Ear training is the single best exercise you can do to improve your musicianship. A good place to start is jump right into identifying triadic chords. Triads are common in popular and classical music so finding examples in your everyday listening should be easy. This article intentionally shortcuts some rigors of music theory in order to simplify the subject.
The notes in the key of C major are C, D, E, F, G, A and B. Chords are made by taking every other note from the scale. And the "tri" in triad means only need three notes. So you end up with just C E and G. The notes C E and G form a C Major triad. Why is it major? The simple answer: because we got the notes from the C major scale!
Major triads sound happy. If you want to hear an example, put on some childrens music. If you don't have any childrens music, tune into a television show for young people.
To really make the point that major chords sound happy you need to hear the contrasting sound: a minor triad. Minor triads sound sad. Sometimes sounds are described using color as an anology. Major triads sound bright but minor triads are described as dark.
Now would be the time to sit down at your piano or guitar or accordian or whatever instrument you have that you can play chords on. If you know, for example, how to play D major and a D minor chord, then play one, listen to it, then play the other. The major triad should sound happy or bright. In comparison, the minor triad should sound sad or dark. Don't use C major and D minor to make comparisons, you need to hear the contrast using the same root note in the chord. If you don't know how to play these chords, ask someone who does to play them for you.
To learn how to play these on your guitar visit the chord lessons.
If you are not sure how to form a minor triad, here is the short course: a minor triad is just a major triad with a lowered third. In the C major triad we had the notes C E and G. The E is the second note in that list. But remember we built the scale by taking every other note from the C major scale: C D E F G A B, and you can see that E is the third note in that scale. So the E is called the third in the C major triad. When you lower the E you get Eb (where the b following the E means e-flat). So a C minor triad contains the notes C Eb G.
Here is a list of common major chords and the notes they contain.
C: C E G
D: D F# A
E: E G# B
F: F A C
G: G B D
A: A C# E
B: B D# F#
So what are the notes in an A minor triad? If you take A C# and E from the A major triad and lower the third, C# to C, you end up with A C and E.
The only difference between and major triad and a minor triad is a single note. Do not strain trying to hear that one note difference. If you can at this point, that is great. It means you are ready to move on. For now, try to simply ear the difference in quality, that is, whether it sounds happy (the major sound) or sad (the minor sound).
There are two more triad chords, the augmented chord and the diminished chord. They are less familiar because their dramatic sounds limit their use to transitions or for special effect. As such they are the topic for more advanced lessons.
How important is it to learn to hear triads? Consider this: almost every chord, no matter how many notes or extensions or alterations, has at its core a triad. A seventh chord is just a triad plus one extension, for example the notes C E G and B form a C Major 7 chord.
To make progress with ear training it is important that you spend a 5-10 minutes everyday working on exercises. Do not get discouraged. Overtime you can improve your ability. Work together with a friend or music teacher. Ear training is the most important part of any musician's practice schedule.
This is the recommended ear training software.
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