Figuring out chords by listening to them and...
Using the process of elimination. [Beginner lesson]
When I do ear training with my guitar students, one of the first things we talk about is how to figure out a chord just by listening to it. Of course, this is an acquired ability as it takes time to learn how to recognize the chords you may already know how to play on the guitar. To be able to do this without actually seeing the chords being played, is the ultimate goal. How do you do this? Well, I have a few tricks you can use to train your ears to listen for specific "tells" when listening for chords. In this lesson, I will go over some of the tricks I use to instantly hear and recognize just about every chord I know.
But first, I want to thank-you for participating in reading and sharing "SoundHole Guitar Lessons". If you are a subscriber, thank-you for your loyalty. Please consider pledging your support for this newsletter. All of my articles are free for nine months. Older material will be automatically archived from free subscribers, but will always be available for paid subscribers. You don't want to miss out on everything that is available here on SoundHole Guitar Lessons. Please like, comment and share with your friends!
[Beginner lesson]
Does the chord sound happy or sad?
Okay, so what does that even mean - happy or sad? Well, when it comes down to it, in music - there are really only two types of chords: "Happy" and "Sad". Happy chords are major chords like G, C and D. Sad chords are minor chords like Em, Am and Dm. If you've been playing the guitar for a while, you probably already know all of those chords.
Major chords are "happy" because they have a major 3rd note in the structure of the chord. In other words, the major 3rd note in the C major chord is "E". The interval between notes C and E is pleasing to the ear as it has no tension between the two notes. Minor chords sound sad because the 3rd is in a minor position. If you play the E minor chord, the minor 3rd note is the "G". This interval creates a bit of tension when both notes are played together.
How can you train yourself to hear happy and sad chords?
This may sound ridiculous, but trust me, it works. It will take a little effort on your part, but it will be worth it.
1) Pick three major chords and three minor chords that you already know how to play on the guitar. I recommend that you pick the six chords from one key.
(i.e. The key of C major. The three major chords are C, F and G. The three minor chords are Dm, Em and Am). However, you can do this with any key, as long as you already know how to play all of the chords in that key on your guitar.
2) You will need to find the audio or "voice" recorder app. on your smartphone.
3) In any random order, write down an even amount of all six chords at least 25-50 times. This list will be what you will play in order, when you record yourself.
NOTE - Unless you have an incredible memory, it will be nearly impossible to remember all of the chords in perfect order, so it will be difficult to cheat.
4) Push the record button on your smartphone to "record". Begin strumming each chord on the list one time, in the order you have written down. Allow yourself about 5-seconds between each chord so that you can determine each chord, then write the answer for each of the chords when you listen back while taking the ear training test.
5) Once you have finished playing all of the chords on your list, stop and save the recorded track as a file.
* Do not look at the list when you play back the audio track. This would be cheating and it would defeat the entire purpose of this exercise.
On a separate piece of paper, you will write down "H" or "S" (happy or sad) for your answer for each chord that is played back on the audio recording.
Now, play back the track and write down your answers.
6) Once the playback is done, compare your answers to the original list to see how many answers you got correct.
7) Now, comes the difficult part. Do the exact same thing, but on another new piece of paper. Do not peek at either of the first two lists. Start the playback of the audio track and try to guess the actual name of each chord being played. This may be more difficult, but if you do it over a few times, you might actually get more answers correct each time you do the test.
So, how many did you get correct? If you got half of them right, you did well, but you have more training to do. The goal is to get less than five answers wrong.
Not as easy as you thought, was it?
Okay, so what is the trick?
You have to listen carefully to each and every chord. To do this, you must listen and determine whether or not the chord is happy or sad. If you think that it is a happy chord, like C, F or G, you must now listen for exactly how many strings are being played for each chord. If it's a C chord, you will be listening for a total of five notes (strings). If it's a G chord, you're listening for a total of all six notes (strings). This is called the "process of elimination".
Let's say the chord sounds like it's a sad chord. That means it might be Dm, Em or Am. If the chord has four notes played, which chord would it be? It would be the Dm chord because Dm only uses four strings in the chord. Which sad chord would it be if you played all six strings? Did you say "Em"? That is correct!
Get to know your open-string chords; and remember how many strings are played for each chord. This will help you a great deal when listening for types of chords. Over time, you begin to more easily recognize lots of chords just by hearing them. How empowering would that be?!
Get into the habit of using your voice recorder on your smartphone to practice your daily lessons. Listen for the things you played correctly and the things you need to work on.
I hope this lesson helps you in your ear training. Please comment below if you have questions about this lesson.