A Plus course · 17 lessons
Land right on it.
Most of singing in tune is landing on a note cleanly, holding it steady, and tuning to what's around you. You hear a note, land on it like a dart, lock to a drone until it rings, and carry your own note in your head.
- 17 lessons, about 3 minutes each
- Under an hour in all
- No reading music
Aim
By the end, you can
Land on a note cleanly, without scooping up into it.
Lock to a drone until it rings, and hear the beats slow as you get close.
Hold your note while the chords change and a close part pulls at your ear.
Find your own note with nothing given, and start a song from it.
The anchor point
Every note, a step from your anchor
This course trains relative pitch: hearing each note against another, and landing on it. Absolute pitch, naming a note with nothing to compare, is rare, and the course doesn't promise it.
Relative pitch is what harmony needs. Your own comfortable note becomes an anchor you carry, and every note of the scale is a step from it.
On target
Tuning by the beats
Two notes a little apart beat: a slow wah-wah. The beats slow down as you get closer, and stop when you're there.
3 The beat rate is exactly the gap between the two notes: two notes 3 hertz apart beat three times a second.
Four ends
Four ends, from the bullseye to your own note
4 units, 17 lessons
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Stage 1End 1
Land it
Land like a dart, clean instead of scooped, then think a note before you leap to it.
- Bullseye Free
- Scoop or clean
- Think it, then leap
- The clock chimes
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Stage 2End 2
Lock to the drone
Lock to a drone: hear the ring, the octave and fifth, coming back, and no sag.
- Hear the ring
- The octave and the fifth
- Leave and come back
- No sag
- Red River Valley
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Stage 3End 3
Hold your ground
Hold your note while chords change and parts pull, then stack yourself.
- The chords change, you don't
- Don't get pulled
- Stack yourself
- The held note
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Stage 4End 4
Pitch memory
Your note from memory, kept in mind, every note from your anchor, and a song you start yourself.
- Your note, cold
- Keep it in mind
- From your anchor
- Start it yourself
First arrows
A clean landing
You need a held note: a keyboard app, a tuning app's drone, or a recording of one note.
Start here. Play a comfortable note and listen. Then stop the sound.
Hear it in your head for a moment before you sing.
Sing "dah", starting right on the note: no slide up into it.
If you started low and slid up, that's a scoop: think the note, breathe, and start right on it.
In lesson 1 the guide sings each note, and each echo lands as a dart on the board as you finish it. After two rounds, you hear how much closer you moved.
What the app listens for
The app hears where each note lands, whether you slid in, how close you hold to a drone, and whether a long note sags. A tight neck or jaw is yours to check.
Every note you sing back lands as a dart on the Bullseye board, and the lesson earns up to three stars and XP for how close they landed.The same board, labelled in cents, with the plain measure instead of stars, such as "4 of 5 landed within 25 cents".
From the range
About pitch
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In Indian classical music a tanpura plays only a drone, the home note and its fifth, under the whole performance, and the singer chooses that home note.
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In a 2006 study, conservatory students who grew up speaking Mandarin, a tone language, were far more likely to have absolute pitch than American students.
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The Westminster chimes were written in 1793 for Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge, and are said to grow from a phrase of Handel's Messiah.
Your kit
Before you shoot
Who it's for
- Singers who've been told they're a little sharp or flat, or who scoop into notes.
- Choir singers who drift when the chords change or a neighbour sings close by.
- Anyone who wants to start a song in tune without a note to help.
What you need
- Headphones for the drone lessons, one ear off, at a moderate volume.
- A quiet spot and a few minutes a day.
- No reading music: your notes land as darts, and the drone is a sound to tune to.
Singing it safely
- Pitch comes from breath and listening, never from squeezing: tightening pushes you sharp.
- Keep headphones at a moderate volume, with one ear off.
- Stop if anything tightens, tickles or hurts. Don't practise when hoarse or ill.
The songs
- The Westminster chimes Public domain (1793)
- Red River Valley Traditional, public domain
- Amazing Grace Public domain hymn (words 1779, tune 1829)
- Ode to Joy Public domain melody (1824), sung on "loo"
Questions
Questions
How long does it take?
17 lessons of about 3 minutes, under an hour in all. Pitch settles with practice, so short, regular sessions help most.
Will this give me perfect pitch?
No. It trains relative pitch: landing on a note, holding it, and tuning to a drone. That's what singing in tune needs. Absolute pitch is rare, and the course doesn't promise it.
Is it safe for my voice?
Yes. Pitch comes from breath and listening, never from squeezing. Keep headphones at a moderate volume, and stop if anything tightens or hurts.
Do I need to read music?
No. You hear each note, sing it back, and see where it landed.
What does it cost?
Lesson 1 is free, with no account needed. The rest is part of Plus; saving your progress takes a free account.
Take aim
Take aim.
Lesson 1 takes about three minutes: the guide sings a note, you echo it, and each echo lands on the board.
No account needed to try it. Saving your progress takes a free account.
Try the first lesson free See Plus