Drone Generator
A drone in any key to play against. Choose a key and a sound, press play, and practise scales, intonation or improvisation over it.
Four Ways to Practise With a Drone
1. Slow scales for intonation
Play a scale in the drone's key one note at a time, holding each for four slow beats. Listen to how it sits against the drone. A note in tune blends; a note slightly out produces a wobble or roughness. On fretted instruments this trains your ear and your bending; on violin, cello, voice or trombone it trains where your notes land.
2. Hearing intervals
Play only one note over the drone and stay on it until you can describe its sound. The major third is sweet, the minor third sombre, the perfect fourth unresolved, the tritone tense, the major seventh pulling up to the root. Once each has a character, the ear trainer gets much easier.
3. Modes
Keep the drone on one root and change the scale above it: major, then Mixolydian, then Dorian, then natural minor. Over a fixed root, the difference a single altered note makes is obvious. The scale explorer shows the fingering for each mode in any key.
4. Improvisation
A drone is the simplest backing track there is: no chord changes to follow, so all your attention goes to melody and phrasing. Start with the minor pentatonic, then add notes one at a time. When you want changes, loop a progression in the chord progression builder.
The Tanpura
In Indian classical music, the tanpura provides the drone for the whole performance. It has no frets: the player plucks its four open strings in a slow, unbroken cycle, usually the fifth (Pa), the tonic twice (Sa) and the tonic an octave lower. Its special bridge makes each string buzz and bloom with overtones. Tanpura mode here plays that Pa–Sa–Sa–Sa cycle with long-ringing plucked notes — not a recording of the instrument, but the same reference for singing and playing ragas.
Choosing a Key and Register
Match the drone to what you are practising: the key of the piece, or the root of the scale. Low register sits under a guitar or a male voice; middle register suits most instruments and higher voices. Singers should pick a key where the tonic is comfortable to hold. If you are not sure what key a song is in, the key finder will tell you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a drone?
A drone is a note, or a few notes, held continuously underneath the music. Bagpipes, the Indian tanpura and the low strings of a hurdy-gurdy all play drones. Practising over one gives every note you play a fixed reference, so you hear exactly how it relates to the key.
Why practise with a drone?
Because it makes intonation and intervals audible. Over a drone, a note that is slightly out of tune produces a slow beating or roughness you cannot miss, and each scale degree has a distinct colour — the major third bright, the minor third dark, the fourth wanting to move. String players, singers and wind players use drones daily for exactly this.
Which sound should I choose?
Root, fifth and octave is the fullest and suits most practice. Root and fifth leaves out nothing important and sounds more open. Root only is the strictest test of intonation, because nothing in the drone tells you whether the key is major or minor. Tanpura mode plucks a repeating cycle like the Indian instrument, which gives a sense of pulse.
Is the drone major or minor?
Neither. The drone plays the root and fifth, which are the same in major and minor keys, so you can play the major scale, the minor scale or any mode over the same drone. The third you choose decides it.
Does it keep playing if I switch tabs?
Yes, so you can open a scale, a chord chart or a metronome while it plays. Leaving or closing the page stops it.
Can I use it to tune?
Yes, by ear. Play an open string that matches the drone's root and adjust until the beating stops. For a precise reading, the guitar tuner on our home page is quicker.