♪ Musical Chords 2 Guide
This is the enhanced version of the chord recognition exercise: on top of the classic features it adds personal per-chord statistics, a streak counter, custom training sets with the chords of your choice and a direct comparison between the correct chord and the wrong one.
1. What's new in version 2
📊 Per-chord statistics
The 📊 button at the top right opens the statistics panel: for each chord you see how many attempts you made, how many first-try correct answers, your success rate and — most useful —
which chord you confuse it with most often. Data is saved in your browser between sessions.
🔥 Streak
At the top you see your run of consecutive correct answers and your all-time best. One mistake and the streak restarts from zero — a little incentive to stay focused.
★ "Custom" level — targeted training
Besides the 5 classic levels there is the
★ Custom level: tap the chords you want to train (minimum 2) and the exercise will pick only from those. Perfect for working on the pairs you confuse, e.g. Dom 7th vs Maj 7th.
🎲 Compare
When you make a mistake, a
Compare button appears below the Play button: click it and you hear the correct chord followed by the one you chose, on the same root note. The fastest way to fix the difference in your ear.
♪ Chord name and notes
After a correct answer, the full chord is shown above the grid, e.g.
Major = C · E · G, including the inversion that was used.
⌨ Keyboard shortcuts
Space listen / next chord ·
1–
9 answer with the n-th active button ·
C compare after a mistake ·
Esc close the statistics panel.
💾 Saved settings
Mode, level, inversions, advance mode, root note and your custom chord set are remembered: next time you visit, everything is as you left it.
2. What is a chord?
A chord is a combination of three or more notes played together (or in sequence). The distance between the notes — measured in semitones — determines the chord quality: whether it sounds happy or sad, stable or tense, classical or jazzy.
Every chord is built from a root note, adding notes at precise distances. For example, a C major chord is made of C + E + G: a major third (4 semitones) and a perfect fifth (7 semitones) above C.
📌 Chord vs Interval
An interval is the distance between two notes. A chord combines three or more notes simultaneously, creating a complex harmonic color. Recognizing chords requires a more trained ear than intervals.
3. Chord table
The chords in the exercise, grouped by level, with their structure in semitones and their sonic character.
Level 1 — Basic (fundamental triads)
| Chord | Structure (semitones) | Character |
|---|
| Major | 4 + 3 | Bright, stable, joyful |
| Minor | 3 + 4 | Dark, melancholic, intimate |
Level 2 — Seventh chords
| Chord | Structure (semitones) | Character |
|---|
| Dom 7th | 4+3+3 | Tense, bluesy, wants to resolve |
| Maj 7th | 4+3+4 | Dreamy, romantic, sophisticated |
| Min 7th | 3+4+3 | Sweetly melancholic, typical of jazz |
Level 3 — Altered and sixth chords
| Chord | Structure (semitones) | Character |
|---|
| Augmented | 4+4 | Suspended, enigmatic, unstable |
| Diminished 7th | 3+3+3 | Anguished, dramatic, symmetric |
| Maj 6th | 4+3+2 | Warm, nostalgic, retro |
| Min 6th | 3+4+2 | Bittersweet melancholy, tango |
Level 4 — Advanced chords
| Chord | Structure (semitones) | Character |
|---|
| Half-Diminished | 3+3+4 | Tense but less dark than dim7, typical of jazz |
| Sus 2 | 2+5 | Open, suspended, no third |
| Sus 4 | 5+2 | Solemn, suspended, wants to resolve to the third |
Level 5 — Jazz
| Chord | Structure | Character |
|---|
| Dom 9th | Dom 7th + major ninth | Rich, full, blues-jazz |
| Maj 9th | Maj 7th + major ninth | Bright, dreamy, sophisticated pop |
| Min 9th | Min 7th + major ninth | Deep, meditative, modal jazz |
📌 How to read the structure
The numbers indicate the semitones between one chord note and the next. Major = 4+3 means: major third (4 semitones) + minor third (3 semitones) above. C major = C (0) + E (4) + G (7).
4. Inversions
A chord is in root position when the root note is the lowest one. In inversions, one of the other chord notes moves to the bottom:
- Root position (C-E-G): C is the bass.
- 1st inversion (E-G-C): E is the bass — the chord sounds lighter.
- 2nd inversion (G-C-E): G is the bass — a more unstable feeling.
The same chord that you recognize easily in root position can be much harder to identify in inversion, because its color changes considerably. Enable inversions only when you know the chords well in root position.
