Functional Ear Trainer

As a music student I used interval and chord ear training software for my theory classes. I learned fixed solfege and spent countless hours listening to a shuffle of interval training mp3s. It’s possible that it’s just the cumulative effect of all that work paying off now, but with this app I’m seeing much faster results than with interval training. I think the functional approach is brilliant and wish I had started from this perspective years ago. I also see the possibility of this helping with absolute pitch- I correctly identified the note of my microwave by asking what it felt like. After only a few days working with this app, I was able to instantly say it felt like the third of E. I realized that because I play guitar and have played a lot of music in its most resonant major key, this is a strong tonal reference for me.

I feel this is a simple, very well done app that does what it says. It’s found a specific category of (often undertrained) skills and elegantly guides and instructs you on how to train them and why they’re important. What’s more, I think this certain category of skills is very often overlooked. It’s designed very well and logically with no frills and with some interesting metrics and data about how you’re doing. Finally it does not claim to be the one thing you’re missing and holding you back from becoming an amazing singer. That’s because it is not. As the creator says, it’s a tool that can help you develop and refine your ability to hear pitches relative to others and stay in key. They do not try extremely hard to sell it because they know what it is and that it is great! After going through some of the instructions, although I had never heard of or have met Korchan, I’d bet he (or whoever made and placed the instructions/lessons) is very smart and self aware. Again not because of a use of big words or vocabulary but just because of the usefulness, digestibility, and timeliness of the instructions. This app does everything well and, to me, nothing poorly. And it’s free! No ads.

My pitch is good, but when put in situations where I’d need to improvise I always found it difficult. I’d watch amazing musicians that were so good to the point they knew exactly where the music was heading even without sometimes knowing the song. Their instincts and understanding song structure of a tune was something I always wanted to be able to do. I always wanted the ability to be put in a situation where I could just jump in even without knowing the song. I was always jealous of my friends that could do that. Well, I can’t afford a Berkeley education but I can designate 5 minutes a day to training my ear and so far.... I’m already seeing a difference in my ability to recognize pitches within any key given. High five!

I read music for 30 years; now I sing in a contemporary worship band. It has been difficult at times to adjust because I never have sheet music and my ear has always been undertrained. This app is changing that! Within 10 minutes of using it I was much better at recognizing intervals. The instructions are easy to follow and are written for everyone to understand regardless of level of music knowledge. Every time I use this app, my ear gets better! Thank you to the developer for recognizing the need for an app like this and creating it. It’s easy to use, the interface is handsome, and best of all: it works!

A lot of the other ear training apps are based on intervals or chord recognition. These are good skills to have, but when working with real music you don't always have a reference tone. Instead you have a chord progression. Thats where this app shines. It is a really simple app without anything fancy. It is also great how you can hear the answer as many times as you like. In some other apps it lets you hear the answer once and then moves on before you have had a chance to get the sound of the right answer in your head.