RCM Level 2 ear training: the four tests, with practice

Listen twice to the rhythm of a short melody (2–3 measures, 3/4 or 4/4), then clap or tap it back.

Same ingredients as Level 1: two or three measures in 3/4 or 4/4, with whole, dotted half, half and quarter notes, pairs of eighths and the dotted quarter–eighth. The examiner gives the time signature, counts a measure and plays the melody twice. Use the first hearing to lock onto the beat and the second to fix the details, especially where a long note holds across a beat. Our trainer marks the timing of every clap relative to your own pulse, so a steady answer at a slightly slower speed still scores well.

Name an interval played once, up and then down.

The list is now the minor third, the major third and the perfect fifth, each played once going up and then coming down. The fifth is the easiest to separate: it sounds hollow and open, like the first leap in 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. Thirds sound sweeter and fuller. The fifth is also the outer frame of every major and minor triad, so hearing it well helps in the chords test too. As at Level 1, you may sing the interval from a given first note instead of naming it.

Name a major or minor triad, played solid, once.

The broken version from Level 1 is gone: the triad is played once, all notes together, and you name it major or minor. Without the broken chord to guide you, listen to the overall color — major bright and settled, minor darker. If you're unsure, hum the chord's notes from the bottom up in your head; the middle note decides it. Our trainer plays solid root-position triads in different keys so you don't learn to rely on a single chord.

Sing back a five-note melody from the first five notes of the scale, starting on the tonic or dominant.

Keys change to G major, F major and D minor. The tune is still around five notes from the first five notes of the scale, beginning on the tonic or the dominant. You hear the key named, the tonic chord once and the melody twice, and in the exam you play it back. Our trainer asks you to sing or hum your answer and checks each pitch without minding which octave you choose. In D minor, F is the third — a half step lower than the F-sharp of D major.