Play Barry Harris exercises by ear
Harmonic Quest is the PRO quest mode that turns Barry Harris's chord-movement exercises - 6th Diminished in Drop 2, Drop 3, and more - into interactive play-along drills. Notation on screen, MIDI keyboard in your hands, metronome under your fingers. The exercises Barry's students drill for years, now with a feedback loop.
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A gamified ear training app, built by a professional jazz pianist
Earonman trains your ear from your first interval up to advanced jazz harmony. Real grand piano sound, structured curriculum, no ads. Web in any browser, native iOS, Android landing soon. Free to start, no card required.
The feature,
explained clearly
Harmonic Quest is a PRO quest mode that drills Barry Harris's chord-movement exercises - the 6th Diminished scale harmonised in Drop 2, Drop 3, Spread, and other voicings. The notation is on screen, you play each chord on a MIDI keyboard or the on-screen piano, and the exercise advances chord by chord as you hit the right notes. The mechanics are simple; the ear-and-hand training is deep.
Barry Harris exercises, interactive
The 6th Diminished scale in Drop 2 is the foundational example, with more drills (Drop 3, Spread, melodic minor 6th Diminished, and others) layered in across levels. The exercises Barry's students play for years, now with sound and visual feedback locked together.
Notation + sound at the same time
Every chord in the sequence is rendered on a real staff. You see the voicing, hear the chord when you play it correctly, and watch the cursor advance to the next step. Ear training and notation reading become the same activity.
MIDI keyboard input (web and Android)
Connect any MIDI keyboard - on the web app or the Android app - and play directly on real keys. Tactile, fast, and matches how you would actually use the exercises in real practice.
Play-along with metronome and tempo (web)
On the web, switch to performance mode and play the whole exercise in time with a click track. Set the tempo (BPM) to wherever your hands and ears are - 60 BPM for building accuracy, faster as you internalise the shape.
Transpose into any key (web)
Each exercise has an original key, but you can transpose it into all 12 keys with the key selector. The notation re-spells correctly; the audio re-tunes. Drill the same voicing pattern in every key - which is exactly how Barry taught it.
Step-by-step or full play-along
Practice mode lets you take the exercise chord-by-chord at your own pace, with the next-step cursor showing what to play. Performance mode adds the click track and grades how cleanly you play through the whole sequence.
Three steps.
Repeated until it sticks.
Every Harmonic Quest exercise loads with the full chord sequence on a notation staff. You play through it chord by chord, with optional metronome and key transposition on web.
Read the chord sequence on the staff
The exercise opens with the whole voicing sequence rendered as notation (for example, the 9 chords of the 6th Diminished scale in Drop 2). A cursor marks the current step so you always know which chord to play next.
Play the chord on MIDI or the on-screen piano
Connect a MIDI keyboard (works on web and on the Android app) and play the chord directly. No MIDI? Click the notes on the on-screen piano instead. The cursor advances to the next step as soon as you hit all the right notes.
Switch to performance mode for play-along (web)
On the web, performance mode adds a metronome and a tempo control (BPM). Play the whole sequence in time, and the exercise grades how cleanly you stayed with the click. Use the key selector to transpose into any of the 12 keys and drill the same shape across the cycle.
Skills you walk away with
Harmonic Quest is the most efficient way to internalise Barry Harris's chord-movement exercises. By coupling notation, sound, MIDI input, and a click track in one drill, it turns hours of solo practice into a tight feedback loop.
Internalise the 6th Diminished scale in Drop 2
The foundational Barry Harris exercise. Eight (or nine) voicings ascending the scale, alternating C6 and Bdim7 inversions. After Harmonic Quest you play it in every key without thinking.
Hear how Drop 2, Drop 3, and Spread voicings move
Different voicing styles share the same underlying chord but feel completely different under the hand and in the ear. Harmonic Quest drills each style as its own exercise.
Build the Barry Harris harmonic vocabulary
The 6th Diminished concept underlies a huge slice of jazz piano comping and improvising. Internalising the exercises gives you the vocabulary Barry built his entire pedagogy on.
Train ears and fingers at the same time
You hear each chord as you play it. Ear training and technical practice stop being separate activities - they become one.
Play the same shape in every key
On web, the key selector lets you transpose the exercise into any of the 12 keys. Drilling the same shape across the cycle is how you make it second nature on stage.
Transfer to real comping and improvisation
Once the exercises are in your ears and hands, the voicings start showing up in your comping, your reharmonisations, your soloing. The drills become a working vocabulary.
Daily reps.
Compound results.
Barry Harris insisted that the exercises only work if you do them every day, in every key, for years. Harmonic Quest does not shorten that timeline - it just makes every session more productive by adding sound, visual feedback, and a click track.
