Nathaniel School of Music

Ear Training: How to Detect the Notes in a Chord (Piano)

To detect the notes in a chord, play the chord (for example G major: G B D) and hum each note one by one, then play only the root and fifth and imagine the third, and finally play just the root and hum the rest of the chord.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Beginner · 5 min

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Key points

What this lesson teaches

This short ear-training tip from Jason Zac at Nathaniel School of Music shows you how to hear the individual notes inside a chord. It suits any musician: keyboard players, guitarists, bass players and singers. All you need is a way to play chords and a voice to hum with.

Knowing a chord's notes from theory, or knowing its shape on your instrument, is not enough on its own. You also need to know how the chord sounds. The most direct way to learn that sound is to sing the notes you hear.

Why chords are harder to hear than melodies

A melody is easy to sing back because its notes come one after another. In harmony, the notes are stacked on top of each other and sound together. To hear them, you have to pick out one note, fix it in your mind, then move to the next note, and so on.

Step 1: Hum the notes of a full chord

Start with a G major chord, which is G, B and D. Play it and hold it while you hum the notes you can hear inside it, one at a time.

Once that feels comfortable, try the same idea with a minor chord such as G minor (G, Bb, D). Listen for how the middle note has changed.

Step 2: Play the root and fifth, imagine the third

Now leave a note out. Instead of playing all three notes, play only the root and the fifth. For G major, that is G and D. Your job is to imagine the missing third, B, and hum it. The third is the note that tells you whether the chord is major or minor, so this step trains you to hear the chord's character even when it is not played.

Step 3: Play only the root

To take the skill to the next level, play just the root, G, and hum the rest of the chord from it. You are now building the whole chord in your ear with very little help from the instrument.

Try this with other chord types too:

How to practise

  1. Play a chord and hum its notes one by one, low and high, within your range.
  2. Switch between major and minor so you notice the change in the third.
  3. Play only the root and fifth and hum the imagined third.
  4. Play only the root and hum the full chord, then try suspended and dominant seventh chords.

If you are a singer, this exercise also sharpens your pitching, because you are matching your voice to the notes of each chord. If you are an instrumentalist, you do not have to sing beautifully. As long as you can hum the note you are hearing, you are doing the exercise correctly.

Questions about this lesson

Why is it harder to hear chord notes than melody notes?

Melody notes arrive one after another, so they are easy to follow. Chord notes sound together, stacked on top of each other, so you have to isolate each one in your mind before moving to the next.

Do I need to be a good singer to do this ear training?

No. Singers will improve their pitching, but instrumentalists only need to be able to hum the note they hear.

What is the root, fifth and imagined third exercise?

You play only the root and fifth of a chord, such as G and D for G major, and hum the missing third, B, from your imagination. It trains you to hear the chord's quality even when that note is not played.

Which chords should I practise after G major?

Try G minor (G Bb D), then suspended chords and dominant seventh chords such as G7 (G B D F), eventually playing only the root and humming the rest.

Practise it

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