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Meter, melodic dictation and planning your practice

Once you hear the pitches clearly, put them back into rhythm and expression.

Meter and tempo

Meter organises strong and weak positions; tempo is usually given in beats per minute (BPM), and what counts as the beat depends on the time signature and marking. 4/4 means four quarter-note beats per bar; 6/8 is usually felt as two dotted-quarter beats — don't always hear it as six equal accents.

Melody recognition and melodic dictation

Recognition identifies the order of degrees; dictation then puts that order, the actual pitches and octaves onto the keys. Some dictation exercises here simplify rhythm to focus on pitch, so they aren't full score dictation, which also needs rhythm, time signature and note values.

Short, focused loops

Hear the key → recall it or sing quietly → answer → compare with the correct feedback → find what you confused → do another round. Each day, prioritise verifiable outcomes and due reviews; tired, rapid tapping is no substitute for mastery.

Put your ear to use

Pick a short familiar tune, find the tonic, write its degrees as numbers, and try singing or playing it. Then do it again in another key. Ear training should ultimately help you understand, play and write music — not just raise numbers on a website.

References: Functional Ear Trainer · Miles.be · Puget Sound · Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom · musictheory.net · Lessons