How does the chord recognition test work?
A chord, three or four notes played at once, sounds and you name its kind: major, minor, diminished or augmented. Add the four seventh chords for a harder set of eight. There are 20 chords, each on a new random root, so you have to hear the shape of the chord rather than its pitch. "Again" replays it, and "Broken" plays the same notes one after another, low to high. Each answer is shown straight away.
How is your Chord Recognition Test result calculated?
Your score is how many of the 20 you named right. The result also shows your median answer time, from the moment the chord started to your press, taken from the input event and the audio clock; replays add to it. Guessing would get about 5 right with four kinds and about 3 with eight. A tally under the result shows which kinds you heard best.
All chords are in root position (the root at the bottom) and played with a piano-like tone. Small speakers lose the low notes, so headphones make the chords clearer.
How do you tell major from minor by ear?
A major chord tends to sound bright and settled, a minor chord darker. The difference is one note: the middle note of a minor chord is a semitone lower. Both are built from two thirds stacked on top of each other, in the opposite order:
| Chord | Semitones above the root | Built from |
|---|---|---|
| Major | 4, 7 | major third + minor third |
| Minor | 3, 7 | minor third + major third |
| Diminished | 3, 6 | minor third + minor third |
| Augmented | 4, 8 | major third + major third |
Playing the chord broken helps: listen to the first step, from the bottom note to the middle one. A wide step (four semitones) means major or augmented; a narrow one (three) means minor or diminished.
What is the difference between diminished and augmented?
A diminished chord stacks two minor thirds, so its top note is closer to the root than in any other triad; it sounds tense and squeezed. An augmented chord stacks two major thirds; it sounds unsettled and floating. One more major third on top of an augmented chord lands on the root an octave up (4 + 4 + 4 = 12 semitones), so it splits the octave into three equal parts and sounds the same from any of its notes.
What are seventh chords?
A seventh chord adds a fourth note, a seventh above the root, to a triad. The harder set adds four:
| Chord | Semitones above the root |
|---|---|
| Major 7th | 4, 7, 11 |
| Dominant 7th | 4, 7, 10 |
| Minor 7th | 3, 7, 10 |
| Half-diminished | 3, 6, 10 |
Is this a hearing test?
No. Naming chords depends on musical training, not on how well your ears work, and the sound comes through whatever speakers you have. It can't tell you anything about your hearing health; if you're worried about your hearing, see a hearing professional.
To start with two notes at a time, try Interval Ear Training; to remember a whole tune, the Melody Memory Test.