Related
Identifying intervals by ear is not about "good ears" but about turning hearing into something you can count. Every method does the same job: use a stable intermediary to translate the distance between two notes into information.
Three intermediaries, easiest to strongest
One: anchor melodies. Attach one piece to each interval, one that opens with it, and match what you hear against that. The limit is that the anchors must be memorised and cover only a few common intervals.
Two: comparison by size. Stop trying to name the interval and measure the width first: is this wider or narrower than a perfect fifth? Wider or narrower than a major third? Place each interval relative to one you already know — "narrower than an octave, wider than a fifth" — and close in from there. This method never expires, because size is what an interval essentially is (see semitones and whole tones).
Three: scale degrees and key. Read intervals inside a tonal frame: hearing two notes, judge which degrees of the key they are. It demands a firm sense of key first, but once it is in place both speed and accuracy rise sharply.
A workable order
| Stage | Practise | Ready when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | unison and octave | you can tell "the same note" from "the same name an octave apart" |
| 2 | seconds (semitone / whole tone) | you can separate the two narrowest distances |
| 3 | thirds (major / minor) | you can hear bright versus dark — the most valuable step of all |
| 4 | fifths and fourths | you can at least group "the hollow ones" without subdividing yet |
| 5 | sixths and sevenths | you can derive them from "how much wider than a fifth" |
| 6 | augmented and diminished | last, and it needs [[concept:consonance |
Stage 3 is the hinge. Once thirds are secure, most other intervals can be derived by relative position.
Diagram: use known intervals as rulers
Listen: turn identification into comparison
The point here is not naming but comparing: hear the fourth and the fifth to fix a sense of what sits between them, then hear a major third. "Much narrower than a fifth" turns out to be a reliable description in itself.
Common misconceptions
- "Ear training is talent." It runs on method and repetition. Anchor melodies and comparison are teachable techniques.
- "Practise many intervals at once." Advance one stage at a time and get the previous one nearly error-free first; otherwise you stay in guessing mode for months.
- "Ascending is enough." The brain handles rising and falling intervals differently. Practise them separately and then mixed.
- "Ear training is unrelated to score reading." Reading binds names, positions and sounds together — the most effective support there is.
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Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 听辨训练的顺序（单音→音程→和弦→调性）与锚点曲法，属通行视唱练耳教学体系
- 音数比较法与本条给出的练习设计为原创整理
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.