Functional Ear Trainer vs Ear Training

Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.

ToneSeed is a complete ear training app for musicians, music theory students, and singers. An adaptive engine learns your strengths and weaknesses, then builds every session around what you need to practice most. INTERVAL TRAINING Identify ascending, descending, and harmonic intervals from unison to octave. The adaptive engine tracks your accuracy for each interval and direction, challenging you where you're weakest. Anchor each interval with reference songs you know. CHORD RECOGNITION Learn to identify 11 chord types: major, minor, diminished, augmented, sus2, sus4, and all seventh chords (Maj7, min7, dom7, dim7, m7b5). Train with root position through 3rd inversion. SCALE IDENTIFICATION Recognize 12 scale types: major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, major and minor pentatonic, blues, and 5 modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian). Each scale plays as a melody with staff notation. VOCAL WARMUP Guided 5-, 8-, or 12-minute routines: sirens, lip-trills, hums, scales, arpeggios, and a sustained-tone messa di voce. Transposed through your own vocal range with a soft drone for support. SOLFEGE SINGING Sight-singing practice with real-time pitch detection. 26 progressive exercises across 7 major keys, from stepwise motion to challenging leaps. INTERVAL SINGING Hear only the root, then sing the second note of the interval. Octave-independent matching lets you sing in your own range. CHORD ENTRANCE Hear a chord, then sing its 3rd or 5th. A pitch meter shows where you landed, and feedback distinguishes correct from confused-with from non-chord-tone. MELODIC DICTATION Transcribe melodies by ear across 3 modes: - Diatonic: melodies in 5 major keys - Atonal: chromatic melodies with no key center - Melodic-rhythmic: combined pitch and rhythm transcription RHYTHMIC DICTATION Notate rhythms from memory across 8 difficulty levels — from basic quarter notes to complex patterns with dots, ties, rests, and triplets. CADENCE IDENTIFICATION Identify 4 cadence types (perfect authentic, plagal, half, deceptive) in major keys. CHORD PROGRESSIONS Identify 27 common chord progressions — pop staples like I–V–vi–IV, jazz ii–V–I turnarounds, 12-bar blues, and minor-key classics (Stairway, Andalusian cadence). Build custom practice sets by picking scale degrees, or choose a preset (Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Classical). Answer by tapping the progression name or by tapping out the chords one at a time. EDUCATIONAL GUIDES Browse detailed guides for all intervals, chords, scales, and cadences. Hear examples, read character descriptions, and view staff notation. SMART FEATURES - Adaptive engine targets your weakest areas - Daily practice built for you, with per-section progress and XP - Custom training routines with full configuration - Practice calendar with streak tracking - 12 achievements and XP leveling system - Detailed statistics and confusion matrix - Interactive circle of fifths - 4 instruments: piano, guitar, violin, voice - Piano keyboard input for dictation - Staff notation throughout the app - Works fully offline - Cloud sync with optional account FREE FOREVER Interval training, chord recognition, scale identification, interval reproduction with pitch detection, vocal warmup, all educational guides, and the circle of fifths are free with no limits. PREMIUM Unlock solfege singing, interval singing, chord entrance, all dictation modes, cadence identification, chord progressions, custom routines, and custom reference songs. Start with a 7-day free trial. Available in English, Polish, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean. Terms of Use: https://toneseed.app/terms