Ear Training

Identifying the Root of a Chord by Ear

Goal: Find the root note of any chord you're hearing.

Step 1 — Hum a chord tone Listen to the chord and hum whatever note feels stable or prominent to you.

Step 2 — Test it as the root (the 1) Hum a 5→1 "Amen" cadence, treating your note as the 1. If it resolves naturally and sounds correct, you've found the root.

Step 3 — Test it as the 5 If the Amen cadence sounded wrong, treat your note as the 5 instead. Hum the Amen cadence with your note as the 5, resolving up to the 1. If it sounds correct, the note you resolve to is your root.

Step 4 — Test it as the 3 If neither test worked, your note is likely the 3rd. Use the "Be Our Guest" melody — that opening phrase lands on 3 → 5 → 1 on "Be — Our — Guest." Sing that melody starting from your note. The pitch you land on at "Guest" is your root.

Quick reference:

Source

Identifying the key of the song

• Find a note that sounds in the key, and improvise with notes around it. Take note of which notes sound correct, and fit those notes into a scale.

  • ex. If you played a note that sounds good, then determine that you can go up half a step, the initial note you played is either a 3 or a 7 (since half step movements only happen twice in a key)
  • note: it's generally easier to take note of which key we are in by focusing on those half step movements, since:
    • half-step movements only happen twice in a key
    • we can hear that if the lower note is stable and the higher note is unstable, then we have a 3-4; and if the lower note is unstable and the higher note is stable, then we have a 7-1.

• note: if you hear a bass note that is the 7th of the key, it is very likely that what's playing is a 5 chord with 3 in the bass