Identifying Intervals and Chords by Ear

The preceding ten units assembled music from the side of notation and reasoning. This final unit reverses direction: training to turn what you hear back into symbols.

Listening relatively

One premise first. Ear training does not require absolute pitch.

What it asks is not “that note was an A” but “that note was three degrees above the tonic.” Given one reference, everything else can be measured as distance from it. That is relative listening.

	Absolute listening	Relative listening
What is judged	the pitch itself	distance from a reference
Under transposition	the answer changes	the answer is unchanged
Trainable	associated with a critical period in childhood, and still debated	improves at any age

Whether absolute pitch can be acquired in adulthood remains unsettled. What matters here is that ear training improves regardless of that debate. What dictation demands is relative pitch, and the effect of training on that is unambiguous.

Every exercise in this unit assumes relative listening, which is why the correct way to practice is to use a different key every time. Practicing in one key trains you to memorize the pitches themselves instead of the distances.

Narrowing an interval in three stages

There are thirteen intervals. Choosing one outright is hard, so narrow in stages.

Stage 1 — consonant or dissonant

The classification from Unit 1 applies directly: perfect consonance (unison, 5th, octave), imperfect consonance (3rds and 6ths), dissonance (2nds, 7ths, the tritone). The three differ so clearly in character that the ear can separate them first.

Stage 2 — wide or narrow

Among candidates of the same consonance, judge the size: 3rd against 6th, 2nd against 7th. Inversionally related intervals sound similar, so size is what separates them.

Stage 3 — major or minor

Finally, judge a single half step: major against minor 3rd, major against minor 6th. This is the bright/dark divide.

The three stages of decision in order

▶1. Different consonance▶2. Different size▶3. Different quality

Check: Each example drops one stage further down. The first pairs a perfect 5th with a major 3rd, differing in consonance itself. The second pairs a major 3rd with a major 6th, matching in consonance and differing in size. The third pairs major and minor 3rds, matching in size and differing only in quality. The differences shrink as you descend, and so does the ease of hearing them.

perfect 5th → major 3rd

Difficulty also depends on whether the notes sound together or in sequence. Sequential playing makes size easier to measure; simultaneous playing makes consonance easier to judge. Practicing both gives you more to work with.

Check

A major 3rd and a minor 6th are inversionally related. What is the most useful cue for telling them apart?

The pitch of the upper noteConsonanceSizeMajor or minor

Check answer

Start from the third when identifying triads

There are four triads, and identifying one means checking two notes in order.

Type	Third	Fifth	Notes on C
Major	major 3rd	perfect 5th	C E G
Minor	minor 3rd	perfect 5th	C Eb G
Diminished	minor 3rd	diminished 5th	C Eb Gb
Augmented	major 3rd	augmented 5th	C E G#

The procedure takes the third first. Major or minor decides bright against dark and cuts four candidates to two. Then check whether the fifth is perfect.

There is a second cue for the fifth. Diminished and augmented triads do not settle. Lacking a perfect 5th, they are unstable as chords and want to move on. Bright but unsettled means augmented; dark and unsettled means diminished.

The four triads compared

▶Major▶Minor▶Diminished▶Augmented

Check: All are rooted on C. The first and fourth have major thirds and sound bright; the second and third have minor thirds and sound dark. Beyond that, the third and fourth lack a perfect 5th and hang without settling. Try judging in that order — brightness first, then stability.

C

Seventh chords split into triad plus seventh

The five seventh chords yield to the same decomposition: the triad below first, then the seventh.

Type	Triad below	Seventh	Example
Major seventh	major	major 7th	Cmaj7
Dominant seventh	major	minor 7th	C7
Minor seventh	minor	minor 7th	Cm7
Half-diminished	diminished	minor 7th	Cm7b5
Diminished seventh	diminished	diminished 7th	Cdim7

Major seventh and dominant seventh differ only in the seventh. The major seventh drifts gently; the dominant seventh wants to move on. That comes from the tritone discussed in Unit 4: the dominant seventh has one between its third and seventh, and the major seventh does not.

Check

What is the decisive difference when telling Cmaj7 from C7 by ear?

The rootThe thirdThe fifthThe seventh

Check answer

Inversions do not change the quality

Real music sounds chords in inversion. One fact matters here.

Changing the lowest note does not change a chord’s quality.

Major or minor is determined by which notes are gathered, not which is at the bottom. E G C is the first inversion of C E G and remains a major triad.

One chord in three positions

▶Root position▶First inversion▶Second inversion

Check: All three are the C major triad with exactly the same notes, only rearranged. The brightness should be unchanged while the center of gravity moves. The first is solid, the second light, the third suspended. This is practice at hearing quality and position as separate things.

bass on C

The impression does change, though. As Unit 3 established, second inversion is unstable and first inversion is light. In dictation you listen for quality and position separately — quality from the collection of notes, position from the lowest one.

Designing the practice

Finally, how to structure the practice itself. There is one principle.

Change only one distinction at a time.

Practice with only major and minor 3rds mixed together, and add the next pair once your accuracy is stable. Mixing all thirteen from the start leaves you unable to see where the errors are, and with nothing to work on.

For the same reason, start chords with major against minor only, then add diminished and augmented, then sevenths, then inversions.

▶ Practice intervals and chords in the ear trainer The beginner level asks about easily separated pairs such as major 3rd, minor 3rd, and perfect 5th. Move up to intermediate once you are above eighty percent Ear Training →

Interval and chord identification is the foundation of everything else in ear training. The next lesson extends it to connections between several chords: identifying cadences.