For major or minor triads, 7ths, 9ths, listen to hear a note that sounds like the tonic. If it is not the lowest note, then find the relationship. Other chords, like sus2 or sus4, dim, aug, you listen for the any big gaps or close intervals and reason it out. It is a skill that takes time. I would suggest mucking around on a keyboard with triads in different inversions to start. If you can, get a friend to play inversions of maj/min triads and get used to the sound of them and guess the inversion.

I suggest to try and isolate the lowest note you hear (the bass), you may well use a keyboard guitar or other instrument. then use the information given by the game in order to tell which inversion does it represent

Out of all games, inversionist is also the hardest for me. And probably for all since just with level 5 you get ranked better than 80%. @yooval mann suggested already but i have been doing better last couple of days when i can catch and sing the bass note. IMHO it's the most time consuming and it's also really tiring game....but probably also one of the best training for the ear, not only for hearing inversions.

@Semih Yanyali, embtace that tiredness, if it comes from good work then it means you did your workout well!

just like in a real gym (a muscle factory) that great fatigue in the muscles which creeps in after shower :)

guys I highly recommend using a musical instrument with this game, yes it's cheating but over time you will be able to let it go, it will happen if you stick to it and it's okay and even recommended to use a musical instrument to tell the bass apart, until you train your ear enough to do it without (which will happen naturally)

I can normally hear the top note ok and then I sing intervals down from that as I listen to the chord to hear what is consonant with the chord.

@Kay Parnaby I like that!

I've been struggling for days with Major7th 5flat chords, and have tried to find a useful method based on recognizing bass and top notes, but... I'm getting nowhere without an instrument. I guess the only way for me will be learning how they 'feel' and relate to the root, which I can definitely spot. I hope you find some better way that fits your ears...

@Cuantas Vacas, keep using your instrument but focus ONLY on isolating the bass, and make sure to do a serious workout 10-30 levels a day, eventually it will get easier, guaranteed

Thanks for the advice, @yooval mann . In fact, on each chord I spend a fair amount of time listening again and again until I decide I'm not sure enough and go to the keyboard. 10-30 levels a day?? Two questions arise: What levels are you at? and... Are you crazy or am I lazy? Seriously, I know what you mean but I'm afraid my pace is much slower!! My brain would melt if I went for 15 levels/day...🍦

Sorry about that I meant make sure everyday you get to that fried brain state 😁 if it's five levels or two levels it's great but you have to use your instrument and experience (in pain) that workout (this way the brain will just HAVE to find a way out of it and realise it must get quicker at isolating the bass) two levels every day of hard work is good enough if it's hard work 😁

People on ToneGym time after time complain about this game and how hard it is, and I am going to contend that it is not your ears. Most know to listen for the bass for that is what defines the inversion, but the sound generator for ToneGym just simply does not have a timbre that allows us simple humans to discern the bass. When I practice intervals on a real piano, or my marimba, or my guitar, or the orchestras in which I play, I nail the inversion almost every time.. pretty much 95%. But, when I get on this game I fail miserably. The site needs a new sound generator that has a more natural timbre. I bet we would all shoot up to high levels in a matter of weeks if not just a few days. So, don't fret too much. If you have access to an acoustic instrument, practice inversions with it. Afterall, we're here to increase our musical skills, not our TPI. 👂🎹👍

Even though now we (approximately) understand how TPI works. Right, @Bradley Crowley? 😉

my two cents: With major and minor triads it's pretty straightforward. 1. Identify the bass note. 2. Through your practice with intervals, you can identify if it's the root, third or fifth. [e.g. do you hear the So - Do sound? then it's the fifth (so 2nd inversion). do you hear the figaro sound, then it's the third (so 1st inv). i know figaro is for major third, but i use it for the minor third as well 😂 context: skip to 3:11 ) Now, for other chords this doesn't really apply. For diminished triads i try to sense how spaced out the notes are. if they sound tightly packed it's probably root position. If not, then 1st or 2nd inv. And I am in the process of training my brain to just recognize whether it's first or second inversion by the sound / flavor. I'm doing the latter for seventh chords as well. I don't like doing a lengthy dissection and analysis of the chord to discover which inversion it is (whether by using an instrument or just in my head), because my goal is to train my brain to just instantly recognize which inversion it is... just by the flavor of it. I know this is perhaps not the academically sanctioned approached. But it's the way I prefer. Just thought I would share my method.

Nate, there's a whole post on this that was started by Pete Someone. I think you might find some helpful stuff in there. I can see that you posted back in June, so maybe you're fine now, anyway!