Daily reps are the whole point
The 6th Diminished exercises are not a one-off lesson. They are a daily discipline that gets baked into your hands and ears over months and years. Skipping a few days dulls them quickly.
Every key, not just C
A voicing pattern you can only play in C is not yet a useful vocabulary. Web-app transposition lets you cycle through the 12 keys in one session - the way Barry actually drilled his students.
Tempo control builds clean technique
Most pianists rush the exercises and play them sloppy. Locking to a metronome at 60 BPM and going clean is harder than it sounds - but that is what builds real fluency.
The vocabulary shows up everywhere
After enough reps, the voicing shapes start appearing in your comping, your fills, your reharmonisations. The exercises stop being practice and start being your sound.
Not just jazz musicians
Harmonic Quest is for pianists (and pianistic instruments) who want to internalise Barry Harris-style chord-movement exercises through interactive play-along practice.
Jazz pianists
The core audience. The 6th Diminished, Drop 2, Drop 3 exercises are core jazz piano vocabulary. Harmonic Quest is the practice tool that closes the feedback loop.
Pianists studying Barry Harris
If you have worked with Barry Harris materials (workshops, transcripts, his teaching videos), Harmonic Quest is the digital practice partner that drills the same exercises with sound and visual feedback.
Jazz guitarists
Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings are guitar territory too. Connect a MIDI guitar or just play along on piano - the voicing shapes transfer directly.
Composers and arrangers
The 6th Diminished concept is a goldmine for voice leading in arrangements. Internalising the exercises gives you a vocabulary you can deploy on horn sections, strings, and choirs.
Conservatoire jazz students
These exercises are standard repertoire in serious jazz piano programs. Harmonic Quest accelerates the months of solo practice they normally take.
Self-taught pianists wanting structure
If you are learning jazz piano outside an institution, the Barry Harris exercises are one of the most productive disciplines you can pick up. Harmonic Quest gives you the curriculum and the feedback in one place.
Free forever.
PRO when you want more.
Real free tier, not a trial. Practice Mode is open to everyone with a usable foundation library across Intervals, Chords, Scales, and Jazz Voicings - no daily cooldown.
Built so any serious musician can train their ears forever, free.
- Basic intervals, triads & major/minor scales
- Jazz Voicings game mode
- Practice Mode: free training for core intervals, triads, 7ths, major scale modes and basic jazz voicings
- 3 exercises per 8-hour window
- Basic stats and achievement badges
Or €59.99/year (~€5/mo, save 28%)
- Unlimited exercises (no cooldown)
- All intervals, chord types and scales (incl. 7ths, altered, modes)
- 6 advanced quest modes: Slashmaster, Functioneer, Harmonic Quest, Guido, Hybrid Lab, Polychordist
- Open Mic: answer by singing or playing into your microphone (mobile app)
- Practice Mode: full library of intervals, chord types, scales and voicing categories
- Advanced stats: per-quest-type analytics & session breakdowns
- Weekly Leagues with full history
- Full achievement & badge system
- All 8 instrument sounds (Rhodes, strings, harp, e-guitar, flute, clarinet, French horn)
- Priority support
Cancel anytime. No charge during PRO trial. Card only required at trial start.
What makes this
different
Barry Harris exercises, ready to play
No need to transcribe the exercises from books or YouTube videos. Each Harmonic Quest level is a Barry Harris-style sequence rendered as real notation, ready to play through immediately.
Built by a Barry Harris protege
Earonman is built by Tomas Jochmann, who studied directly with Barry Harris. The exercise selection and pedagogical framing reflect how Barry actually taught the material, not a second-hand interpretation.
MIDI keyboard input - web and Android
Connect a real keyboard on either platform and play directly on the keys. Tactile practice that turns ear training into the same activity as real piano practice.
Play-along with metronome, tempo, and any key (web)
On the web app, performance mode adds a metronome and a tempo slider, and the key selector transposes the exercise into all 12 keys. The classic Barry Harris discipline of drilling everything in every key, with a click.
14-day PRO free trial
Harmonic Quest is part of PRO. Try it and all 6 quest modes free for two weeks. Cancel anytime, no charge.
“Earonman completely transformed the way I approach ear training. It makes learning fun, and its clear, comprehensive lessons have really helped me grow my musical vocabulary.”
Your questions,
answered
What does a Harmonic Quest exercise actually look like?
Who is Barry Harris?
Do I need a MIDI keyboard?
Can I change the tempo and key?
Do I need advanced theory first?
Is it part of PRO?
Ready to train
your ears?
Harmonic Quest is the PRO quest mode that turns Barry Harris's chord-movement exercises - 6th Diminished in Drop 2, Drop 3, and more - into interactive play-along drills. Notation on screen, MIDI keyboard in your hands, metronome under your fingers. The exercises Barry's students drill for years, now with a feedback loop.