Are you able to identify the difference between maj, min and diminished chords?

listen carefully to the first chord that they give you. this is the 1st (root). From that on, you'll be able to deduce the 2nd, 3rd,...

Then, in the next levels, you'll need to be able to identify the difference between maj, min... chords. But the exercice will remain the same.

I struggled to understand how to play but once you understand it it clicks! Good luck

You are not alone. Not sure anything just “clicks” but after some frustration I started to hear the difference between IV-I and V-I most of the time (more tension/release). But now I struggle with I-V-IV and I-IV-V particularly when inversions are used. Makes me crazy.

I'm not doing too good at this most of the time without using the help of the bass notes. When the PFDs are gone I try to sing the root of the chords ;-) Also, the lower tone chords are easier for me to tell the difference between major and minor chords. However... I got it stuck in my head the higher notes=brighter=major so I get caught on thinking minor are major.

Miles: I'm still struggling on with augmented and diminished. Slightly better than before but not great. Maybe I should pause Chord Progression until I can master other stuff.

I try to sing the tonic (the first note that's played before the progression is played) above the chord progression to see which 'fits'. I also cheat by listening for minor, major and diminished chords. I am still struggling with differentiating the V and the I.

Recently, I listen, try to repeat it on the piano, listen again, till I think I get it right. That helped me to reach level 6 in Chord Progression, which I still find low.

@Katharine Horowitz you're not the only one struggling with this game. If you're coming to it with little experience, as many of us are, there is no explanation of what to listen for or how to go about the training. It really does need a complete overhaul with some proper instructions.

There isn't even an explanation of what is being played before the progression starts. How is anyone with little experience supposed to know what that's about? I certainly didn't until someone explained it on here and I've actually forgotten what it is. I never found it helpful in any way, but maybe I might if there were some instructions explaining how to use it!

On top of that, the quality of the sounds playing back the progressions is not good. I have to use the piano sound. If I use anything else, the chords just sound like mud and I find it impossible to recognise what's being played.

Regarding improving: as someone else mentioned above, I found it helpful to pause each progression and play it on my keyboard to become familiar with how each chord sounds and how it sounds within the progression. I still do that now and I'm on level 73.

It continues to be a hard slog for me, but with practice it is possible to make progress, so don't give up. Good luck!

To add what others have said, also try the exercises (on the right hand side in the gym section) where you can customise (little gear too right) what chord/inversions are used.

I find the recognising chord progressions on the stave very easy as I can read in bass clef so barely look at the upper notes. But it is easier to learn things there before trying the gym.

Also don't. Forget the learn section, if you do the basic music theory stuff, then things become clearer.

I think a lot of people start the gym games, but that may not be the bedt route, especially if you're a beginner.

Is any of you able to progress without identifying the chords on piano (or other instrument)? I find that impossible 😅. I usually try to catch the key of the progression, root notes and the quality (Maj/Min) of each chord. Then it is usually easy to find the correct one. But it is a chore and feels a bit like a cheating.

Stick with it!!! I was stuck on Route VI for a long time, and now I’m almost at level 100. It takes time and practice. Here’s what helps me:

First - I listen to the arpeggio at the start. This is your Tonic for that progression, your “I” chord. I always hum the root to myself and remember it. The arpeggio also tells you if this is in a Major or Minor key.

Second thing I do is look at all the choices presented to me as answer buttons. I look at what choices I have - the progression is ONE of those choices! I try to figure out what sounds I’m listening for in the progression - Major, Minor, Diminished.

Then here’s where all the Interval training comes in. I can go through each choice and hum the progression roots (of the answer possibilities) while playing the progression I’m solving for. Sometimes you will hear clearly that there’s not a fit. That’s why it’s critical to keep practicing in Departurer, Intervalis, Lander and the other interval training games.
If one of the answers is “I, IV, V” and another choice is “V, ii, I” - if you sing “P1, P4, P5” and “P5, m2, P1” intervals along with the progression being played, you WILL hear if it fits or not. I hope that makes sense.

Also - the “life ring” will play the Root notes and help you if you need it.

Lastly - when you are finished with the question, hit either the “C” on your keyboard or the little scale icon in the lower right corner of the game - it will freeze the game and you can listen to every chord progression presented. This will help as well.

You can often do it just by listening for the pattern of major, minor, and diminished (this is where there's a tie-in to Chordelius -- thy reinforce each other), and seeing which choice matches that pattern. Of course this won't work if the chords are all major, for instance.

You can also listen for patterns of tension and release in relation to the tonic (which is always given before playing the progression), but personally I find this dicey.

