Ear Training IV - Major, Minor, and Diminished Triads; All Inversions; Closed and Open Voicings

Last month I introduced the diminished triad into my ear training and found I needed to revert to practicing with only root position chords. This latest exercise maintains the three triad qualities but plays them in all positions and inversions and in either closed or open voicings. This is certainly the most difficult exercise I have tried so far. I still find determining the position of diminished triads tricky, perhaps because of the chords relatively symmetrical structure, but I do feel that I have made meaningful progress.

Once again, you can work with this exercise by either improvising along with the randomly generated chords or echoing them. You can see me do both here and download the code for the exercise here. To use the code, simply open the code in Supercollider, select the Language tab, and click ‘evaluate file’

Ear Training II - Major and Minor Triads; All Inversions; Closed and Open Voicings

Last months ear training exercise was to identify major and minor triads in root position only. This meant that the root of each chord was relatively easy to track as it was always the lowest note. This month’s exercise involves major and minor triads in root position, first, and second inversion. This means that the root will not necessarily be the lowest sounding note. Additionally, the triads will be played in either a closed (within an octave) or open (greater than an octave) voicing.

I approach this exercise in three steps:

1. Identify the root of the chord knowing that it may not be the lowest sounding note

2. Identify the lowest sounding note to identify the position/inversion of the chord

3. Identify the character of the chord or its highest note to access its voicing

As usual, this exercise can be approached in two ways: improvising along with the chords or echoing them. You can find the code, now contained in a Supercollider file (.scd), here. To use the code, simply open the code in Supercollider, select the Language tab, and click ‘evaluate file’.