Free · in Adam's Academy

The Interval Trainer

Every interval, in every key, lit up everywhere it falls on the neck at once — ear training with your fingers.

Try it in the Academy → How to use it

How to use it

1. 1

   Pick a key and an interval

   The key sets the root. The interval list runs from the minor second to the octave. Choose one and the neck shows every place that interval sits above that root, up to the twelfth fret — everything above the octave is the same shapes again.

   

2. 2

   Press Play and listen

   The root sounds, then the interval, and both light up where they sit. That order matters: you hear the distance, not two notes. Set the tempo so you have time to sing the second note before it plays.

3. 3

   Walk them

   The trainer moves through every instance in turn, low to high, the way your hand would find them. Set the direction — up, down, or up and down — and let the same interval come round until you can point to the next one before it lights.

4. 4

   Cycle the intervals

   Cycle walks every interval in the key, one after another. Or pick only the handful you keep missing — the tritone, the minor sixth — and drill those.

5. 5

   Share a drill

   Share makes a link that opens the trainer exactly as you have it: key, interval, tempo, direction. Send a student the drill you want them on this week.

Adam's tips

• Sing the second note before it plays. If you can sing it, you can hear it; if you can hear it, you can find it.
• Start in C, in one octave, at a slow tempo. Add keys only when the sound of each interval is already in your ear.
• Pair it with a song: the perfect fourth is the first two notes of Amazing Grace; the major sixth opens My Bonnie. Hang each interval on a tune.
• The 24-Day Fretboard Challenge teaches the notes; this teaches the distances between them. Do them together.

Questions people ask

Why does the neck stop at the twelfth fret?

Because above the octave every interval repeats in the same shapes. The width was better spent on making the twelve frets readable, especially on a phone.

What opens the other keys?

The 24-Day Fretboard Challenge course, or the Academy membership. C is free so you can learn every interval's sound before you move it round the neck.

Can I hear just one instance?

Yes — press any lit pair on the neck to hear that one.