Intervals by ear: which songs help and in what order to learn them

An interval is the distance between two notes, and recognising intervals by ear is the backbone of every ear-training class. Children learn them fastest through songs they already know.

Order of learning

Start with the most characteristic: the octave (the same note, higher), the perfect fifth (empty, “open”), the unison. Then major and minor thirds (happy and sad), the major second (two neighbouring scale notes) and the perfect fourth. Leave sixths and sevenths for last.

Songs for intervals

Interval	Opening (ascending)
major second	“Happy Birthday”
minor third	“Greensleeves”
major third	“Oh When the Saints”
perfect fourth	“Amazing Grace”, “Here Comes the Bride”
perfect fifth	“Twinkle, Twinkle”, Star Wars theme
major sixth	“My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean”
octave	“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

Associations are a crutch: helpful at the start, but the goal is hearing the interval without the song. When the child answers quickly, stop asking about it.

The trap: all twelve at once

The most common mistake is practising on all twelve intervals from day one. The child then has an 8% chance of guessing right and soon starts guessing. In the app choose a small set (“up to a fifth”) and widen it only when the small one scores above 80%.