Ear Training for Guitarists
Theory you can see is only half the picture — the other half is theory you can hear. Train your ear to recognise intervals and chord qualities by sound, and you'll learn songs faster, improvise with intent, and transcribe what you hear straight to the fretboard. These trainers use real guitar audio. Turn your sound on.
Relative Pitch — The Skill That Matters
Almost nobody has perfect pitch (naming a note cold), and you don't need it. What working musicians rely on is relative pitch — hearing the distance between notes. Once you can recognise a perfect 5th or tell major from minor by ear, you can figure out riffs, follow chord changes live, and trust your instincts when soloing.
The method is simple and proven: listen, guess, check, repeat — a little every day. Start with the easy presets and only add harder intervals once you're consistently above 80%.
Interval Ear Trainer
What are intervals? →Press play, listen to two notes, and name the interval. Switch between ascending, descending, and harmonic (both at once) to train every way you'll meet intervals in real music.
Difficulty
Playback
Chord Quality Ear Trainer
How chords are built →Major or minor? Diminished or augmented? Chord quality is pure emotion — once your ear locks onto it, you can name the mood of any chord you hear. Start with Major vs Minor, the single most useful distinction in music.
Chord set
Learn Intervals by Song
The fastest way to memorise an interval is to anchor it to a song you already know. Hum the first two notes of these tunes and you're hearing the interval. Tap any row to hear it played ascending from A.
| Abbr | Interval | Reference song (ascending) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| m2 | Minor 2nd | “Jaws” theme (da-DUM) | |
| M2 | Major 2nd | “Happy Birthday” (first two notes) | |
| m3 | Minor 3rd | “Smoke on the Water” riff / “Greensleeves” | |
| M3 | Major 3rd | “When the Saints Go Marching In” | |
| P4 | Perfect 4th | “Here Comes the Bride” / “Amazing Grace” | |
| TT | Tritone | “The Simpsons” theme / “Maria” (West Side Story) | |
| P5 | Perfect 5th | “Twinkle Twinkle” / Star Wars main theme | |
| m6 | Minor 6th | “The Entertainer” (Scott Joplin) | |
| M6 | Major 6th | “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” / NBC chimes | |
| m7 | Minor 7th | “Somewhere” (West Side Story) / Star Trek theme | |
| M7 | Major 7th | “Take On Me” (chorus leap) | |
| P8 | Octave | “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (Some-where) |
How to Practise (5 minutes a day beats an hour a week)
- 1Start narrow. Two or three intervals you can nail before you add more — confidence compounds.
- 2Sing it back. Before you click an answer, hum the two notes. Connecting ear to voice locks it in faster than guessing.
- 3Use the reference songs. When you blank, run the mnemonic in your head and match the feeling.
- 4Train all three directions. Ascending is easiest; descending and harmonic are where real transcription lives.
- 5Chase 80%+. Once an easy preset is automatic, level up — staying in the comfort zone stops the gains.
Put your ear to the test
Take on the GT Game's ear-training levels, or dig deeper into the theory behind what you're hearing.