The 10 Best Chords

In our lesson today, I'll be explaining the construction of what I consider to be the 10 most useful chords and giving you 3 repeatable exercises to identify them by ear. 

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Transcript

Introduction/Lesson

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Let's learn how to identify what I consider to be the 10 most useful chords. My choices might surprise or even deeply offend you. Did the fan favorite Lydian Triad make my list? Stick around to find out. No, it didn't. Do you want to learn how to play and understand music using nothing but your ear? This is a learnable skill, and I've got the resources to put you on the right path. Welcome to Epic Ear Training. Please welcome our host, marginally celebrated local ear fluencer, Joe Leagers. Yay. The topic of cord construction was voted on by my supporters on Patreon, and you're welcome to join our polls in the future for as little as a dollar a month. I also wanted to celebrate the fact that I got my first review on Apple Podcasts. If you found my exercises to be helpful too, consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast app. This makes it more likely that other people who could use some ear training will find my show. And honestly, if you've got some constructive criticism for me, keep it to yourself. My best performing YouTube video is an ear training exercise that features an absurd amount of chords. It has over a million views, and if I'm being real, it is literally one of my worst videos. The keyboard sound I picked annoys a lot of people, the answer bell is too loud, one of the answers is mislabeled, and the exercise itself isn't all that practical. But I guess that's just the nature of the internet. Things that are unique are clicked on more often, and people that complain in the comments actually help the video succeed in the algorithm. Speaking of, feel free to leave your complaints in the comments of this video. They don't even have to be relevant to music, I'll just listen to them and see what I can do. I'm not planning on recreating that viral video today. Instead, I asked myself if I had to limit my musical vocabulary to 10 chords, what would they be? I chose them based on their prevalence in all of the music I've ever learned, and I've had a fairly eclectic musical upbringing. I've played guitar and keyboard in rock and metal bands, jazz bands, accompanied choirs on piano and organ, performed solo, classical guitar and piano, and played in the pit for 20 or so musicals. With these 10 chords, I could reliably squeak by in nearly all of the genres I've listed. Although jazz musicians would probably judge me hard for simplifying the harmonies. If you want to play jazz, don't only learn 10 chords, learn all of them and more. Here's our lesson plan for the day. We'll talk through my list of 10 chords, and then I'll give you three repeatable exercises to help you identify those chords by ear. Let's get started. Chord number one, the major chord. Not putting this chord first would be illegal, and I'm already in enough trouble with the music police. You can find a major chord by taking a major scale and playing the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale simultaneously. By the way, the major scale is how we typically spell out chord formulas. So one, flat three, five would be a minor chord, meaning that you can take a major scale and flat the third note of the scale. Now, couldn't you just use a minor scale instead? Sure, but that would eventually get confusing when you're spelling chords that don't really naturally exist in any major or minor standard scale. In a major key, major chords naturally occur if you stack thirds on scale degrees one, four, and five. You can learn an unfathomable amount of songs using just these three chords. There must be at least like a dozen songs in the world that only use one, four, and five chords. Chord number two, the minor chord, spelled one, flat three, five. Take a major chord, flat the third, and you get a minor chord. They also naturally occur by stacking thirds on scale degrees two, three, and six of a major scale. You could describe the sound of a minor chord as dark, bluesy, or emotional, but this always depends on the context. Chord number three, the suspended fourth chord, spelled one, four, five. It's just a major chord with the third raised up a half step to the fourth. You can often find these chords resolving to a major chord. It's less common, but they can also resolve to a minor chord. Or not even resolve at all. Nobody knows where the suspended chord got its name. Oh wait, yes they do. It's a somewhat antiquated term when you apply it to popular music because it originally had more to do with counterpoint than chord construction. A suspension is when a note would be sustained or suspended from one chord to the next, and you would often get movement like this. See if you can spot the suspension. Now we use it more as a name for the chord itself rather than for what's happening in the harmonic motion. Chord number four, the augmented chord, spelled one, three, sharp five. It's just a major chord, but you sharp the fifth. Augmented chords are symmetrical, consisting of two stacked major thirds. All of our chords so far have contained a perfect fifth, which gives added weight and stability to the sound of the chord. Now the augmented chord does not have