Higher or Lower
Two notes play one after the other and you say whether the second one went up or down. Almost everyone gets the first few right, and that is exactly what this exercise is for. Before anything else can be trained, you need one question your ear can already answer.
- 2 notes
- no theory needed
- down to a half step
at which level
- Complete beginner
- No theory needed
Two notes play one after the other, and you say whether the second one went up or down. Pick how far apart they sit, then start.
What it asks
You hear a note, a short silence, then a second note. You press Higher or Lower. The second note plays once and is not repeated, so you answer on what you heard the first time. This is the smallest question in ear training. It asks about direction, and nothing else.
The question pool
Early pairs sit a fifth or more apart, wide enough that the direction is obvious without listening hard. As you keep scoring, the distance drops to a third, then a whole step, then a half step, which is the smallest step in the tuning system we use. Notes come from a two octave range, and the first note of a pair always sits in the lower octave so its position on the keyboard never hints at the answer. Two settings make it harder once a half step stops catching you out. The low register version moves everything down, where your ear separates pitches less accurately. The third option adds a Same button, and a pair that plays the identical note twice catches almost everyone once.
How you answer
Two buttons, Higher and Lower, with a counter running underneath.
When the round ends
Ten questions, twenty, or no limit at all. Five pairs takes under a minute, which makes this one worth opening a few times a day rather than sitting with for twenty minutes.
When you get it wrong
Both notes light up on the keyboard and play together, with the distance named in plain language, for example a half step, the smallest distance we use. Play the pair again before you move on, because hearing it a second time with the answer in front of you is what makes the next one easier.
Keep going
Everything in ear training
- Higher or Lower
- Major or Minor
- Resolve or Hang
- Count the Notes