Which Chord Is Home
Every song has one chord that sounds like the end of a sentence. Find that chord and you have found the key, because the key is named after it. This exercise is that search, stripped down to four chords and one question.
- four chords
- played twice
- any position
at which level
- Beginner
- Any instrument
A short chord loop plays through twice, and you pick the chord that sounds like home. Choose how long the loop is, then start.
What it asks
A loop of four chords plays through, then plays again. You pick the one that feels settled. Plenty of songs open on a chord that is not their tonic, which is why the first chord in the loop is worth nothing as a clue.
The question pool
Early loops contain a clear landing, a dominant that falls straight into the chord after it. Later ones take that landing away and leave you with a vamp that drifts. The hardest set is the axis loop, four chords that sit equally well in a major key and its relative minor, where your answer depends on which chord the loop keeps returning to.
How you answer
Four buttons, Chord 1 to Chord 4, matched to tiles that light up as each chord sounds. The keyboard shows what is playing, and the voicings are chosen so that the lowest note never gives the answer away.
When the round ends
Ten questions, or keep going until you stop. Ten is enough to notice that you keep favoring the same position.
When you get it wrong
The chord right before home plays once more, then home lands and holds, with a line telling you what pulled toward it. Replaying those two chords back to back is what builds the reflex.
Keep going
Everything in ear training
- Which Chord Is Home
- Progression Ear Training