Ear Tuner

Settings

Note Sound

Volume

Boost playback on quiet devices

100%

Note Range

Lowest Note

The lowest note that will be tested

G3

Highest Note

The highest note that will be tested

D6

Difficulty

Starting Difference

The initial difference in notes

50¢

Tests per Round

Correct tests needed to advance

3

Note Length

Duration

Length of each note

2.2s

Tone Shape

Attack

How quickly the note rises

Med

Decay

How gradually the note fades

Med

Voice Control

Listen for voice commands

Say "higher", "lower", "replay", "continue" (or "next"), "info", "settings", "close", or a note name like "C sharp four"

Ear Tuner

because intonation matters

Welcome to Ear Tuner... a game with no end, because your ear could always be better.

Ear Tuner plays two notes. Tap the one you think is higher.

The app quickly finds your threshold — the point where two notes are so close together you can barely tell them apart — and keeps testing you at your limits.

Research shows that this kind of targeted practice, done regularly, improves your ability to hear small pitch differences.

Tap (lower right) to see your overall score and learn the "swipe" gestures that let you play Ear Tuner while driving or sitting in a recliner with your eyes closed.

Tap (lower left) to change the instrument or adjust other settings.

Hello!

Ready to tune up your ears?

You can use voice commands to operate Ear‑Tuner while driving, knitting, or juggling. It drains your battery a bit faster, so you might not want to use it every time.

You can say "higher" or "lower" to indicate that the second note is higher/lower, and "replay" to hear the notes again.

Say "settings" or "info" to go to those screens.

On the info screen, say "retest C sharp four" to retest that note.

"Continue", "retry", and "close" work in the appropriate places.

Ear Tuner

because intonation matters

Ear Tuner measures your aural acuity (your ability to tell which of two notes is slightly higher or lower) and helps you improve it. The app tests you with notes that are closer and closer together, until you can no longer reliably tell which is higher.

The app remembers your best score for every note. Once you have a score for every note, it randomly selects notes to re-test, favoring notes where your score is weakest. You can manually re-test a specific note in the Scores table, below.

By practicing regularly, your aural acuity will improve.

Ear Tuner supports voice commands. Say "higher" or "lower" to indicate that the second note is higher/lower, and "replay" to hear the notes again. Say "settings" or "info" to go to those screens. In the "info" screen, say "retest C sharp four" to retest that note. "Continue", "retry", and "close" work in the appropriate places.

Ear Tuner also supports "eyes-free" operation, even without voice commands: tap anywhere in the lower part of the screen to replay. Swipe right to continue after a wrong answer. In retest mode, swipe left to retry. Use the app with your eyes closed ("intonation meditation").

The minimum difference that a person requires to distinguish between two notes varies. An untrained person may need 10–20 cents. An average musician might need 5–6 cents. A top-notch fretless string player may only need 2–3 cents.

Ear Tuner was inspired by the InTune app and Molly Gebrian's tips for improving intonation.

If you have feedback, email .

Average Score

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Score Chart

Scores

Note	Best

Highlighted bars/rows — last test failed at a difference at which you once succeeded.

Paste into an email to share with a friend.

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Instrument samples from the MusyngKite soundfont, used under CC BY-SA 3.0.