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# Aural Skills - Chords

Learn various types of chords by ear.

### Setup
Chords Use these checkboxes to select which chords should be used in the quiz. Inversions Use these checkboxes to select which inversions should be used in the quiz. The user does not need to specify which inversion a chord is in when answering a question. It is recommended that multiple inversions are turned on, because it teaches the user to recognize the quality of a chord better. Playback Use these checkboxes and radio buttons to control how the chords are played, harmonically or melodically. You can choose which ways you can replay the question, as well as which way it is played initially. Keep each question in one key and inversion Usually, the question changes keys and inversions each play, even between plays of the same question. You can turn this off and keep playback in the same key and inversion until a new question is chosen by checking this box. However, this is not recommended unless you find the quiz very difficult, as changing keys and inversions between plays helps teach the user to recognize the quality of a chord better.

### Learning the Chords
Chords The recommended method of recognizing chords aurally is to simply listen to each type of chord and learn what it sounds like. However, one can also learn what each chord sounds like based on the intervals it contains. This is recommended only for beginners. The following is a list of the intervals in each chord, stacked from the bottom. For example, a C major chord contains a C, E, and G. Therefore, its interval list would be as follows: Major 3rd, Minor 3rd. This list also includes Solfege, assuming that the root is Do. (Note: most of the time the root is NOT Do!) Every chord contains a root, a third, and a fifth (the first three notes), and some contain a seventh and ninth (the fourth and fifth notes).
### Chord Quality | ### How to Form It | ### Solfege (if the root is Do)
Major | Major 3rd, Minor 3rd | Do Mi Sol
Minor | Minor 3rd, Major 3rd | Do Me Sol
Augmented | Major 3rd, Major 3rd | Do Mi Si
Diminished | Minor 3rd, Minor 3rd | Do Me Se
Major 7 | Major chord plus a Major 7th above the root | Do Mi Sol Ti
Minor 7 | Minor chord plus a Minor 7th above the root | Do Me Sol Te
Dominant 7 | Major chord plus a Minor 7th above the root | Do Mi Sol Te
Minor Major 7 | Minor chord plus a Major 7th above the root | Do Me Sol Ti
Diminished 7 | Diminished chord plus a Diminished 7th above the root | Do Me Se [Ti double flat]
Half Diminished 7 | Diminished Chord plus a Minor 7th above the root | Do Me Se Te
Major 9 | Major chord plus a Major 7th and Major 9th above the root | Do Mi Sol Ti Re
Minor 9 | Minor chord plus a Minor 7th and Major 9th above the root | Do Me Sol Te Re
Dominant 9 | Major chord plus a Minor 7th and Major 9th above the root | Do Mi Sol Te Re
Flat 9 | Major chord plus a Minor 7th and Minor 9th above the root | Do Mi Sol Te Ra
Sharp 9 | Major chord plus a Minor 7th an Augmented 9th above the root | Do Mi Sol Te Ri
More Information Note where the name of the Diminished Chord comes from: the interval between the root and the fifth is a Diminished 5th. Likewise, the interval between the root and the fifth of an Augmented Chord is an Augmented 5th. In a 7th chord, the first quality describes the quality of the first three notes, and the second quality describes the quality of the 7th. Hence, a Major 7th Chord is also called a Major Major 7th Chord (and the same for the Minor 7th Chord—it is also known as a Minor Minor 7th Chord). The Half Diminished 7th chord is named so because the first three notes are a Diminished Chord, but the 7th is not Diminished—it is Minor. Therefore, it is also known as a Diminished Minor 7th Chord. Most of the 9th chords are self-explanatory, except Minor 9, which contains a Major 9th (its other parts are minor). The full names of the Flat 9 and Sharp 9 chords are Dominant Flat 9 and Dominant Sharp 9, which explains why there is a Dominant 7th chord within them. A possibly useful fact to note is that the Sharp 9 chord is the chord played by the brass at the beginning of the song "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Inversions The lowest note of a chord is known as the bass. If the bass is not the root of the chord, then the chord is in an inversion. For example, take a C major chord: C, E, and G. If the notes were in another order, for example E, G and C, then the chord would be inverted, because the root, C, would not be the bass. Be careful not to confuse the bass with the root.
### Note in the Bass | ### Inversion
Root | Root Position (not inverted)
Third | First Inversion
Fifth | Second Inversion
Seventh | Third Inversion
Ninth | Fourth Inversion

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