Harmonic Ear Training: The Fastest Way to Hear Any Chord
To identify chords by ear quickly, ignore the melody and top notes, find and sing the lowest bass note of each chord, then use theory and your sense of major, minor, diminished or augmented quality to name the full chord.
Key points
- Identify chords from the bass up: sing the lowest note first, then add the chord quality.
- Use good headphones and EQ: boost the bass, cut the vocal frequencies.
- Start with I, IV and V, then climbing bass lines, circle of fifths moves and ii-V-I.
- If you lose the next bass note, sing a scale line to guide your voice there.
- Train on harmonically rich music such as the Beatles and Bach.
What this lesson teaches
This ear-training lesson from Jason Zac at Nathaniel School of Music shows a quick, flowchart-style method for working out the chords of a song, or of whoever you are jamming with, using only your ear and a little theory. It suits players who know basic scales and chords and want to stop guessing when they figure out songs.
The whole method rests on one idea: go straight to the bass. Find the lowest sound in each chord, get that note clearly in your mind, then let theory and the chord's quality give you the full chord name.
Step 1: Set up your listening
- Use a good pair of headphones, earphones or speakers with a full frequency range. A phone speaker is the least useful way to learn a song.
- On an equaliser, boost the bass frequencies where a bass guitar or cello plays, not the sub-bass.
- Reduce the higher frequencies, especially around 2k to 4k Hz where vocals sit, and possibly around 800 Hz for male vocals.
- For very tricky songs, stem-separation software such as Moises can remove the vocals and isolate the bass and drums.
Step 2: Sing the bass, not the top note
Your instinct will be to sing the highest note of a chord, because that is what stands out. Step back and listen for the lowest note instead. Sing it, and if it is too low for your voice, sing it an octave higher. Keep your bass singing in and around middle C so it does not drift into the melody register.
Step 3: Start with I, IV and V
Begin with the easiest chords to detect: the major I, IV and V. In the key of D these are D, G and A. A progression of I-V-IV-I in D gives a bass of D, A, G, D. Old-school gospel and country songs, such as those on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, are full of these chords.
Linear singing
If you have the first bass note but cannot find the next, sing a scale line from the first note and let your voice guide you to the destination. Going from G up to D in the key of D, for example, you can sing G, A, B, C#, D even though those passing notes are not being played.
Step 4: Climbing bass lines and chord quality
Practise progressions where the right hand stays almost still while the bass climbs step by step like a ladder. The first note matters most; once you have it, the others tend to follow. After you have sung the bass notes, add the quality of each chord: major, minor, diminished, augmented or dominant. Root plus quality gives you the chord. If you hear C and it sounds happy, it is C major; if it sounds sad, C minor.
Step 5: Circle of fifths exercises
Clockwise the circle runs C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C. Counterclockwise it moves in perfect fourths: C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, G, C. Play three to five chords at a time, for example C, G, D, A, E (all major or all minor), with other notes on top so the root is not obvious, and sing the bass.
Step 6: ii-V-I movements
- Major ii-V-I: in C this is Dm7, G7, Cmaj7 (or C major or C6). The bass moves counterclockwise round the circle. The V can be sung above or below.
- Minor ii-V-i: qualities change, drawing on the harmonic minor, giving ii7b5, V7b9 and a minor i.
- Chained ii-V: make the target chord minor so it becomes the ii of the next ii-V, such as Fm7, Bb7, Ebm7, Ab7, Dbm7 and onwards round the whole circle.
Step 7: Unusual chord families
Take C diminished seventh (C, Eb, F#, A) and build a minor triad on each note: C minor, Eb minor, F# minor, A minor. Then take C augmented (C, E, G#) and build major triads: C, E and Ab. Jumble them and sing the bass of each.
How to practise
Work daily on short sets, always singing the bass before naming anything. Above all, listen to music rich in harmony, such as the Beatles, Bach and older recordings, because training your ear on songs with little harmonic information teaches you very little.
Questions about this lesson
What is the quickest way to identify a chord by ear?
Listen past the melody and top notes to the lowest bass note, sing it, and then decide whether the chord sounds major, minor, diminished or augmented. The bass note plus the quality gives you the chord name.
What if the bass note is too low for me to sing?
Sing it an octave higher. Try to keep your bass singing around middle C so it does not move into the melody's register.
Which chords should a beginner at ear training start with?
Start with the major I, IV and V chords, such as D, G and A in the key of D, because they are the easiest to detect. Old gospel and country songs use them constantly.
How can I make the bass easier to hear in a recording?
Use good headphones rather than a phone speaker, boost the bass frequencies on an equaliser and reduce the 2k to 4k Hz vocal range. Software such as Moises can also remove vocals and isolate the bass.
Practise it
- Circle of FifthsExplore the Circle of Fifths through keys, scales, chords and intervals.
- Nathaniel Music QuizTest ear training, theory and notation with interactive questions.
- All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.
Related lessons
- How to Figure Out Any Song's Chords by Ear: 5 Ear Training StrategiesTo figure out a song's chords by ear, first mark where the chords change and find the song's scale, then narrow down each chord using the bass note, cadences, the melody's landing notes, the chord's quality, and its sense of tension or rest.
- How to Use the Circle of Fifths for Pro Chord WritingTo write non-diatonic progressions with the circle of fifths, move between neighbouring major chords such as C, F, Bb and Eb, or C, G and D, because each neighbour shares a common note and the change sounds smooth even outside one key.
- Laufey's From the Start: An Intervallic Breakdown of Its Richer ChordsIn Laufey's From the Start (key of Db major), each melody note can be heard three ways: as a scale degree of the root Db, as an interval from neighbouring notes, and as a chord tone, so the same F is the 3rd of Db, the 9th of Ebm9 and the 13th of Ab13.
- How Music Theory and Ear Training Are Really the Same ThingMusic theory and ear training are best learned together: ear training is your instinct for recognising what you hear, music theory is the prepared knowledge that explains it, and transcription is the practice that joins the two.