White
0 dB / octave
Equal energy at every frequency. Because we hear in octaves, it sounds bright and hissy — the classic "TV static".
Musical intervals.
Every interval from the unison to the octave, played up, down and together, on the instrument you choose. Learn their sound, then test your ear with the quiz.
Now playing
Deep sleep
Hear every interval
Choose an instrument, then tap an interval: it plays up, down and together, again and again; tap again to pause. The keyboard shows the two notes and the semitones between them. Ready? Take the quiz.
What a musical interval is
An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones, the smallest step on a piano. Twelve semitones make an octave, where the note comes round again twice as high. Each interval has its own character: the fifth sounds open, the major third bright, the minor third sad, the tritone tense.
Musicians learn to recognise intervals by ear, often by linking each to the start of a well-known tune. Hearing an interval melodically, one note after the other, and harmonically, both at once, are separate skills, so the cards play both. The same interval sounds alike on any instrument: try a few.
Good to know
- Intervals are named by counting letter names, both ends included: C up to G passes C, D, E, F, G, five letters, so it is a fifth.
- Turned upside down, intervals add up to nine and swap major and minor: a major third becomes a minor sixth, a fourth becomes a fifth.
- The simplest frequency ratios sound the smoothest: 2:1 for the octave, 3:2 for the fifth, 4:3 for the fourth.
- The piano divides the octave into twelve exactly equal semitones (equal temperament), so its fifths are a hair narrower than a pure 3:2.
| Interval | Semitones | A tune that starts with it |
|---|---|---|
| Minor second | 1 | The Jaws theme |
| Major second | 2 | Happy Birthday |
| Minor third | 3 | Greensleeves |
| Major third | 4 | When the Saints Go Marching In |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | Here Comes the Bride |
| Tritone | 6 | The Simpsons theme |
| Perfect fifth | 7 | Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star |
| Minor sixth | 8 | The Entertainer (the first leap up) |
| Major sixth | 9 | My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean |
| Minor seventh | 10 | Somewhere, from West Side Story |
| Major seventh | 11 | Take On Me (the chorus leap) |
| Octave | 12 | Somewhere over the Rainbow |
How many musical intervals are there?
Within one octave there are thirteen, from the unison (0 semitones) to the octave (12), counting the tritone in the middle. Beyond the octave they repeat as compound intervals, like the ninth.
How do I learn to recognise intervals by ear?
Link each one to the start of a tune you know, listen to it up, down and together, then test yourself regularly with a quiz like the one on this page.
Which interval is the most consonant?
After the unison, the octave, then the perfect fifth and the perfect fourth: their notes are in the simplest frequency ratios.
Mixes
Pick what you need. One tap to start, change anything and save it as your own.
Focus timer
Work in waves.
The Pomodoro rhythm: focus with calm sound in your ears, then take a real break. A soft bell marks every change, so you never watch the clock. Every fourth break is a long one.
Every fourth break is twice as long.
25:00Focus · 1 of 4
Sound while you work
Breathe
Slow your breathing down.
Follow the circle and the sound: it rises as you breathe in and falls as you breathe out. Choose a rhythm, or set your own, and pick what plays underneath.
Ready
Sound while you breathe
Noise generator
Any color of noise, from deep brown to bright violet — and everything in between.
Brown noise
Spectrum · 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Sound science
The colors of noise
Same randomness, different tilt. Each color shifts energy between low and high pitches — here is what that sounds like.
Pink
−3 dB / octave
Equal energy in every octave, so it sounds even to the ear. Steady rain, rustling leaves. A favorite for focus.
Brown
−6 dB / octave
Deep and warm, like a distant waterfall or a plane cabin. Masks voices and traffic without any hiss.
Grey
Equal-loudness curve
Shaped around how our hearing works, so every pitch seems equally loud. Balanced and soft.
Blue
+3 dB / octave
The mirror of pink: more treble than bass. Airy, crisp, like a light spray.
Violet
+6 dB / octave
Mostly treble, like hissing water. Sometimes used to mask high-pitched ringing.
Calm
Gentle tones to settle into: singing bowls, a slow warm drone, wind chimes tuned so every note fits.
Frequencies
Famous tones on pages of their own: hear them side by side, with honest facts.
Sound phenomena
How sound bends, shifts, rings and fools the ear, and why space is silent: hear it for yourself.
Nature
Rooms & travel
Animals & countryside
A purring cat, whales and dolphins, a nightingale in the dark, cowbells on a summer pasture. Wonderful in stereo.
For babies
Womb sounds are what a baby heard for nine months: a deep rush of blood flow, and the heartbeat.
Hearing and speaker tests
Check your ears, headphones and speakers, each test on a page of its own with a live picture.
Ear Age · 60 seconds
Test your ears.
Our ears lose the highest pitches first, and it starts early. Find the highest tone you can still hear and see the typical age for it.
- Headphones on, quiet room
- Set a comfortable volume on the 1 kHz tone
- Don't turn it up when a tone disappears — that's the point
Step 1 · Volume
Play the reference tone and set your volume so it's clear but comfortable. Leave it there.
Step 2 · Listen
8,000Hz
Your result
8k12k16k20k
A rough guide, not a diagnosis. Your phone, headphones and even this browser can cut the highest tones. Worried about your hearing? See an audiologist.
More ear tests
Check your headphones, find the deepest bass your setup can play, or play any pitch you like.
Headphones check
Left & right
Each ear should get its own side. It matters for 8D, binaural beats and every stereo sound here.
Headphones on, then tap a side.
Bass test
How low can you go?
Deep tones from 200 Hz down to 20 Hz, the bottom of human hearing. Mostly it tests your speakers or headphones.
200Hz
Your setup plays down to
Tone generator
Any pitch, 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Hz
Start quiet: high tones and square waves get tiring fast.
Take it to bed
An app without the app store.
Add Ears & Waves to your home screen and it opens like any app — full screen, with its own icon. Everything it needs is saved on your device, so it keeps playing on a plane, in a tent or with Wi-Fi off.
Preparing offline mode…
- Works offlineNo streaming. Sound is computed on your device, forever.
- Screen offKeeps playing with the phone locked. The timer fades it out gently.
- PrivateNo account, no ads, no cookies. Your mixes stay on your device.
