Sing a short melody from memory, note by note, and run the 100-meter dash with your voice (UK: 100 metres). It is not a scale, as in the hurdles, or an arpeggio, as in the triple jump: it is a real short phrase of 4 to 6 notes, made of steps and a few small leaps. As in the hurdles, you do not move on to the next note until you have tuned the current one. Unlike every other game in this section, rhythm does not count here, only pitch: each note is accepted as soon as you hold it in tune for the minimum time, no matter when you start it. It works in the browser on your phone or computer, with nothing to install.
When you press “Let’s run!”, your browser will ask for permission to use the microphone. The audio is not recorded or sent anywhere: it is analyzed on your own device.
How to play
- Choose a musician, type your name, pick the difficulty and the kind of melodies you want to practice.
- Listen to the whole melody. It plays from start to finish in a major or minor key that changes every round. You can replay it as often as you like (in Master mode you hear it only once).
- Sing it note by note, in the same order. There is no beat to follow: each note is cleared as soon as you hold it in tune for the minimum time, within a window of about 4 seconds.
- If you do not tune a note in time, you stumble. The race goes on to the next note, but a penalty is added to your time.
- Check your final time. If you clear the 4 notes of the shortest melody instantly, you run it in 6.5 s; the benchmark for this game is 7.0 s. If you stumble on every note, you are disqualified and no time is recorded.
You can sing in whatever octave is comfortable: the game compares the note name, not the octave.
The melodies, from simple to leaps
Each round draws a tonic (C, D, E, F, G or A), a key (major or natural minor) and a melodic “shape”, always written as scale degrees (1 = tonic). You choose which shapes can come up:
| Melodies | What they add | Shapes (scale degrees) |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | Steps only, with a 3rd as the largest leap | 1-2-3-2-1 · 1-2-1-3-1 · 3-2-1-2-3 · 1-3-2-1 |
| With leaps | Adds arpeggio shapes (1-3-5) and a leap of a 5th | 1-3-5-3-1 · 1-2-3-5-3-1 · 5-3-1-2-3 · 1-5-4-3-2-1 |
| All | Also adds a leap of a 4th and of a 6th (any of the 10 shapes can come up) | 1-3-2-5-4-1 · 1-6-5-3-2-1 |
These are short melodies, made to be sung from memory in any major or minor key. If you are not sure what a scale degree is, review the degrees of the scale.
The three difficulties
They change how much help you get and how strict the tuning is (the margin is measured in cents; a half step (UK: semitone) is 100 cents):
| Difficulty | Margin | Help |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | ±50 cents | You see the name of each note while you sing it. |
| Normal | ±30 cents | Before you start, you see the scale degrees of the melody (for example, 1-3-5-3-1). |
| Master | ±15 cents | The melody plays only once, with no written help: you have to remember it by ear, note by note. |
Why a game benchmark and not Bolt’s record
The real 100-meter dash takes 9.58 s (Usain Bolt, Berlin 2009). This game borrows the name of the event, not its duration or its speed: it cannot be compared with a real race. It is the time needed to sing a short melody with a realistic margin so that the microphone can detect each note. With the shortest melody (4 notes, the 1-3-2-1 shape) sung perfectly, with every note in tune from its very first instant, the calculation gives a 1.2 s start + 4 × 1.0 s per note + 1.3 s finish = 6.5 s. The 7.0 s benchmark is set a little above that theoretical minimum, as in the hurdles and the obstacle race, so that it is demanding but reachable. It is a reference for this game, not a track and field record.
What this game is for
It is the game closest to singing real music: instead of a scale or a chord, you sing a short phrase with steps and a few leaps, just like any melody in a method book or a score. Because rhythm is not required, you can focus on pitch, note by note. If you want to practice rhythm separately, it has its own note value and rhythm exercises and its metronome.
If you cannot yet sing a whole scale, start with the hurdles, or practice a single chord in the triple jump. To review scales and degrees on paper, try the scale exercises.
Frequently Asked Questions
Piano audio: Salamander Grand Piano samples by Alexander Holm, licensed under CC BY 3.0.