a perfect fifth, which makes it just about impossible for it to feel fully resolved. Listen to an augmented chord in a progression, and notice how it sounds a little less strange when you use it as a bridge between two more stable sounding harmonies. Chord number five is not the diminished triad, which is probably the most obvious choice. Hear me out though, the diminished seventh chord is coming up, and you don't really need the diminished triad when you've got that one. If that hurts your feelings, feel free to fight me about it behind Arby's at 9 pm Central Time. My actual choice here is the five chord, spelled 1-5. Yeah, it's just a perfect fifth. Sometimes guitarists call this the power chord because it just rocks so hard. Listen to it. Yeah. You might think that you don't need this chord if you're not a guitarist, but I've occasionally seen five chords written on lead sheets or choral arrangements or Broadway scores when the composer doesn't want the major or minor quality of the harmony clarified. Listen to how surprising it can be when a heavy chord progression is suddenly hollowed out to its barest essentials. Of course, some of you might be tempted to correct me and say that a chord has to have three notes. So five chords are technically dads or intervals or chordoids. I find this argument to be really boring. You can call them Jerry for all I care. Uh they are a top ten chord for me, and if you disagree, I'll see you at Arby's. Chord number six, the dominant seven chord. Spelled one, three, five, flat seven. Basically, it's a major chord and you put a minor seventh on the top. For a lot of music, this is just the default seventh chord that you find. It naturally occurs on the fifth degree of the major scale, which you could spell with scale degrees five, seven, two, and four. Now, because this contains the two most tense scale degrees, scale degrees four and seven, this chord is the ultimate point of tension in a major key. If you've listened to my lesson on cadences, you've heard the five-one five-one progression dozens of times already, which is known as the perfect cadence. Chord number seven, the major seventh chord, spelled one, three, five, seven. It's just a major chord with a major seventh on top, and it naturally occurs on the first scale degree and the fourth scale degree of the major scale. I love this chord. I'll just let it speak for itself. Chord number eight, the minor seventh chord, spelled one, flat three, five, flat seven. This chord naturally occurs on scale degrees two, three, and six of the major scale. Basically, it happens on every naturally occurring minor chord. You might see the name of the minor seventh chord and think, oh, it probably sounds like a minor chord but more minor-y. If you thought that, bad job. Take a look at the top three notes of the chord, and it's just a straight up major chord. Here, I'll play the upper part of the chord before fading in the root note. I like to think of it as a minor chord with a bit of added brightness. Chord number nine, the fully diminished seventh chord. Spelled 1, flat three, flat five, double flat seven. That's right, double flat. Double flat seven is actually the same note on the piano as a regular six, so you might wonder why we don't spell it that way. I'm gonna oversimplify my explanation here and just say that this makes it easier to read when you get the hang of it. When you're writing chords with notation, you always want the shape of the chord to kind of look the same. This way our eyes can get used to the shape of a chord, regardless of what key it's in. If you write a fully diminished seventh chord with that double flat seven, it looks like stacked thirds in the notation, which it which it is. I usually refer to this chord as simply diminished seven, or even just diminished chord, because it implies that it's fully diminished. Fully diminished seventh chords are continuously stacked minor thirds and are some of the most useful chords for transitioning from one key to another. Any note of the chord can resolve in any direction depending on where you want to go. Chord number 10, the half diminished seventh chord. Spelled 1, flat three, flat five, flat seven. If you're a jazz musician, you're more likely to call this a minor seven flat five chord. What's crazy is that if you rearrange the notes a bit, you actually have a minor six chord. And the only difference between the two is what note the bass is playing. Here's a half to minute seventh chord. Now I'm going to move the bass up a third, and here is a minor sixth chord. To my ears, these are all very jazzy sounding chords because of that flat five. You'll often see these used in place of the two in a two-five-one progression. Listen to two five-one. Now listen to two minor seven flat five, five, seven, five, major seven. Heck yeah. So again, I chose these ten chords because more complicated chords can usually be substituted by one of these. As much as I love the major 13 sharp 11 chord, it can be reduced down to a major seventh if you don't have time to work out all the notes in your head. If you're playing in a band or an ensemble, the odds are is that another musician is playing or singing the extended harmonies anyway. Most of my favorite chords are not on this list at all, but if someone put a knife to me and asked me to list off 10 chords for me to use for the rest of my life, I would definitely be like, not again.

