Learn Morse Code

Learn Morse code by ear, not from a chart

Morse code is a language of sounds. If you learn it from a chart, you end up counting dots and dashes in your head and then looking up the pattern. That works at slow speeds and stops working as the code gets faster.

Learning by ear skips the counting. Each character becomes a sound you know at once, the way you know a spoken word. That is why this practice plays the sound first and shows you the code only after you answer.

The Koch method

The Koch method comes from the German psychologist Ludwig Koch, who worked on it in the 1930s. You start with 2 characters at full speed and add one at a time, only after you recognize the current set almost every time.

This page follows it. It starts with K and M and plays characters at 20 WPM, or faster if your speed setting is higher. The newest character comes up more often (about 30% of the time), so you get extra practice on what you just added. It scores your last 20 answers and suggests the next character at 90%.

The 40 characters come in this order: K M R S U A P T L O W I . N J E F 0 Y , V G 5 / Q 9 Z H 3 8 B ? 4 2 7 C 1 D 6 X

Farnsworth spacing: fast letters, slow gaps

Farnsworth spacing keeps each character at full speed and stretches the gaps between letters and words. You hear the real sound of every letter but get time to think between them.

Use it when you move from single characters to words. On the Morse code translator, open Sound settings, turn on Farnsworth spacing and set an Overall speed below the letter speed. As you improve, raise the Overall speed until it matches.

A daily practice plan

Short and often beats long and rare. With 40 characters to learn, expect weeks of practice, not a weekend.

• Practice 15 to 20 minutes a day. Two short sessions are better than one long one.
• Add a character only when the page suggests it. Moving on before 90% makes the next level harder.
• Expect some levels to feel harder. Dot-heavy characters such as S, H and 5 are easy to mix up.
• Keep the letters at 20 WPM or faster. Slower letters teach you to count again.

From letters to words

Once you know most of the characters, start listening to whole words. Type short words into the Morse code generator, turn on Farnsworth spacing, look away and press Play. Write down what you hear, then check.

Short words such as THE and AND, and radio shorthand such as CQ, DE and 73, are worth learning as whole sounds. You will hear them often.

Sending Morse code

Learn to receive first. Sending comes faster once you know how each character should sound. To send, you need a key: a straight key you press for each dot and dash, or a paddle that makes them for you.

Keep the 1, 3, 7 spacing, and pay most attention to the gap between letters. To check your sending, play your key's tone near the Morse code decoder and press Use microphone. If it reads your letters correctly, your timing is even. Very uneven timing is hard for it to read, so it is a strict listener.