RCM Level 9 ear tests: what's asked and how to practice

Name an interval played once, up or down, then as a chord.

No new intervals: the complete set from the minor second to the octave, including the tritone. Each is played once as separate notes (up or down) and once together. With nothing new to learn, Level 9 is about speed and certainty — especially for pairs that sound alike in harmonic form, like the two sixths, or the major seventh and minor second, which are inversions of each other and share the same sharp clash. Practice the ones you miss several times in a row until they stick.

Name the quality of a chord played once (major four-note, minor four-note, augmented, dominant 7th, diminished 7th).

The list changes: major and minor four-note chords (a triad with one note doubled) in root position or first inversion, plus the augmented triad, dominant seventh and diminished seventh in root position. You name the quality only. First inversion puts the third in the bass, which lightens the sound but doesn't turn major into minor — listen past the bass to the color of the whole chord. Our trainer voices four-note chords with the bass note doubled an octave higher.

Hear a four-chord progression starting on the tonic, then name each chord (I, IV, V, vi).

Four chords that begin on the tonic, in any order from I, IV, V and vi (in minor, i, iv, V and VI), all in root position. Unlike Level 8, there's no fixed list to learn, so each chord has to be recognized on its own merits. The examiner plays the progression twice, pausing on each chord the second time; our trainer plays it once, then chord by chord. Track the bass: in root position it sits on the chord's root — do, fa, sol or la.

Hear a two-part phrase three times, then sing back its upper part.

Now a two-part phrase: you hear two lines together and play back the upper one. It's up to nine notes long, in any key with up to four sharps or flats, in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8, and it's played three times — you clap or sing the upper part after the second hearing and play it after the third. In our trainer you hear it three times and sing the upper part. The lower line is a distraction: follow the top from its very first note.