Functional Ear Trainer

What this ear training app is for

Functional Ear Trainer is a music app for training the ear. The developer presents it as a way to learn to recognize tones and then to play a melody as soon as you hear it. The listing names transcribing melodies, composing, improvising and playing with other musicians as the situations where that skill matters.

The listing sets the app against interval drills and perfect pitch programs. Those, it says, develop the ear, but do not by themselves let you play back what you hear. This app is aimed at that last step.

Learning tones with Benbassat's method

The app is based on Alain Benbassat's ear training method for recognizing tones. The developer describes the aim as understanding music the way a listener understands speech, where sounds carry meaning as well as pitch.

The listing presents the method as the basis of the whole app rather than a single exercise. Everything the app offers is tied to that approach.

Playing melodies by ear

The stated goal is to play a melody you hear without needing to write it out first. For a transcriber, that means taking a tune from the recording straight to the instrument. For a player, it means joining in with a melody someone else starts.

The listing also points to composing and improvising as uses. In both, the same skill of hearing a phrase and reproducing it is the foundation.

Who this ear trainer suits

The app is aimed at musicians who want their ear to work in real playing: transcribing, composing, improvising and playing in ensembles. It suits someone who has already worked with interval or pitch training and wants the next step, which the listing describes as being able to play what you hear.