Level 1 Exercises

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Level 1 exercises. 2 and 3 note chords. Let's put what we've learned to use. I'll play a chord and you identify it as a major, minor, sus four, augmented, or 5 chord. Remember that the video edition of these exercises have the answers and notation displayed on the screen in case you need some extra support. Augmented chord should stand out immediately as the most dissonant of the bunch. I foresee you occasionally getting major and minor mixed up, as well as 5 and sus four. In those cases, you really need to try to listen to the inner intervals inside of the chord construction. You've got this. Question one. The root note is B flat. Answer B flat suspended fourth, spelled one, four, five, or B flat, E flat, F. Question two. Answer F minor, spelled one flat three, five, or F A flat C. Question three. The root note is C Answer C major, spelled one, three, five, or C E G. Question four. The root note is G. Answer G five. Spelled one five or G D Question five. The root note is B. The answer is B augmented, spelled one, three, sharp five, or B D sharp, F double sharp. Question six The root note is A flat. Answer A flat augmented, spelled one, three, sharp five, or A flat C E question seven. Answer A suspended fourth, spelled one, four, five, or A D E. The root note is F sharp. Answer? F sharp major, spelled one, three, five. Or F sharp, A sharp, C sharp. Question nine. The root note is E. Answer E five, spelled one five, or E B. Question ten. The root note is E flat. Answer E flat minor spelled one flat three five. Or E flat G flat B flat. Question eleven. The root note is D. Answer D suspended fourth, spelled one, four, five, or D G to A. Question twelve. The root note is C sharp. Answer? C sharp minor, spelled one flat three, five, or C sharp E G sharp. Question thirteen. The root note is F Answer F major, spelled one, three, five, or F A CONTIN. The root note is B flat Answer B flat five, spelled one five, or B flat F. Question fifteen. The root note is D. Answer D minor, spelled one, flat three, five, or D F A Question sixteen. The root note is E flat Answer E flat suspended fourth, spelled one, four, five, or E flat A flat B flat. Question seventeen. The root note is D flat Answer D flat augmented, spelled one, three, sharp five, or D flat F A Question eighteen. The root note is Ganswer G five, spelled one five, or G D Question nineteen. Answer E major, spelled one, three, five, or E G sharp Bestion twenty. The root note is C Answer C minor, spelled one flat three, five, or C E flat G.

