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Ear training: intervals

The Octave

The octave is 12 semitones (12 frets on the guitar). Listen to it below, then test yourself with the trainer.

Hear it:
Free resources

Fretboard Navigator

Tap any note to hear it. Tap the chips below to hide or show individual notes.
01

Scale

02

Arpeggio

03

Chord

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Display

Tuning

Pick a preset, or set each string yourself. Strings run from thickest (left) to thinnest (right).
Understand it

Theory Trainer

0Correct
0Streak
0Best
-Accuracy
Level progress
Practise these next
The lesson behind it
Your scores and weak spots are remembered in this browser.
Work it out

Chord & Key Finder

Name a chord: tap a fret on each string. Tap it again to mute the string.
Find the key: add the chords from a song

Practise

Practice

Exercise Generator

Guitar, standard tuning (E A D G B E). Tap any number in the tab to hear it.
Keep time

Metronome & Drum Machine

90BPM · Andante
Stopped
Clicks per beat
▶Tap a column to change that click: accent, normal, soft or silent. Silence a beat or two to make yourself feel the time.

Add BPM every bars, up to BPM.

Play bars, then go quiet for . Keep playing through the gap and see if you land back in time.

Stop after minutes.

Tempo, accents and your drum beat are remembered in this browser. Copy link shares the beat with anyone.
Lock in

Strum Trainer

Tap boxes to add
StrumAccent: hit harderMute: percussive chopRest: hand still moves

Your hand keeps moving down and up the whole time. The boxes only show when it touches the strings.

Keep going

Practice Log

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day streak

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Last 16 weeks
Milestones

Your log is saved in this browser, on this device.

Play & write

Jam

Backing Track Creator

Stopped
Chords in this key
Your progression ·
What to play over each chord
Next
Chord rootChord tonesScale notesNext chord (on the last beat)
Add any other chord
Prefer a full band? Find matching tracks on YouTube
Click a chord to add it to the end. Drag chords or use the arrows to reorder, and tap the length to change how long each one lasts. Changes come in the next time round. The fretboard follows the music: it lights up each chord’s notes as the chord arrives, with a scale that fits it, and rings the next chord’s notes on the last beat. Click a chord to look at it while stopped. Use the mixer to balance the band, or turn the guitar down to play the chords yourself.
Write

Tab Creator

Link to next note
This note
No rhythmic value
Rhythm
No rhythm notation needed: the space between notes is the rhythm. Each beat is the same width, so a note twice as far from the next one lasts twice as long. Notes ring until the next note on the same string.
Keyboard shortcuts (click on the tab first)
0 - 9Fret number (type 1 then 2 for 12)
← →Move along the tab
↑ ↓Change string
SpacePlay / stop (plays from the cursor)
DeleteRemove note or selection
HHammer-on / pull-off to next note
SSlide to next note
BBend (press again: ½, 1½, off)
RRelease the bend
VVibrato
MPalm mute
XDead note
.Stop the string ringing
TTap
NNatural harmonic
PPinch harmonic
GGrace note (then type its fret)
ISlide in
OSlide out
Shift + arrowsSelect notes (or click and drag)
Ctrl C / X / VCopy, cut, paste
Ctrl ZUndo (Ctrl Shift Z to redo)
EscClear the selection
Make it fit

Capo & Transpose

Same sound, easier shapes
CapoPlay these shapes

Ears & tuning

Train your ears

Ear Trainer

Test me on
Keyboard: number keys to answer, Space to hear it again, Enter for the next one. Your choices and scores are remembered in this browser.
Get set up

Guitar Tuner

Tap a string to hear it, or start the tuner and play

The tuner listens through your microphone, works out which string you're playing and goes green when you're within 3 cents. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. The tuner is also in the menu at the top of every page.

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What does a octave sound like?

Twelve frets: the same note, higher up. The two notes blend so completely they almost sound like one. Octave shapes are a guitar staple, from jazz melodies to rock riffs, and they're the first interval most people learn to hear.

A octave is 12 semitones, so from A it goes to A an octave higher. Turned upside down it becomes a unison.

Songs to help you remember it

  • Going up: the start of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Where to find it on the guitar

With the root on the low E string at the 5th fret, the octave is on the A string, 7 frets higher; on the D string, 2 frets higher; on the G string, 3 frets lower.

12888R

How to learn to hear it

  • Use the trainer above. It's set up to test the octave against the intervals it's most often confused with: the perfect 5th and the major 7th.
  • Sing it back before you answer. Hum the first note, then the second. If you can sing it, you can hear it.
  • Play it on the guitar from different starting notes until the shape and the sound go together.
  • When you're getting it right nearly every time, add more intervals from the list and keep going.

Other intervals

Minor 2ndMajor 2ndMinor 3rdMajor 3rdPerfect 4thTritonePerfect 5thMinor 6thMajor 6thMinor 7thMajor 7th

All intervals · Chord types · The full Ear Trainer

Frequently asked questions

How many semitones is a octave?

A octave is 12 semitones, which is 12 frets on the guitar.

What is the inversion of a octave?

Turned upside down, a octave becomes a unison. The two always add up to an octave.

What song starts with a octave?

Going up, Somewhere Over the Rainbow starts with a octave.

More free guitar tools

Fretboard NavigatorEvery scale, arpeggio and chord across all 24 frets, with positions, CAGED shapes and any tuning.Open the Fretboard Navigator →Theory TrainerTwo-minute quizzes for fretboard notes, intervals, chords, keys, Roman numerals and modes.Open the Theory Trainer →Chord & Key FinderName any chord shape on the fretboard, or find the key of a song from its chords.Open the Chord & Key Finder →Exercise GeneratorScale sequences, pentatonic patterns, arpeggios and sweeps in any key and position, as tab with playback.Open the Exercise Generator →Metronome & Drum MachineA practice metronome with accents, subdivisions, speed trainer and silent bars, plus a drum beat maker.Open the Metronome & Drum Machine →Strum TrainerBuild strumming patterns with accents and muted strums, and hear them played at any tempo.Open the Strum Trainer →Practice LogLog practice in one tap, keep a streak and leave yourself a note for tomorrow.Open the Practice Log →Backing Track CreatorYour own backing track in any key, mode and time signature, with drums, bass, guitar and synth.Open the Backing Track Creator →Tab CreatorWrite tab by clicking and typing, with playback, techniques, print and PDF. Spacing sets the rhythm.Open the Tab Creator →Capo & TransposeMove a song to any key, then find the capo position with the easiest chord shapes.Open the Capo & Transpose →Ear TrainerInterval and chord type quizzes with guitar or piano sound, inversions and progress tracking.Open the Ear Trainer →Guitar TunerA mic tuner with auto string detection, reference notes and every common tuning.Open the Guitar Tuner →
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