Functional Ear Trainer vs Tone Assistant

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.

Tone Assistant is an ear training companion for musicians at every level. Whether you're a beginner just learning about intervals or an advanced player sharpening your recognition, Tone Assistant gives you three focused ways to build your ear. Practice Put your ears to the test. Each session plays a melodic interval — two notes heard one after another — and asks you to identify it from multiple choices. Configure the session to your level: choose your tonic key, select which interval groups to focus on (Major & Perfect, or Minor/Diminished/Augmented), and set how many questions you want. After each session, a detailed score breakdown shows exactly which intervals you're nailing and which ones need more work. Adjust practice sessions to increase rate of intervals which have lower recognition rates. Built in voice recognition to link hearing the interval with saying the name of the interval. Explore Browse all 13 intervals at once in an interactive grid. Tap any interval to hear it played instantly in your chosen key. Perfect for building the mental "sound library" you'll draw on when recognizing intervals in music. Listen Step through a curated sequence of intervals at your own pace. Optionally enable spoken announcements so the interval name is read aloud before it plays — a powerful technique for anchoring sounds to their names. Use it as a warm-up routine, a passive listening session, or a reference tool. History Results of practice and listening sessions are saved, so you can track your progress over time and see how your accuracy improves.