Lessons

Ear training

Diapasón: perfect pitch trainer

In Spanish, with its own progress. Answers with your MIDI keyboard or voice too.

Unit 1 The staff

Lines and spaces, higher and lower, steps and skips. No note names yet.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. Lines and spaces Continue here A note sits on a line or in a space. Learn to see which at a glance.
  2. Higher and lower The higher a note sits on the staff, the higher it sounds.
  3. Step and skip The smallest move on the staff, and the one that jumps over one.

Unit 2 Treble landmarks

Four notes you will know at a glance; everything else is read from them.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. G4 and C5 The clef's own line and the middle space.
  2. F5 and C4 The top line and middle C, below the staff.
  3. The four landmarks All four together, until each one is instant.

Unit 3 Treble steps

One step above and below each landmark: the whole staff.

0 of 5 lessons mastered

  1. Steps from G4 and C5 F4, A4, B4 and D5: the neighbours of the two central landmarks.
  2. Steps from F5 and C4 E5, G5, D4 and E4: the edges of the staff.
  3. A step up or down Read the movement, not each name: that is how fluent readers read.
  4. The whole staff From C4 to G5, all mixed together.
  5. Reading at tempo Naming the notes to a metronome, without stopping to think.

Unit 4 Rhythm I

The pulse, quarter, half and whole notes, rests and 4/4 time.

0 of 4 lessons mastered

  1. The pulse, quarters and halves Tap the rhythm with the metronome: a quarter per beat, a half for two.
  2. Whole notes and rests The whole note fills the bar; a rest is counted but not tapped.
  3. Which one did you hear? Hear one bar and recognise it written among three look-alikes.
  4. Two bars in a row Everything so far, two bars, a little faster.

Unit 5 Treble skips and reading

Skips from the landmarks and the first melodies read for real.

0 of 5 lessons mastered

  1. Skips from the landmarks A skip above and below each landmark; A5 and A3 make their entrance.
  2. Step or skip, up or down Read the move between two notes: size and direction at once.
  3. Read a stepwise melody Four notes in a row, each one a step from the last.
  4. Melodies with skips Two bars, steps and skips, quarters and halves.
  5. Melodies at tempo Steps and skips, quarters and halves, read against the metronome.

Unit 6 Rhythm II

Eighths, dots, ties, 3/4 and 2/4 time, and melodies with rhythm.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Eighth notes Two per beat: "1 and 2 and".
  2. 3/4 time and the dotted half Three beats per bar; a dot adds half the value.
  3. Dotted quarter and eighth A beat and a half, and the eighth that completes the second beat.
  4. Ties Two joined notes sound as one, longer note.
  5. 2/4 time by ear Two beats per bar; recognising eighths and rests by ear.
  6. Melodies with rhythm Pitch and rhythm together: name the notes of a melody with eighths and halves.
  7. Reading with a pickup At tempo, starting before the first bar.

Unit 7 Bass clef

The bass clef, its four landmarks and the steps around them.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. F3 and C3 The bass clef points at the fourth line.
  2. G2 and C4 The bottom line and middle C above.
  3. The four bass landmarks G2, C3, F3 and C4 mixed.
  4. Steps from F3 and C3 E3, G3, B2 and D3.
  5. Steps from G2 and C4 A2, F2, B3 and D4.
  6. A step up or down, bass clef Step direction, now in the other clef.
  7. The whole bass staff From E2 to C4.

Unit 8 Bass reading

Skips and melodies in the bass clef, and ledger lines in both clefs.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Skips from the landmarks A third above or below each landmark.
  2. Step or skip, up or down The move between two notes in the bass clef.
  3. Stepwise bass melody One bar of quarters, note by note.
  4. Melody with skips and rhythm Two bars, thirds, quarters, halves and eighths.
  5. Treble ledger lines A3 to D4 below, G5 to C6 above.
  6. Bass ledger lines C2 to F2 below, B3 to E4 above.
  7. Bass clef at tempo Reading the bass staff with the metronome underneath.

Unit 9 Accidentals

Sharps, flats, naturals and doubles; tones and semitones; the keyboard.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. The sharp F♯ is a semitone above F.
  2. The flat B♭ is a semitone below B.
  3. Until the bar line An accidental lasts the whole bar; the natural cancels it.
  4. Tone or semitone The real distance between two notes.
  5. On the keyboard From the written note to the key.
  6. The double sharp 𝄪 raises by two semitones: F𝄪 sounds like G.
  7. The double flat, in bass clef 𝄫 lowers by two semitones, and here on the other staff.

Unit 10 Key signatures

The accidentals at the start of the staff and how to read with them.

0 of 7 lessons mastered

  1. Sharp keys G, D and A major.
  2. Flat keys F, B♭ and E♭ major.
  3. Reading with sharps in the key The note carries no sign; the signature already does.
  4. Reading with flats in the key The same, in F, B♭ and E♭ major.
  5. Melodies in a key Read a melody in G, D, F or B♭ major.
  6. Four accidentals or more The rest of the signatures, from E major to G flat major.
  7. Reading in a key at tempo The signature does not change the note name, least of all at tempo.

Unit 11 Rhythm III

Sixteenths, syncopation, 6/8 time and triplets.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Sixteenth notes Four to a beat: "1 e and a".
  2. Syncopation The sound starts off the beat and is held over it.
  3. 6/8 time Six eighths grouped in threes: two dotted beats.
  4. Triplets Three notes in the space of two.
  5. Sixteenths by ear Telling four sixteenths from an eighth plus two sixteenths.
  6. Reading eighths at tempo Closing the unit: pitch and rhythm together, at 80.

Unit 12 Intervals by shape

Recognising at a glance how far apart two notes are, and reading longer passages at tempo.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Seconds and thirds Line to the next space, or line to the next line.
  2. Fourths and fifths Line to space with a line between, or line to line skipping one.
  3. Sixths, sevenths and octaves The big leaps, recognised by how tall they sit on the staff.
  4. Every interval, up and down From the second to the octave, in either direction.
  5. Intervals in bass clef The same shapes, a different staff.
  6. A longer passage at tempo Four bars without stopping, with a pickup, at 84.

Unit 13 Expression

Dynamics, articulation, tempo marks and repeats: what is left to read a real score.

0 of 6 lessons mastered

  1. Dynamics From pp to ff: how loud each passage is.
  2. Articulation Dots, accents and lines over the notes.
  3. Tempo marks The Italian word over the first bar.
  4. Repeat signs Two dots by the bar line: you go back once.
  5. First and second endings Two different endings for the same section.
  6. The final reading Four bars in bass clef, with a pickup, at 80.

Unit 14 Play what you see

Read a note and produce it: on a MIDI keyboard, sung into the microphone, or on the on-screen piano.

0 of 3 lessons mastered

  1. Playing notes on the staff From E4 to F5: read it and play it, without naming it.
  2. Playing above and below the staff From C4 to G5: the notes outside the staff get played too.
  3. Playing in bass clef From E2 to B3: the left hand of the keyboard.