Aural Quest 2

Aural Quest 2 is an ear-training quiz game specifically meant to playfully introduce you to intervals and chords outside of the common western tuning.

You can select many different scales, including different equal-temperaments, and just-intonation-based scales. In the interval quiz mode, many of the common intervals are given names, based either on centuries-old music theory or more recent naming conventions, taken from the phantastic xenharmonic wiki. (en.xen.wiki)

In chord quiz mode, you have to correctly identify a chord with up to 7 notes out of four options given. There is some randomness in the level creation, so the difficulty varies.

The point of this game is not just to train your ear, but also to stumble over interesting sounds you would maybe not otherwise have found.

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If you are a complete beginner at ear-training, you may want to check out the older game Aural Quest 1, which does have some simple things like notes of a major scale. It lacks many features, however, and is based on common western tuning as a reference point, which is not ideal if you want to understand how harmony actually works.

The first levels of "Just Intonation" in Aural Quest 2 should be beginner friendly, as they gradually introduce you to more and more complex intervals, starting with perfect fifths and octaves, and building up to unconventional intervals heard only in xenharmonic music. "Just Intonation with Prime-Limit" is also a good start, if you set the limit to a low number like 3 or 5. Anything higher will of course introduce you to harmonics outside of the common western music theory - which is the point of the game!

I suggest to start there and then try any other levels.

If you want to go wild, try the "Random Level" options. Those will throw you in, and you may encounter tunings you would otherwise not stumble over.

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The game supports both English and German. It uses Java's built in midi-functions to play notes. You need a mouse to traverse the menu, and keyboard to play.

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Easter egg: Press 9 while in the menu to listen to some example chords.