Path

What to study before Functional ear training

Hearing which degree a chord occupies in the key, not only what quality it has. 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.

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)
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)
Triads
Three-note chords stacked in thirds, and the four qualities that result.
Level 2has practicelesson Three notes, four chords (First steps in theory)
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)
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)
Major scale
Seven degrees built on a fixed sequence of tones and semitones, and the reference everything else is measured against.
Level 1has practicelesson The major scale, from any note (First steps in theory)
Diatonic harmony
The chords that arise from stacking thirds on each degree of a scale, and why each quality lands where it does.
Level 3has practicelesson The seven chords of a key (First steps in theory)
Harmonic function
The role each degree plays — tonic, subdominant, or dominant — and the tension that moves one to the next.
Level 4lesson Seven chords, three roles (Functional harmony for people who play)
Functional ear training
Hearing which degree a chord occupies in the key, not only what quality it has.
Level 4lesson Hearing the place (Ear and genres)