Comparison

Interval Ear Trainer vs Saxophone by Ear

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Interval Ear Trainer

Improve your musical ear by learning to identify the distance between two notes. Practice both harmonic (played together) and melodic (played sequentially) intervals. Gradually progress through difficulty levels with piano or guitar input options.

Highlights
  • Melodic interval training
  • Harmonic interval training
  • Gradual difficulty progression
  • Piano or guitar input
  • Select specific intervals to practice
Features
Read full description

Every musician should work on Ear Training (or Aural Training) and Interval Ear Training is a very important element of ear training. To put it very simply, you will learn to recognise the relationship between two notes (by distance), when they are played together or apart! There are two types of interval listening, harmonic and melodic. In harmonic intervals the notes are played at the same time and in melodic the notes are played one after the other. Easy to remember: Melodic Intervals make melody, Harmonic Intervals make harmony! Many of you will probably want to understand how the names are found and how to work out the interval note names in every key. For this info you probably want to check out my ebook Practical Music Theory (available from justinguitar.com) which will explain all the theory related to this. This app deals specifically with Interval Ear Training, both melodic and harmonic. It will start very easy and gradually get harder as you get more correct and can pass each stage. You can choose from Piano or Guitar Input for your answers, and you can chose to hear the notes and guitar or piano. Personally, I'd recommend getting used to both. In "Training Mode" you can select specific intervals to work on if you are struggling with just specific intervals or types of interval. I'm sure you'll find this app very helpful, all you need to add is practice time! Best wishes, Justin

About

Saxophone by Ear

Master the saxophone quickly with a unique ear-training method. Learn scales, notes, and chords to play melodies by ear in days or weeks, bypassing years of traditional study. Practice with your phone or real instrument.

Highlights
  • Learn scales and notes
  • Ear training for musicians
  • Understand chords
  • Play by ear
  • Practice with phone or real saxophone
  • Saxophone notes chart
Features
Read full description

Learn to express yourself with this beautiful instrument in DAYS and WEEKS instead of years, all the 12 scales and notes in-between. With our unique learning method you will accomplish the level of understanding which is unattainable in years of traditional learning! This is a very powerful ear training and learning tool for musicians who want a shortcut to fluency on the saxophone. With this tool you will be able to play the instrument it is meant to be played by ear, any melody or solo, you will gain a very deep understanding of chords and the notes they consist of and are surrounded by, they tell you all about this in lessons, but you never actually get to ingrain it. Yet this is the most important skill there is for mastering the saxophone and play any music by ear. The app allows you to practice with just the smartphone or with your real saxophone, all types. Also serves as a handy saxophone notes chart. This exercise might look a little bit tedious, but trust us, you will see very powerful results in your music within days of using the app. You could call it hacking the saxophone. Even if you are a complete beginner, you will learn to play your favourite tunes on the saxophone in days with Saxophone by Ear, something that other musicians struggle for MONTHS and YEARS for and still not everyone gets there. You will. During the first month. How much money would you pay to obtain such a skill? Consider this your lucky day, because you are on your way for real musicianship whether it is your hobby or you want to pursue career in music, this app sets you up for the best results. Even if you prefer to play looking at the notes, this app will greatly enhance your ability to see music, hear the written music in your mind, understand music more easily and even remember music much more easily. Standart terms and conditions apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Interval Ear Trainer4 screens
Saxophone by Ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Interval Ear Trainer at 67% against Saxophone by Ear's 0%. Interval Ear Trainer also leads on rating (3.9 vs 2.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Saxophone by Ear's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 13 months). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Saxophone by Ear is free to download; Interval Ear Trainer costs $1.99 up front. Saxophone by Ear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Interval Ear Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Interval Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Interval Ear Trainer has 44 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Interval Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 0% of Saxophone by Ear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Interval Ear Trainer ships an update every 13 months, Saxophone by Ear every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Interval Ear Trainer versus Saxophone by Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInterval Ear TrainerSaxophone by Ear
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (44 ratings) — better2.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings44 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.3 — better11.0
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB180 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperJustin GuitarOleg Sokolov

Customer experience

Interval Ear Trainer

All ratings44 ratings
Positive70.5%
Neutral11.4%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral8.8%
Negative24.6%

Saxophone by Ear

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Interval Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Does not respond to touch input
  • Not working on iOS 11
  • Cannot ster back after mistake
  • Piano input is wrong
  • Melodic interval comes out mistimed
Show 1 more
  • App crashes or freezes (implied by 'not working')

Requested features

14 requests
  • Option to replay missed intervals
  • Option to keep root note the same
  • Automatic mode for interval playback
  • Adjustable delay for answer reveal
  • Configurable time between interval plays
Show 9 more
  • Add solmization syllables (Do Re Mi)
  • Allow turning off game interface
  • Specify pitch range in training mode
  • Specify a single root note
  • Add landscape rotation
  • Allow going back to adjust level
  • Improve harmonic interval sound quality
  • Add tempo change for melodic intervals
  • Update for iOS 11

Saxophone by Ear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Interval Ear Trainer

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Saxophone by Ear

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Plan3 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Monthly plan3 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Annual plan$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Interval Ear Trainer free?
Interval Ear Trainer costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Saxophone by Ear free?
Saxophone by Ear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Interval Ear Trainer or Saxophone by Ear?
Interval Ear Trainer is rated higher. Interval Ear Trainer averages 3.9 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while Saxophone by Ear averages 2.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Interval Ear Trainer or Saxophone by Ear have ads?
Neither Interval Ear Trainer nor Saxophone by Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Interval Ear Trainer or Saxophone by Ear?
Interval Ear Trainer ships an update every 13 months, and Saxophone by Ear every 6 weeks. Most recently, Interval Ear Trainer was updated on October 26, 2026 and Saxophone by Ear on October 24, 2026.

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