- Home
- All exercises
- Intervals
- Wide intervals, no piano
Wide intervals, no piano
Leaps across the major scale, interleaved: fifth, third, sixth, fourth, seventh and octave. You hear only the first note – intonation without help, like an a cappella choir.
Six notes from the major scale in a zigzag order: from the root up to the fifth, the third, the sixth, the fourth, the seventh and the octave. In semitones: 7, 4, 9, 5, 11, 12. So the line goes up a fifth, down a minor third, up a fourth, down a major third, up a tritone, and a half step to the held octave. The piano gives only the first note, so you tune the rest yourself, like an a cappella choir.
How to do it
- Listen to the cue note, then sing it silently in your head. It's your root.
- Sing “lah” through the blocks: fifth, third, sixth, fourth, seventh, then the octave for two beats.
- Hear each target in your head before you leap. The block heights on the roll are your map.
- Don't rush. If the leaps blur, lower the tempo with the slider.
- Rest, then repeat a semitone higher; near the top of your range the pattern turns back down.
Coach's tip: The major seventh sits right under the octave and pulls toward it – don’t let it sag. Hear each leap in your head first.
What to watch out for
The jump from the fourth up to the seventh is a tritone, an awkward interval that singers often land short of. The seventh also sags if you aim for its middle; it pulls toward the octave, so place it high. With no piano, the pitch can drift slowly, so check that the final octave sounds like your root. Keep the volume even and the top light. Stop if you strain.
Who it's for
A level 3 exercise for singers who already manage Intervals from the tonic, no piano and want harder leaps without a safety net, such as choir and ensemble singers. Use it in the main block after Interval mix 1-3-1-5-1-8-1. If it keeps going off, review Interval: major seventh first. It's in no fixed program; the daily training favors it for the Classical & choir style.
Opens the app in your browser. Free to start, no account needed. Put on headphones first.
Related exercises
- Interval: major seventh You sing a note, leap 11 semitones up and come back.
- Interval: octave You sing a note, leap 12 semitones up and come back.
- Interval mix 1-3-1-5-1-8-1 Bigger and bigger leaps from the same base.
- Octave leap with a strong top An octave leap and a held peak, then a fresh start on the top note and a way down through minor-pentatonic notes to the root.
- Five vowels on one note One note and five vowels in a row: mee, eh, ah, oh, oo – with no gaps between them. Trains even vowels and legato: pitch and tone stay, only the shape of your mouth changes.
- Broken thirds 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5... Trains thinking in intervals.