Level 2 Exercises

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Level two exercises. Four note chords. Finally, our chords have a little spike. I'll play a chord and you identify it as dominant seven, major seven, minor seven, diminished seven, or half diminished seven. My biggest advice is to listen for the tension in these chords or the need for them to be resolved. Personally, I would rank them from most tense to least tense like this. Fully diminished seven, dominant seven, half diminished seven, major seven, minor seven. You've got this. Question one The root note is Dr D half diminished seven, spelled one flat three, flat five, flat seven, or D F A flat C Question two. Answer C major seven, spelled one, three, five, seven, or C E G Bestion four. The root note is B flat with diminished seven, spelled one flat three, flat five, double flat seven, or B flat D flat F flat A double flat. Question five. Answer G sharp minor seven, spelled one flat three, five, flat seven, or G sharp B D sharp F sharp. Question six. The root note is B Answer B half diminished seven, spelled one, flat three, flat five, flat seven, or B D F A Question seven. The root note is E Dominant Seven, spelled one, three, five, flat seven, or E G sharp B D. Question eight. Answer D flat major seven, spelled one, three, five, seven, or D flat F A flat C Question nine. The root note is Assur A minor seven, spelled one flat three, five, flat seven, or A C E G. Question ten. The root note is F Answer F diminished seven, spelled one, flat three, flat five, double flat seven, or F A flat C flat E double flat. Question eleven. The root note is F sharp. Answer F sharp diminished seven, spelled one flat three, flat five, flat seven, or F sharp A C E flat Question twelve. The root note is C sharp Answer C sharp minor seven, spelled one flat three, five, flat seven, or C sharp E G sharp Bestion thirteen. Answer D half diminished seven, spelled one, flat three, flat five, flat seven, or D F A flat C Question fourteen. Answer C half diminished seven, spelled one, flat three, flat five, flat seven, or C E flat G flat B flat Question fifteen. The root note is B flat Answer B flat dominant seven, spelled one, three, five flat seven, or B flat D F A flat. Question sixteen The root note is ENswer E dominant seven, spelled one, three, five, flat seven, or E G sharp B Don seventeen. The root note is D sharp Answer D sharp diminished seven, spelled one, flat three, flat five, double flat seven, or D sharp F sharp A CON eighteen. The root note is F. Answer F major seven, spelled one, three, five, seven, or F A C E question nineteen. The root note is Assur A major seven, spelled one, three, five, seven, or A C sharp, E G sharp. Question twenty. The root note is Csor C Dominant Seven, spelled one, three, five, flat seven, or C E G B flat.

Level 3 Exercises

SPEAKER_00 46:26

So far, all of our chords have been closed voicings, which is when the notes span an octave or left. This time I'll play the root note down in the base register and the other notes up in a higher register. These chords really barely meet the definition of open voicings, because you can spread out and rearrange the notes of a chord however you want, but I am going to keep things formulaic for you. You've got this. Question one. The root note is F. Answer F diminished seven, spelled F E double flat, A flat C flat. Answer G five, spelled G G D G Question three. Spelled B D sharp F sharp B. Question Four. Answer D half diminished seven. Spelled D A flat C Festion five. Spelled F C sharp F A Question six. The root note is D Answer D suspended for spelled D A D Gestion seven. Spelled B A D F sharp. Answer E flat dominant seven, spelled E flat, B flat, D flat Gestion nine. The root note is F sharp. Answer F sharp half diminished seven. Spelled F sharp C E A. Answer C Sharp five, spelled C sharp, G sharp, C sharp, G sharp. The root note is B flat Answer B flat minor seven, spelled B flat, D flat, F A flat. Spelled G C D Gestion thirteen. Spelled A flat E flat G Con fourteen. Spelled E D G sharp B. Question fifteen. The root note is C. Answer C major, spelled C E G C root note is B flat Answer B flat minor, spelled B flat, B flat, D flat F. Question seventeen. The root note is Dir D diminished, spelled D C flat F A flat. Spelled A A C sharp F Question nineteen. The root note is F. Answer F minor, spelled F C F A flat.

Listener Mail: Where to Start?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

Instead, I'll just answer a general question that I have gotten several times recently. So people are always asking me where to start with ear training because there seems to be too much information out there that gets overwhelming enough to know what order to do things in. With all of my ear training videos sorted, somewhat in a recommended listening order. For a deeper dive, I also have a collection of 120 progressive Earth Finding Exercises on Patreon. Building your memorized repertoire and continuing to learn songs by ear is ultimately what will continue to improve your ear for the rest of your life. My videos are like vitamins, but songs are like food. You should also keep in mind that you can't learn music in a straight line, and it's perfectly natural to be continually revisiting things that you've worked on before and building upon them. So happy spiraling everybody. That's kind of kinda weird.