PlayByEar Reviews 6

A few months ago, I had absolutely zero musical ability.

And when I say zero, I mean if you’d asked me to identify a chord progression, I would have assumed you were talking about a yoga class.

I couldn’t play by ear. I couldn’t recognize intervals. I barely trusted myself to clap in time at concerts. If someone said “that’s a major third,” I’d nod politely while internally buffering like a 2007 YouTube video.

Then I found the PlayByEar app.

At first I thought ear training sounded suspiciously like homework disguised as music. But the exercises are actually weirdly addictive. The app breaks everything down into intervals, scales, melodies, chords, and progressions, with beginner to advanced levels that genuinely feel useful instead of just “same thing but now faster so you can fail more efficiently.”

One exercise that completely rewired my brain was the “step vs leap” training. Suddenly I stopped hearing melodies as random noises and started recognizing patterns. Songs went from “magic sound soup” to “ohhhh… that note jumped up a third.”

Which honestly felt like discovering I had musical superpowers hidden somewhere under years of confusion.

The melody and pitch exercises were also a game changer because they teach you to hear intervals from different notes in the scale — not just from the starting note every single time. Apparently real music has the audacity to move around.

After practicing consistently, something deeply alarming started happening:

I could actually work songs out by ear.

Not perfectly. Not instantly. But enough that friends started assuming I secretly had years of training instead of several decades of confidently knowing absolutely nothing.

Then I watched Kelly’s livestreams and realized this is what the app is training you toward. She hears songs she’s never encountered before and casually identifies the chords and melody in real time like some kind of musical detective.

Meanwhile, old me used to struggle identifying Happy Birthday if someone changed the key.

The scary part is… the exercises actually work.

So if you’re someone who thinks:
“I’m not naturally musical.”
“I could never play by ear.”
“My ear training consists mainly of panic.”

…this app might genuinely surprise you.

Turns out musical ears aren’t magic.
They’re trained.

Which is both inspiring and mildly annoying

I have joined the app 3 weeks ago and been working on it since on a daily basis xxx the app is so well laid out and helped so much to recognise intervals, chords , chord progression and so on and Kelly the owner of the app , was so positive and kind to help me when needed support with the app xxx I fully recommend the app and I can promise you , worth each and every penny xxxx

Fantastic app when training your ear.

I am non-Musical and find the app easy to follow and the way it is laid out is pleasant on the eye

It explains in detail exactly what you need to be doing to learn to play by ear

I am new to the app, but from first impressions it is really going to help me learn this super skill

Highly recommended

PlayByEar is the best app to learn music aurally! Kelly demonstrates this skill on her livestreams and I was amazed that even with songs she hasn't heard before, she was able to identify the chord progression and melody notes within a couple of seconds!

Not only does her app give you 52 listening exercises, but it explains the theory behind each one.

She breaks the exercises into categories such as intervals, scales, melody and pitch, chords, and progressions and within each one there are beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercises.

It is important to note that there are fundamental differences between each level of difficulty. For example, if you are drilling intervals, the differences between them wouldn't just be a change in tempo, but include diverse subcategories that test your intervals in impactful ways.

For me, I love practicing the step vs leap exercise because these interval patterns are guaranteed to occur in any song and mastering them makes it easier to differentiate when you hear the melody going up by seconds or thirds.

Furthermore, the melodies and pitch exercises help you practice recognizing a sequence of intervals which is beneficial because you can hear how each interval sounds based off other scale degrees that are not the first scale degree. So instead of drilling an interval that is always based off the first scale degree, you can hear how an interval sounds based off the second or third scale degree.

I am a musician and music teacher with music theory knowledge that is quite advanced so I can confirm these exercises are the best way to develop your ear.

If you drill these exercises every day, I can say with full confidence that you will improve immensely in your ability to play music by ear.

Just watch her livestreams and you'll see the end result of using this app in real time.

Brilliant! Not only is it great for people who don’t have much musical experience and are learning from basics but also great for every musician who wants to expand on their skills and knowledge. Super easy to use and a great & fun way of learning!:)