Free guitar tool
Interval Trainer
A fretboard interval trainer with no fretboard on it
Every other guitar interval trainer shows you a fretboard and lights up the answer. That trains you to recognise a picture. It doesn’t train you to find the note.
This one gives you a root, an interval and sometimes a string, and nothing else. You work out where the note is on the guitar, then check yourself by ear. It’s free, it runs in your browser and there’s nothing to install.
Keyboard: Space for the next one, R to reveal, P to play. Works on a phone, but a laptop on a music stand is better.
How to use this guitar interval trainer
There are four modes. Each one drills the same skill from a different angle: knowing where an interval is from any root, without a shape to lean on.
Cells
You get a chord, its formula and a short cell of intervals. Play them in that order, anywhere on the neck. The order is random, so you can’t fall back on running the arpeggio up and down.
E♭m7 ♭3 – 1 – ♭7 – 5
Locate
One interval, one root, one string, against a timer. This is the most direct way to learn the intervals on the fretboard, and the timer tells you which ones you’re still working out rather than knowing.
Find the ♭7 of D on the G string
Constraints
A cell plus a rule: one string only, frets 5 to 9, every note on a different string. The rule takes away whichever fingering you’d normally reach for.
Two strings only: the D and G strings
Changes
A progression plays against a click. Each chord shows only its target tones, such as the 3rd and 7th, and you land on them as the chord arrives. Choose ii–V–I, a 12-bar blues, a minor blues and others, in any key.
Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj7 targets: ♭3 · ♭7
Whatever the mode, play it on the guitar before you press anything. Play and Reveal are for checking an answer, not finding it. If you use them to find it, you’re back to reading a diagram, just a slower one.
Why there are no diagrams
A fretboard diagram turns an interval into a shape. Learn enough shapes and you can play a lot of correct notes without knowing what any of them are. That’s how most players end up stuck in boxes. The boxes aren’t the problem. Not knowing what’s inside them is.
Take the picture away and the only way to find the ♭7 of D on the G string is to know where D is and what a ♭7 is. That’s slower at first, much slower for a few weeks. After that it’s faster than any shape, because it works from any root, on any string, in any key, without a separate picture for each.
The tool is built around the method in my book No Shapes, which has no fretboard diagrams either.
Guitar intervals: the whole list
There are twelve notes, so there are twelve intervals from any root, counting the octave. On one string, an interval is just a number of frets. The table is the reference. The trainer is how you stop needing it.
| Symbol | Interval | Frets on one string | From C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root (unison) | 0 | C |
| ♭2 | Minor 2nd | 1 | D♭ |
| 2 | Major 2nd | 2 | D |
| ♭3 | Minor 3rd | 3 | E♭ |
| 3 | Major 3rd | 4 | E |
| 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 | F |
| ♭5 | Diminished 5th (tritone) | 6 | G♭ |
| 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 | G |
| ♭6 | Minor 6th | 8 | A♭ |
| 6 | Major 6th | 9 | A |
| ♭7 | Minor 7th | 10 | B♭ |
| 7 | Major 7th | 11 | B |
| 8 | Octave | 12 | C |
Nobody plays an interval on one string ten frets apart, so you also need to know where each interval is on the neighbouring strings. That’s a small map, and it’s the same from every root. The only exception is crossing between the G and B strings, where everything shifts up a fret. No Shapes sets the map out in full. The Locate mode is where you drill it.
A ten-minute practice routine
- Three minutes of Locate, chord tones only, timer on. Don’t touch the guitar until you’ve said the note name out loud.
- Three minutes of Cells at four notes. Play each cell twice, in two different places on the neck.
- Two minutes of Constraints. Skip any rule you find easy. The ones that slow you down are where the gaps are.
- Two minutes of Changes on a ii–V–I, targeting 3rds and 7ths at a tempo slow enough that you never miss a change.
Change the root only when a key gets comfortable. Most people find their weak spots are the flat keys and the B string. That’s normal. It’s also exactly what a fretboard diagram hides.
Who it’s for
Guitarists who can already play, and who suspect they know where the notes are without knowing what they are. If you can run five pentatonic boxes but can’t say where the major 3rd of the chord is when you land on it, this is for you.
It’s not for complete beginners. You need to know your note names on the low E and A strings first, because every interval starts from a root you can find.
Frequently asked questions
What is a guitar interval trainer?
A tool that drills the distance between two notes on the guitar, so that from any root you can find the 3rd, 5th, 7th and so on without working it out each time. Most work by showing a fretboard. This one deliberately doesn’t, so you learn the interval rather than the picture of it.
Is it free?
Yes. All four modes, with no sign-up and no paid tier.
Is this ear training?
Not mainly. It’s a fretboard trainer: it teaches you where the intervals are. Each cell can be played back, so you hear what you’ve just found, and that builds your ear as a side effect. If the sound and the note you played don’t match, you’ve found the wrong fret.
How do I learn intervals on the guitar?
Start with the root, then the 5th and the octave, then the 3rds, then the 7ths. Learn each one from any root on any string before adding the next. Name the note before you play it. Short daily sessions work better than long weekly ones.
Do I need to know theory?
You need to know the note names on the guitar and what an interval is. The tool shows each chord’s formula, so you pick up the rest as you go.
How long does it take?
Expect to be slower than usual for three or four weeks. That’s normal and it’s where most people give up. Ten minutes a day gets you through it.