- Home
- All exercises
- Intervals
- Intervals from the tonic, no piano
Intervals from the tonic, no piano
The piano gives only the first note. From the tonic you sing a second, third, fourth and fifth on your own, returning to the tonic each time – like in solfège.
Four intervals, all measured from the same root: major second (2 semitones), major third (4), perfect fourth (5) and perfect fifth (7), each followed by a return to the root. The piano plays just the first note for about a second, then you sing the whole pattern without it. That is how solfège is taught, and it trains your ear to hold a tonic by itself. The fifth and the final root last two beats.
How to do it
- Listen to the cue note and keep it in your head. It's the root for the whole pattern.
- Sing “lah”: root, second, root, third, and so on. The piano stays silent.
- Hear each interval before you sing it. Thinking “do–re–do, do–mi–do” can help.
- Check the roll: every return to the root should sit on exactly the same row.
- Hold the fifth and the last root for two beats. Repetitions climb a semitone at a time, then come back down.
Coach's tip: The tonic is your anchor: every return has to land exactly on it. Hear each interval in your head before you sing it.
What to watch out for
The returns to the root are where it goes wrong. After the fifth especially, singers drift, so the next leap starts from a different place than the piano gave you. Compare the root blocks on the roll; if later ones turn yellow, aim back at the first. The major third and the perfect fourth are only one semitone apart, so keep them distinct. Keep the volume even and stop if you feel strain.
Who it's for
A level 2 exercise for singers who've practiced single intervals and want to hear them without help, and for choir singers who must hold a pitch alone. Use it in the main block after Interval: major third and Interval: perfect fifth. When the roots stay level, try Wide intervals, no piano. The daily training favors it when you pick Classical & choir.
Opens the app in your browser. Free to start, no account needed. Put on headphones first.
Related exercises
- Interval: perfect fifth You sing a note, leap 7 semitones up and come back.
- Interval: major sixth You sing a note, leap 9 semitones up and come back.
- Leaps on the “and” in swing From the tonic, a leap of a major third, a major sixth and a minor seventh – each time the top note comes in on the short eighth before the beat and carries over. A typical jazz push.
- Harmony a third above First the piano plays your line, then it plays the melody while you sing a second voice over it – a third higher, step for step. That’s the high harmony of folk and country.
- 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.