Tonic Sense
Develop your musical ear with focused melodic dictation exercises
Try a Free Sample Lesson
Demo Solfege Lesson
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The Superpower Behind Great Musicianship
Ever wonder how some musicians can hear a melody once and just... play it? Or how they can improvise a soaring solo that's been playing only in their head?
They can:
- Play by ear, translating tunes from the radio to their instrument.
- Transpose songs into any key on the fly.
- Understand the language of music, hearing "Do-Mi-Sol" instead of just three random notes.
This isn't magic; it's a trainable skill called Relative Pitch. It's the ability to recognize notes based on their relationship to the 'home' note, or tonic.
Tonic Sense is your personal gym for developing this skill. Through simple, focused melodic dictation exercises, you will train your ear to hear, name, and understand the notes you play.Build the foundation, and unlock your musical potential.
Three Ways to Train Your Ear 🧠
Tonic Sense strengthens your aural skills through three powerful exercise formats. Each one builds a different layer of musical understanding.
Solfege Syllables
Train with the timeless method used by musicians for centuries. Associating each scale degree with a unique syllable (using a "Movable Do" system) gives it a distinct character, making melodies easier to remember and understand.
Numeric Scale Degrees
Think like a composer. Recognizing notes as numbers (1,2,3...) is the key to seeing the patterns that govern all of music. It's the most direct path to understanding chord theory and transposing with ease.
Piano Keyboard
Connect your ear to your hands. The final step is finding the notes on an instrument. Our piano exercises bridge the gap between theory and practice, ensuring you can play what you hear in any key.
Getting Started
Essential foundation for using Tonic Sense effectively.
Lessons for Every Level
No matter where you're starting, there's a perfect challenge for you. Filter our library of melodies to focus on what you need most.
🎵 Genre
Practice with Short Patterns, Hymns, Traditional songs, Film music, and more.
⚡ Difficulty
Choose your challenge, from simple 2-5 note melodies to complex phrases of 15+ notes.
🎯 Specific Skills
Target tricky concepts like "melodies that don't end on Do," "hearing the leading tone," or recognizing the "Do-Mi-Sol" arpeggio.
Featured Lessons
Short Patterns 3 Notes
Hymns 1-10 Notes
Short Patterns 4 Notes
Children's Songs
Children's Songs
Old-Timey Songs 1-13 Notes
Hello! I'm Linda, and I built these drills because I wanted language for the short musical phrases I was hearing in real music—and to be able to echo them in my own playing. Other ear-training apps helped with intervals, but I never got fast enough at interpreting what I actually heard. I wanted to practice with short, familiar phrases instead.
So I built a prototype that worked for me, and now I'm developing it into something that will hopefully work for others. Tonic Sense is currently in beta as I continue refining the experience.