Hi,
I've been doing hearing exercises for approximately six months using an app called Functional Ear Trainer and I've encountered an obstacle that I can't overcome: augmented fourth (three tones over the tonic) and minor sixth (four tones). I can't tell them apart.
I know this is probably the first of many obstacles that I will meet and I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't desperate: is it common to confuse these two intervals?
I started with only the major scale. In less than a month I could tell every interval with an accuracy above 95%. Now it's 99%.
Then I proceeded with chromatics. Everything was going smoothly until I started to confuse the augmented fourth and the minor sixth. Months later, I'm still stuck at the same exercises. I don't want to proceed until I'll be able to identify all intervals. At first I just couldn't tell the two apart, now I feel like I'm getting worse, confusing other intervals for the two that caused the problem.
My accuracy with every other interval is above 95%. When I need to identify augmented fourth and minor sixth, though, it's probably slightly above 50%. Almost a coin toss.
I'm starting to feel like I'm "colorblind". Every other interval has a distinct "color" or quality that my brain recognizes. They can be tricky in some keys or pitches but fundamentally I know what they sound. Augmented fourth and minor sixth are different, they sound exactly the same to my ears. The only way to tell them apart is to play them one after the other, then my brain goes "oh yeah, one is slightly higher than the other! They're not the same."
I do 20 minutes of hearing exercises every day. I know it's important to use headphones but I don't always use them.
I also know that practice is the only medicine so I guess what I'm asking is if there's something to know about these intervals. Is it common to struggle with them or is it just me?
Submitted July 9, 2026 at 12:45PM by PinoLoSpazzino https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/1uru1na/hearing_problem_i_cant_tell_the_difference/?utm_source=ifttt