In the previous three posts, I outlined several different ways to develop your knowledge of intervals on the neck of the guitar. My all time favorite tool for practicing intervals on the guitar is the Interval Training tool found in AxMaster. The great thing about this tool is that it is designed to help you develop several different areas all at once: Your understanding of note locations on the fretboard (fretboard knowledge), your ability to play the many different types of intervals used in music (both major scale intervals and altered intervals), and also your ability to hear the difference between each type of interval (ear training). The Interval Training tool is great for the intermediate guitarist who wants to simultaneously develop their ears, their mind, and their fingers. To get the most out of this tool, you should already have a good understanding the following things:

- a working knowledge of note names up and down the entire fretboard
- the note names found in all 12 major scales/major keys
- how to construct major scale intervals from any Root Note
- the difference between major scale intervals and altered intervals

Let's begin by opening up AxMaster, then clicking on Tools and scrolling down to Interval Training:

When you open this tool, the following window will pop up:

This window allows to chose several different options. These options allow you to customize the Interval Training Tool to best suit your knowledge and experience as well as the level of difficulty that you wish to work with. The options are as follows:

Loop - When this option is selected, a new interval will be displayed when a correct answer is given for the currently displayed interval.
The Delay value sets the amount of time (in milliseconds) between each of the displayed intervals. (1500 milliseconds = 1.5 seconds)
Show Note Names - If this option is checked, the actual names of the notes will be shown on the fretboard. If it is not checked, the note will be drawn, but will not contain the note name.
Play notes through MIDI - The displayed intervals will be played through the computer's MIDI device.
Use random note for root - Intervals will be displayed using random root notes. If this option is unchecked, the interval root note is selected from the drop-down list directly below this option.
Notes on multiple strings - This option causes intervals to be displayed on more than one string, which is the most common way that they are visualized on the guitar. Larger intervals will be displayed across non-adjacent strings, while smaller intervals will be shown on adjacent strings.
Notes on single string only - The two interval notes will be displayed on a single string. With this option selected, the string can be selected from the Display on string drop-down list. Selecting a value of 'Any' will use a random string selection for each new interval.
Intervals To Include - Displays a list that allows you to choose the intervals that you wish to work with. Use the Select All and Select None buttons, and the list checkboxes to identify which intervals you wish to include in your training.
Interval list - Lists all possible answers for the currently displayed interval. Select the correct answer by clicking the interval name.
Answers - Shows whether or not the selected interval type is correct, and displays the time taken to answer as well as the average time.
Go - Displays an interval. At this point the program will wait for an answer to be selected. If the loop option is checked and a correct answer is selected, the next interval will automatically be displayed after the delay time.
Stop - Stops the display of new intervals.

With the Interval Training Tool, you can really get a good idea of how well you know the neck of the guitar. Also remember that learning different 'forms' and 'shapes' for intervals on the fretboard is only half of the battle; by learning the note names and the 'sound' of each interval shape, you will gain a much better understanding of how the guitar works. Good Luck!

Nate