This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. Today we have a musical test for you! You can test your musical ear with the accompanying video. You have an opportunity to see if you can hear the difference between different types of triads.
What is a Triad?
Triads can also be inverted. So the bottom note can be on the top, or the top note can be on the bottom:
The major triad has a happier sound compared to the minor chord which has a sad quality for most people. The diminished triad has a diminished 5th. So you can listen for a smaller outer interval. Whereas the augmented triad has an augmented 5th, so the outer interval is larger. The augmented triad is also every other note of a whole tone scale, a scale of all whole steps.
So now that you have an intellectual background of triads, try the listening test and see how you do! You can leave your impressions or results here at LivingPianos.com or YouTube!
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Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
12 thoughts on “Musical Test: How Good is Your Ear?”
2023.07.17
Dear Robert,
Sorry I am so inobservant! I didn’t realize the comment field was above where you put your name and email. According to my count you played 32 chords for identification.
I missed 5 of them. I missed chords 11, 23, 27,30, and 32.. I thought I’d do better than that.
Thanks for your great videos on so many, many varied topics. Charles in Albuquerque
That’s pretty good score – 84%. Keep listening!
I am really having a hard time hearing them, although that’s something I am thoroughly familiar with. Other sounds (such as your voice still resonating) are interfering. My hearing loss appears to be interfering. In addition, the overtones of the piano are confusing things. When you play the notes sequentially, this helps.
You are right. It can be challenging identifying each note in a chord since the rich tone of the piano is so complex. You can play individual notes of chords on the piano, then play the notes together to help get acclimated to the overtones. This will help you identify the fundamental pitch of notes within chords.
I found it quite helpful when you did play the notes sequentially, which you did a few times.
There are actually two skills involved here. One is the ability of the ear/brain to distinguish the pitches, the other is the ability to analyze the intervals in the pitches from hearing them. This is not something I had a problem with before my hearing loss. But my ears/brain don’t interpret sounds in quite the same way as they used to, and it’s not just a lower volume problem.
Second thought: interestingly, I recently watched a video that proposed to test musical ability. It contained some of the same kinds of questions, and I had no trouble whatsoever getting all those right.
Hearing can change over time. Tinnitus can play havoc with identifying sounds with extraneous pitches getting in the way!
My two experiences are too close together for the change over time to have much meaning. I do have pulsatory tinnitus, and it definitely interferes with how I hear music.
— if at first you don’t succeed, triad, triad again! 🙂
Good one!
Hi Robert. I missed this one when it came out. I don’t know that this represents a test for “musicality,” but it is highly educational for those newer to music (or maybe guitarists).
I was surprised at how you described the diminished and augmented chords in scalar terms–correctly so, of course. When I hear the chords, I think of resolution. Maybe got this from my muscianship courses way back when (very early 80’s). When we did ear training and choral part writing, the instructor, an accomplished pianist, always discussed resolution.
As I try to get my spouse started on piano, I always explain to her how dissonant sounds always want to resolve. She has–and I do not exaggerate–no musical background or experience. Am I taking the wrong approach for her or for myself? Do you have any thoughts on this?
I took your video more as ear training than a test for musicality.
Hearing chords as part of scales, and feeling the direction of resolution of chords really comes down to the same thing! Major and minor chords are at rest compared with diminished and augmented chords which beg for resolution! How they resolve can unlock what type of chords they are by finding the diatonic notes (notes of the scale) they are leading to. Ultimately, it’s all about listening!