What Ear Training Exercises Are Available on Toned Ear?
Toned Ear (tonedear.com) offers eight core ear training exercises: Intervals, Chords, Scales, Chord Progressions, Perfect Pitch, Scale Degrees (functional), Intervals in Context (functional), and Melodic Dictation. Each exercise trains a different listening skill, from identifying the distance between two notes to transcribing a short melody by scale degree. The site recommends practicing a little bit every day for best results.
The eight exercises at a glance
| Exercise | What you hear | What you identify |
|---|---|---|
| Intervals | Two notes in sequence | The interval between the two notes |
| Chords | A single chord | The type of chord |
| Scales | A scale | The name of the scale |
| Chord Progressions | A chord progression | Each chord in the progression |
| Perfect Pitch | A single note | The name of the note |
| Scale Degrees (functional) | A short chord progression, then one note | The scale degree of that note relative to the established key |
| Intervals in Context (functional) | A short chord progression, then two notes | The major scale degrees of both notes and the interval between them |
| Melodic Dictation | A short chord progression, then a short melody | The major scale degree of each note in the melody |
How the exercises differ
Isolated pitch and interval skills
Intervals and Perfect Pitch are the most direct listening tasks. Intervals plays two notes in sequence and asks you to name the distance between them; Perfect Pitch plays a single note and asks you to name it. These work well as a warm-up or as a focused drill on one narrow skill.
Chords and Scales follow the same pattern one level up: you hear a chord or a scale and identify its type or name. They build recognition of harmonic and melodic structures rather than single pitches.
Functional and contextual skills
Scale Degrees (functional) — also called functional ear training — plays a short chord progression to establish a key, then a single note. You identify that note's scale degree relative to the key. This trains you to hear notes in relation to a tonal center rather than in isolation.
Intervals in Context (functional) combines the Intervals and Scale Degrees exercises. You hear a chord progression followed by two notes, and you must identify both the major scale degrees of the two notes relative to the key and the interval between them.
Chord Progressions plays a progression and asks you to identify each chord. This is the harmonic counterpart to functional scale degree training.
Transcription-level practice
Melodic Dictation is the most demanding exercise: a short chord progression establishes the key, then a short melody plays, and you identify the major scale degree of each note. It combines key context, melodic memory, and scale degree recognition in one task.
Practice guidance
The site's stated approach is simple: practice a little bit every day. Because the exercises range from single-note identification to full melodic dictation, you can pick a starting point that matches your current level and add harder exercises as your accuracy improves.
For teachers
Toned Ear also offers a teacher version of the site. According to the site, it lets teachers give assignments online with specific exercise settings, view student scores, and access additional exercises such as music theory drills on chord building and key signature identification. Teachers who want to use these exercises in a classroom can follow the link on the site to the teacher version.