I've looked at YouTube videos like this one for some basic tips (where's the root? where's the fourth?):

But I am still at level 14. I find it really difficult, too. What I need to do is go to the Gym and do more Inversionist workouts! Good luck -- keep trying!

If you focus learning what 5-1 sounds like, then you can get by using that and listening for the chord quality. Try to hear the root movement, but I recommend listening for the chord quality first (major/minor/etc). The other thing to study is chord families. There are lots of things to rely on so I'd say don't focus only on the intervals/root movement.

Thanks for your all feedback, much aprreciated! Guess I'll just keep hitting the gym and hope my brain gets better at recognizing those chords. One question though, what do you mean by 5-1? I'm not too very familiar with music theory jargon :(

Sure! I'm referring to the root movement of the V chord to the I chord. I-V-I is probably a lot of what you're hearing in the earliest levels if I recall correctly. It can be characterized like the sound of being home (the tonic or I chord is home), going on a little trip (the dominant or V chord sounds like you're leaving) and returning home (the one chord again). I'm assuming you can count to 7 with roman numerals but come to think of it that's probably not as common a knowledge for non-music-theory-nerds. Watch for your 4 and 6 they are deceptively similar looking but you won't be seeing 6 for a while.

1-5-1 is the oldest trick in the book and is still all over the top 40. There's a lot we could discuss about harmonic overtones and why 5 to 1 is fundamental across cultures, but it's probably better if you look for a few musical examples of the I chord and V chord in action beside each other. The more familiar the better, but there should be plenty for you to choose from.

Also, working on your interval game will help so try not to get tunnel vision on the one exercise.

you should learn at least a little functional harmonic theory before working on most of these games. if you don't understand things like what a V-I is, a lot of the meaning behind the training will be lost

there are a lot of free resources and videos on this topic

I agree with what others said about studying theory.

For me, Inversionist was a struggle for a long time (level 2 for a couple of months), but now I'm at level 14. Slowly it began to click and I could begin identify what each inversion sounds like rather than feeling like I'm just guessing. To me, first position chords started to sound heavy and second position chords started to sound weak.

I'm by no means perfect at it but I am seeing progress with consistent effort. The life rings help to tune your ears to the intervals within each chord inversion.

If it's really frustrating you, I wouldn't worry too much about Inversionist, it's hardly the most important game on here, but if you are persistent you will see progress.

it's one of the more useless games in here imo. figuring out inversions should be based on the tonic of the tune, for example the V chord (sol-ti-re) in the first inversion will sound like ti-re-sol in the context of a key. this approach will transfer to playing and hearing real music better, but i highly doubt that figuring out inversions based on the individual intervals within a chord will, especially if its based on the bottom note.

a more important related skill is to be able to identify and sing the root of the chord, even if it's not the bottom voice.

i got to level 60 and disabled the game, because it just became an utterly boring routine of remembering really odd inversions, completely out of context, and without properly going back to simpler inversions, that were presented in the first 20 levels.

@Dima G I've often wondered what the point of that game is also. As usual with TG, there are no instructions and no context, just a load of chords played at the player. I've been stuck on level 32 forever, because I only got that far mostly through guesswork, so I'm not really learning anything.

I try to focus on the interval between the lowest note and the highest note of the chord. In Major if the interval is a perfect fifth, then the chord is in root position, minor sixth for first inversion and major sixth for second. In minor it's the opposite, major sixth for first inversion and minor sixth with second. Trying to spot these intervals should give you a good starting point with this exercise.

Hey all, I really wish I could answer comments individually but that's not possible, right? First of all thank you all for taking your time to answer and trying to help, very much appreciated!
@Nicolae Orengo Oh I see, I just didn't realize 5-1 is the same as V-I, I have it seen as roman numerals only yet actually, guess I'm a bit dense 😅But thanks for your detailled explanation it's still helpful and definitely something to look out for!

@Andrew Shewaga Yes you're right, I have some basic understanding of theory but I will def. try to improve on that.

@Thomas Farias Okay that's relieving to hear, because I thought after 1-2 Weeks I should be able to get out of level 1 but I assume I need to be more patient and was probably expecting to much. Thank you for your feedback, that's some valuable insight!

@Dima G @Adam Deering I assume it's just a piece of the puzzle? I hope to get better a transcribing music with tonegym so I guess it can't hurt to distinguish between inversions, but jeez Level 60 sounds to me like I really know nothing and am probably deaf compared to you guys 😅

@Filippo Blasi Foglietti Thanks I will try to keep that in mind, that seems to be a very valuable tip! Much appreciated!