⚠️ Inversions and the root note
In the exercise, the root note is always highlighted in yellow on the keyboard and on the staff — even in inversions. It is a theoretical reference, not the lowest sounding note. Don't click it by mistake thinking it belongs to the inversion!
5. How the exercise works
The program randomly picks a chord, plays it, and you have to identify it by clicking the corresponding button in the grid — or by finding its notes on the keyboard.
Interface step by step
▶ Play button
Plays the current chord. If you have already answered, it moves to the next chord. Shortcut:
Space.
♪ Staff
Before the answer it shows only the root note (in yellow). After a correct answer, the full chord appears in root position: the chord notes in green, the root always in yellow.
🎹 Piano keyboard
The root note is yellow. You can click the keys to hear single notes as a reference. Alternatively, you can answer by finding all the chord notes on the keyboard: correct notes turn green, wrong ones red. When you find all the chord notes the point is awarded (only if you clicked no wrong notes).
■ Chord grid
The buttons of the current level are lit. Click the one you think is the chord. If you're wrong it turns red — you can click it again to hear it, or use
🎲 Compare. After answering, clicking any button plays the corresponding chord.
⏸ Manual / ▶▶ Auto advance
In
Manual mode (default) the exercise stops on the answer: you can replay, compare, click notes on the keyboard. In
Auto mode it advances by itself after 1.4 seconds.
🏆 Score
Counts
first-try correct answers, both via button and via keyboard. Even a single wrong note on the keyboard forfeits the point. The session score resets with the Reset button; the per-chord statistics persist (they only reset from the 📊 panel).
6. Mode selector
- ↑ Arpeggio — the notes play in sequence from bottom to top. Easier: you hear the melodic structure of the chord.
- ↓ Arpeggio — the notes play from top to bottom. Same structure, different feeling.
- ⇅ Harmonic — all the notes sound together. The hardest: you only hear the overall color of the chord, with no melodic guide.
💡 Tip
Start in Arpeggio ↑ mode. Once you recognize the chords well, switch to Harmonic: it is the real-world condition in which you'll hear chords in live music.
7. Difficulty levels
- 1 — Basic Only Major and Minor. The fundamental distinction of tonal music.
- 2 — Easy Adds Dom 7th, Maj 7th, Min 7th — the most common seventh chords.
- 3 — Medium Augmented, Diminished 7th, Maj 6th, Min 6th join in.
- 4 — Expert Half-Diminished, Sus 2, Sus 4 — rarer but important chords.
- 5 — Jazz Ninth chords: Dom 9th, Maj 9th, Min 9th.
- ★ Custom Your choice: tap the chords to train (minimum 2) and press ▶. Your selection is remembered.
⚠️ Recommended start
Level 1 looks trivial but it isn't: telling major from minor in harmonic mode, with inversions and random roots, already requires a good ear. Consolidate each level before moving up.
8. Root note selector
- Fixed note (default C4) — locks the root. Useful for learning the color of the chords without extra variables.
- ⟳ Random — the root changes with every question. The realistic mode: in music, chords appear in any key.
9. Recognition strategies
The "color" of the chord
The most effective method is to perceive the overall emotional color of the chord, not to analyze it note by note. With practice, major and minor become instinctively distinguishable — like recognizing a person by their face without counting their features.
Use the statistics to find your weak spots
Open the 📊 panel after a few sessions: the "Confused with" column tells you exactly which chord pairs give you trouble. Then create a ★ Custom level with just those two chords and train them, using the 🎲 Compare button on every mistake: it is the most efficient learning loop.
Pairs to train
- Major vs Minor — the most important contrast: bright vs dark. Listen to them in sequence dozens of times until the difference is immediate.
- Dom 7th vs Maj 7th — both start from a major triad. The Dom 7 "wants to go somewhere", the Maj 7 already sounds arrived, dreamy.
- Min 7th vs Half-Diminished — very similar. The half-diminished has a lowered fifth and sounds more unstable and tense.
- Sus 2 vs Sus 4 — both lack the third, but Sus 2 has a more open/folk character, Sus 4 is more solemn and "waiting".
- Dim 7th vs Augmented — both tense, but the dim7 is symmetric and dramatic, the augmented is more floating and ambiguous.
Use the keyboard as a study tool
When you don't recognize a chord, don't look at the solution right away. Use the keyboard to find the notes one by one: starting from the root (yellow), look for the other chord notes. This active process reinforces memory much more than a passive answer.
💡 Short, focused sessions
Ten minutes a day on the ★ Custom level with your two critical chords beats a generic hour once a week. The streak and the statistics show your real progress over time.
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