Failing those, there's a brute-force method. Listen for a note in each chord -- it doesn't really matter which note. Match those notes on an instrument and figure out the intervals between them. Then, look at the notes in the chords in the various progressions to see which one has a pattern of intervals within it that matches.

I keep a cheat sheet of the notes in all the diatonic chords in C major and C minor to help me with this. It doesn't matter if the progression is not in C (most of the time, it won't be), since we are going by the INTERVALS between notes in the chords, not the absolute notes themselves.

Sometimes, you will find that the notes you have picked out do not fully differentiate between some of the choices. In this case, look at what notes do differentiate between the chords in question, and play the differentiating note at its proper place in the progression to see which one fits.

One thing I do is play on the piano chord cadences for every key I-IV-I-V-I and memorize how it sounds ( I played these before I started ear training) and I gained three levels today and at least one most days. I also have memorized a VII0 sound then VII and II are the other ones and the sound difference is relatively easy to differentiate.
MEMORIZE I-VI outside of the gym and your life will be easy. Then recognizing the others are much easier.

make sure you can sing 'do-sol and 'do-fa' in either direction, ascending and descending, any combinations of those and in random keys. it will make identifying any of the I/V/IV progressions easy

make sure you can sing 'do-sol and 'do-fa' in either direction, ascending and descending, any combinations of those and in random keys. it will make identifying any of the I/V/IV progressions easy

Some complex skills, such as progressions and inversions, require a minimun level of others. Understanding progressions without a solid fundation can be too challenging. Aside of all the advice given previously, your best bet would be to strenghten the basics: intervals (up, down and simultaneous), chords, and understanding what you are hearing with some basic theory that can give some aha! moments of why things are the way they are.

And with progressions and inversions (important for progressions), you can just relax listening to simple songs you know and like, and look up their progressions along with the inversions used on those progressions (ommitting the bass). Or take a piano and play the same chord in different inversions on different octaves, or even putting each note of the chord on a different octave, to get used to the sound. Compare for example the first inversion of major C with E minor root, along with their other own inversions for each chord... that will help you start developing the ear, because the end goal is to be able to hear all that without having to break it down with tricks, even if those tricks are great for starting.

Just focus on the feel, how some chords feel conclusive, or tense, dynamic... and at some point things will start falling into place. Just work on the level in which it's challenging but not demotivating, work up the general ear and the advanced skills will slowly seem approachable.
At some point in the past you didn't know how to read, and now you are writing whole paragraphs without even realising that it is a skill. Now imagine if when you were just introduced to the alphabet you had signed up for a novel writing workshop or a calligraphy course... You can definitely get there, but there are steps. Some of the people here were born with a guitar under the arm or have at least studied, this platform has games that can also be challenging for them, that doesn't mean beginners are supposed to shine at them.

I am just a beginner, but I can share my experience.
First of all, you have to find out the meaning of each chord in the progression. For example, V - wants to be resolved in I really bad. IV could be resolved too, but it's OK if it stays where it is right now. And, of course, I is strong and independent, it does not need to be resolved at all.

When you make a mistake, try to stop the exercise with hotkey C and switch between progressions that end on IV and V. Try to hear the difference between the characters of their sound.

Hope you'll get through it. Just keep trying.

It's hard but another way to use it is trying to guess the fundamental notes (instead of trying to guess the chord progression itself, which is a plus), which you get to hear when you press the buoy icon.

I noticed when it goes from I to I the highest note drops an octave, and VI to VI the lower two notes each drop a note. thats the only pattern i've found so far XD

yeah what helped me to begin with was learning how to hear the difference between major, min, diminished then later on learning the chord functions for example in minor the VI chord sounds very similar to the tonic

First listen to the last chord.. is it sitting down (sounds like your home ) or up in the air ( needs to go somewhere else ) ? Then listen again concentrating only on the patterns with that last chord... only one chord will be different...major or minor or diminished with or without a 7th (tension, rich color)...
If your not sure use the safety that let's you hear the bass... Good luck !

These are great comments that I find really helpful. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

You’re welcome, glad I could help. Reading back what I wrote…
I forgot to add … sitting down is first degree ( I ) and up in the air or unresolved is fifth degree ( V ) … pretty obvious but it might help someone out. it’s by far my favorite game !
Happy listening.

I go by the bass note. I wasn't hearing the bass note at first at all, for ages and ages. And then all of a sudden it popped out.
Not that I am very far, but did three levels in a row then. So bass note of the chord plus the feel of it. And sing back how the bass note progresses.
Also, try the progression exercises, and limit what those exercises present you with the wee gear top right. Hearing progressions = hearing the detail of progressions.

Oh, also, on the exercise pages for progressions, the bottom one is about reading a progression and selecting the correct one. That is a very good exercise to do for understanding the movement of the bass note.