Grammar of Music

Path

What to study before Chord quality recognition

Hearing a chord's quality without counting its notes: major, minor, diminished, augmented. Below, the concepts that come before, in the order in which one explains the next. Signed in, you see the same path minus what you already hold: your path.

  1. Notes and semitones

    The seven letter names, the accidentals that alter them, and the semitone as the system's smallest step.

    Level 0lesson Notes have names, and the names have a rule (First steps in theory)

  2. Intervals

    The distance between two notes, measured by a number taken from the letter names and a quality taken from the semitones.

    Level 1has practicelesson The distance between two notes (First steps in theory)

  3. Triads

    Three-note chords stacked in thirds, and the four qualities that result.

    Level 2has practicelesson Three notes, four chords (First steps in theory)

  4. Interval recognition

    Identifying by ear the distance between two notes, the skill everything else in aural training rests on.

    Level 2lesson The colour of a distance (Ear and genres)

  5. Chord quality recognition

    Hearing a chord's quality without counting its notes: major, minor, diminished, augmented.

    Level 3lesson The colour of a chord (Ear and genres)