would be able to recognize a perfect fifth but they wouldn't necessarily be able to tell if that perfect fifth was C to G or D to A (or G to D and so on.)

It used to be thought that while musicians could learn relative pitch they couldn't learn perfect pitch. That doesn't even really make sense does it? And there's a reason it doesn't make sense, because it's not true. You can learn both of these essential skills with the Pure Pitch Method.

What is perfect pitch? It's the ability to recognize a pitch without any reference pitch. A musician with amazing ability can hear a single note and know exactly what it is even without hearing any other reference note.