Ear Training Masterclass (Pt.1: Chords)
Added 2024-09-23 20:22:28 +0000 UTCA huge part of becoming a pro guitarist is about not just honing your technical skills, but also your listening skills. No matter how advanced your alternate picking or sweeping is, if you have under-developed ear training then you're gonna have a very hard time!
Learning songs by ear, composing, improvising - these are all skills that are made miles easier by having decent ear.
In this 2 part masterclass we're gonna be looking at the core areas of ear training that are absolutely essential for every guitarist to know: chords and intervals. By the end of these lessons you should be able to quickly recognize all of the most common chords and intervals found with Rock/Metal music, and also be able to process musical information much quicker!
Please do let me know how you got on with the quiz at the end, either on this post or over on the Discord server!
0:00 What is ear training? And why is it important?
2:49 The core chords all guitarists should know
4:25 Major chords
5:41 Minor chords
6:43 Sus4 chords
8:53 Sus2 chords
10:59 Maj7 chords
13:37 Min7 chords
16:07 Dom7 chords
19:47 Diminished chords
22:03 Half-diminished chords
25:24 Augmented chords
29:16 Explaining the quiz
30:00 Quiz time! (Answers below)
QUIZ ANSWERS!
Round 1
1) Dom7
2) Sus4
3) Minor
4) Half-Diminished
5) Major
6) Diminished
7) Min7
8) Sus2
9) Augmented
10) Maj7
Round 2
1) Diminished
2) Maj7
3) Sus4
4) Augmented
5) Minor
6) Half-Diminished
7) Major
8) Min7
9) Sus2
10) Dom7
Comments
I think the visual representations helped because I got 10/10 for part 1 and 0/10 on part 2 😂
Metal Dad87
2025-05-18 01:10:17 +0000 UTCOh man, the Simpson’s shirt…brilliant
Matt Womack
2025-04-24 18:49:23 +0000 UTCHow long does it usually take to recognize these by ear? i got most of them wrong. i can play the chords fine and most songs ive learned by ear but the differences in this were very subtle to me
Dom
2025-01-06 22:06:28 +0000 UTCOh damn well spotted, you're correct! I pasted those 2 the wrong way round. Well done!
Bradley Hall
2024-09-30 12:09:43 +0000 UTCExcellent!
Bradley Hall
2024-09-30 12:04:53 +0000 UTCI believe you’re right. Opened the comments to check for a correction.
Tigidit
2024-09-27 19:36:03 +0000 UTCThis is EXACTLY what I’ve been needing. Thank you!!
Eliza Roski
2024-09-25 18:34:36 +0000 UTCGreat exercise! Thank you! Haven't you inverted the sus2 and sus4 in the answers for the second exercice? Or do I mix them up? I hear a sus4 for the third chord and a sus2 for the ninth.
Hanriver
2024-09-25 08:10:44 +0000 UTCThat was for sure revisiting my lesson from music school, haha :D Round 1 was totally good, but in round two not so well xD 1. aug 2. maj7 3. sus4 4. sus2 5. min 6. h-dim 7. maj 8. min7 9. dom7 10. dim. Could be better. Thanks Brad, that was a challenge for sure :D
Eve Reznor
2024-09-24 18:42:05 +0000 UTCHonestly, this is exactly what I need. I think it would be awesome to spend a month or more on ear training
Ryne G. Schuler
2024-09-24 18:12:58 +0000 UTCI just realised you had your answers posted and of course I ballsed the 2nd part up with no pictures XD
jiantjingerjohn .
2024-09-24 17:47:08 +0000 UTCI assume I really messed up the 2nd part especially, but here, I think I may try again with guitar in hand as I think that would help in seeing how the chord is built, I just went off ear alone here: 1. Dom7 2. Sus4 3. Minor 4. Half Diminished 5. Major 6. Diminished 7. Maj7 8. Sus2 9. Augmented 10. Min7 1.Diminished 2. Min7 3. Sus4 4. Half Diminished 5. Sus2 6. Maj7 7. Major 8. Minor 9. Dom7 10. Augmented
jiantjingerjohn .
2024-09-24 17:42:34 +0000 UTCThanks Calvin, glad you enjoyed it!
Bradley Hall
2024-09-24 16:55:17 +0000 UTCCheers Joe! I did consider including the chord diagrams but it kinda defeats the point of the lesson, ideally you wanna be able to recognize the chords without having to play them!
Bradley Hall
2024-09-24 16:55:05 +0000 UTCThis is awesome! Exactly what I've been looking for.
Calvin Jones
2024-09-24 06:27:28 +0000 UTCThat was an awesome way to start ear training. Something I have been wanting to get better at. I am going to watch this again and really try to nail the test. Can you include the chord diagrams in the next one please?
Joe Malgioglio
2024-09-23 22:37:35 +0000 UTC
