How to Learn Chord Progressions by Ear
Are you interested in learning how to learn chord progressions by ear?
Follow Ben’s steps to learn how.
Learning chord progressions by ear
In this video, experienced voice and piano teacher Ben, walks you through a simple method that’ll help you learn chord progressions by ear in an easy way.
Pick your tune
Choose a song with an accessible chord progression and one where you can easily hear the different musical components.
Find the key you’re in
Find the home note. Feel where the song is arriving to and where you’re coming back to. It’s usually the first chord and when you can pinpoint that, it’ll serve as your anchor.
Listen to the bass notes
Listen carefully to the bass/bottom notes of the song which provides the foundation of the chords. This is the fastest way to figure out the progressions. Use good speakers to support you in the process. It’ll make it way easier to pinpoint the bass notes.
Sing along
Play the song and sing along until you get all the bass notes right. It’s much easier to do this than trying to figure it all out by ear.
Identify the quality of the chords
Once you’ve identified the notes, you need to find the quality of the chords most commonly being major and minor. You’ll notice this difference quite easily because they’re easily distinguishable. Major is happy and uplifting whereas minor is heavy and moodier.
Play through the chords
Play the basic triad on one hand and use the other hand to play the bass notes. Try this out and practice a bit. It’s okay to not get this on the first, second, or, third try. It’ll take some trial and error. Once you got it down, challenge yourself by playing along with the song. That’ll help you know if you got it right, or not. You’ll get better at this with practice!
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