Skip to content
AuralRoom

RCM · Level 3

RCM Level 3 ear tests: practice for every part

Level 3 stretches each test a little: clapbacks run to four measures, the perfect fourth joins the intervals, playback tunes reach six notes, and the chord test gains a second question about a single note. Marks stay at 2 each for clapback, intervals and chords, and 4 for playback — 10 of the exam's 100.

Clapback

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

Free · no sign-up · uses your microphone to hear your claps

The tests at Level 3

Clapback

2 marks

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

Expect three or four measures in 3/4 or 4/4, with the same note values as Levels 1 and 2, up to the dotted quarter and eighth. The extra length is the real challenge: you have to hold the whole rhythm in memory after two hearings. Split it in your head — the first half on the first hearing, the second half on the second. The examiner names the time signature and counts a measure; in our trainer, listen to both playings, then clap the rhythm back in one go.

Practise this test →

Intervals

2 marks

Name an interval played once, up and then down.

Four intervals now: minor third, major third, perfect fourth and perfect fifth, each played once up and then down. The fourth and fifth are the pair to watch. The fourth has a bold, calling sound — think of 'Here Comes the Bride' or 'Amazing Grace' — while the fifth is wider and emptier. Going down, a fourth falls from do to the sol below, and a fifth from sol to do. You may sing the interval from a given note instead of naming it; our trainer asks for its name.

Practise this test →

Chords

2 marks

Name a solid major or minor triad, then say whether a single note is its root, third or fifth.

Two questions share this test's 2 marks. First, a solid major or minor triad: name its quality. Then the examiner plays a triad broken, followed by a single note, and you say whether that note is the root, the third or the fifth. Our trainer asks both questions in one item, playing the broken triad and then the note on its own. To answer, sing the broken chord back — bottom, middle, top — and match the single note to one of the three.

Practise this test →

Playback

4 marks

Sing back a five- or six-note melody, starting on the tonic, mediant or dominant.

Tunes are five or six notes long, still within the first five notes of the scale, and may now start on the mediant (mi) as well as the tonic or dominant. Keys are D major, F major, D minor and G minor. After the key is named and the tonic chord played, you hear the melody twice. Starting on mi is the new trap: check it against the middle note of the chord. In the exam you play your answer; in our trainer you sing or hum it, and each note is checked.

Practise this test →

Tips for Level 3

  • After every chord, sing it broken — root, third, fifth. The single-note question then becomes 'which of my three notes was that?'
  • Contrast fourths and fifths in pairs: sing do–fa, then do–sol, several times a day.
  • Tap the beat lightly with your foot while you clap a four-measure rhythm; it stops long notes from shrinking.
  • Warm up for playback by singing the first five notes of D minor and G minor, so the lowered third feels normal before you start.
  • Remember six-note tunes as two groups of three.

Free daily practice · no sign-up

A full Level 3 mock, marked

The examiner runs every test in order, plays as many times as the board does and gives an estimated mark out of 10, with where you lose marks.

Start a mock

Questions people ask

How is the root, third or fifth question marked?

It's part of the chords test, which is worth 2 marks in total along with naming the chord's quality. RCM doesn't say how those 2 marks are divided between the two questions. Our trainer and mock treat both as one chords item, so a mistake in either costs part of the chords score.

How is the single note played?

RCM's syllabus says the triad is played broken first, but doesn't spell out exactly how the single note is then sounded. Our trainer plays the broken triad and then the note on its own, which is the clearest version to practice; if the exam sounds slightly different, the listening skill is the same.

Which keys can come up in Level 3 playback?

On piano, D major, F major, D minor and G minor. Violin uses the same keys as piano from Level 3 to Level 8, while other instruments follow their own syllabus. Our trainer uses the piano keys and plays each tune twice, as RCM does at every level up to Level 4.

Which Level 3 test should I practice most?

Playback, because it carries 4 of the 10 ear-test marks — twice as much as any other test. After that, spend time on whichever test your mock estimate shows you losing most on. Ten focused minutes on most days usually beats one long session the week before the exam.

Independent practice. We are not affiliated with RCM (The Royal Conservatory); the tests here are generated by our engine from the published format, not taken from the board's books. Mock marks are estimates — the examiner's judgement is final.