Interval Worksheets with Answer Keys

Two ways to practice intervals, both with answers: a generator that creates new exercises every time, to print or to solve on screen with automatic correction. Everything is in treble clef with melodic intervals, free, and you may photocopy the sheets for your class.

Generator: make your own worksheet or practice on screen

Choose which intervals you want, whether they include accidentals and how many exercises, and the generator creates a new sheet every time, with its answer key, ready to print. The exercises are drawn on the spot with fixed rules, so they never run out: each student can take home a different sheet, and the test in June is not the same as the test in September.

In practice on screen the exercises come one at a time: in identify mode you choose the number, the quality and whether it goes up or down, and in write mode you place the second note by clicking on the staff. Every answer is checked immediately and you get your score at the end.

Every sheet has its own number (sheet no. 4821). If you add ?hoja=4821 to the end of this page's address, that exact same sheet comes up again. That is handy for reprinting it or for giving the same sheet to a whole class.

What the sheets look like

Each sheet starts easy and ends hard, so a single page works from the first day to the exam review:

• The first exercises use natural, ascending notes. With no sharps or flats, the student only has to count and compare: the qualities that come straight out of the natural scale (major and minor 3rds, perfect 5ths and the diminished 5th B–F…).
• Then the directions are mixed. Descending intervals appear, which is where almost everybody slips when counting.
• The last part has accidentals. Sharps and flats, with some augmented or diminished intervals, in random order.
• No two exercises on a sheet use the same notes, so the answers cannot be memorized.

The notes stay between A3 and A5: two ledger lines at most, with no impossible reading. And there are no double accidentals.

Single-interval and mixed sheets

Use the generator in two ways, depending on where the class is:

• One interval at a time (for example only 3rds), when you have just explained an interval and it is time to fix it. The student only has to decide the quality.
• Mixed intervals in cumulative levels: 2nd and 3rd, then up to the 4th, up to the 5th… up to the 8th. Knowing that every exercise on the sheet is a 3rd gives away half of the answer. With mixed numbers, the student has to do the whole job: first count how many positions the interval covers, then look at the half steps (UK: semitones). The 2nd-to-8th level is the general review before an exam.

Single-interval worksheets

For when you have just explained an interval and it is time to fix it. Each worksheet opens the PDF in a new tab; the answer sheet has exactly the same layout as the student's, with the answers in red, so you correct by holding one over the other against the light.

Cumulative worksheets: mixed intervals

Knowing that every exercise on the sheet is a 3rd gives away half of the answer: the student stops counting and goes straight to the quality. On these worksheets the sizes are mixed, so the whole job has to be done: first count how many staff positions the interval covers, then look at the half steps (UK: semitones).

They go by levels, the way a class progresses. It starts with 2nds and 3rds and each level adds a new size without dropping the earlier ones; the last one, 2nd to 8th, is the general review before an exam.

How to use them in class

They are designed for music theory classes in music schools and conservatories, and work just as well in private lessons:

• In blocks, not all at once. The first two staves (twelve exercises) are enough for an introductory session; keep the rest for later ones.
• Single-interval sheet first, mixed sheet after. A sheet with one number fixes the quality; the mixed one checks that the student really can count the interval when nobody says which one it is.
• Identify and write on the same day. Recognizing a written interval and building one are different skills: a student who spots a minor 6th at once can get stuck writing one downward.
• Self-correction. Give the student the answer key at the end: seeing it next to the sheet shows at a glance where the mistakes were, which teaches more than a red number in the margin.
• Timer for older students. A full sheet of 2nds or 3rds in five minutes is a good sight-reading goal for an advanced beginner.

The same exercises, on screen

If you prefer automatic correction, every interval number has its own interactive quiz with three difficulty levels and notation generated on the fly. Start with the interval exercises, pick which intervals to include in the custom interval quiz, or go straight to the complete interval analysis, which mixes number, quality and arrangement. To review the theory before printing anything, see the page on musical intervals.