This is a cool little app that will train your ear to hear and recognise chord progressions. Simply play through a series of chords until you have memorised them, and then it will ask you to re-create the sequence on demand.
Interact with it via your touch screen or mouse. Or if you want to get in and out quicker during the recall phase you could even use your computer keyboard.
How to Use the App
Once you hit the curtain button, it’s game on. Hitting that button create a fresh sequence of chords according to your choices so far. From there, the instrument plays the sequence through your speakers. Take a look at the staircase visualization at the top; every time a chord plays, it illuminates in turn. Each block’s size correspond to where it falls in the chain.
After the sound cuts out, it’s up to you to recall order. After it finishes playing, the stairway will turn off. From there you have to replay chords by tapping the corresponding harmonic tiles. Choose each chord using the Roman numeral pads, matching their order. Alternatively, press numbers 1-7 on your keyboard. These correspond with the chords of that same major key. Pressing these keys is faster than clicking the tiles on screen.
You can select how many chords to play in a row from three to seven. The longer the sequence, the greater the demand on your recall accuracy and mental strength. Selecting the tempo will determine how quickly the chords are played. At a faster pace it tests your ability to process the chord change rapidy. Playing at a slow tempo provides more time to hear each harmony.
To add an extra challenge, switch to the memory layer for a different kind of learning opportunity. In this case, rather than just the basic function and chord roots, you’ll need to remember the actual voicing of every chord as well. Tap one of the tiles then use inversion picker to choose between root position, first inversion or second inversion. That’s an exercise in vertical organization of chords.
The Trace bass button isolates the bass line from the rest of the notes played in a chord. This is a handy exercise button. It allows you to learn how to hear the harmonic movement of music and identify different types of inversions by simply hearing what is going on at the bass level. This is particularly helpful when learning to hear harmonic movement.
The Lantern button (harmonic role) gives a label to the harmonic role that each chord plays within the harmonic framework. It labels the tonic, dominant, or predominant but does not name the chords. This way you can understand structures behind the chord changes.
It’s also in multiple keys. Major keys include: C, G, D, F, B-flat, and E-flat. When changing keys, it moves the chords around the pad grid accordingly, while keeping their Roman numerals relative to the new tonic. That way you learn progressions regardless of an absolute sense of pitch. For example, if you change from C major to G major, the Roman numeral functions remains the same relative to the new tonic. It’s a clever feature that teaches you how to work with progressions different than any one key.
The other aspect is what kind of progression you want to create. There are four options here: deceptive turns, circle chains, pop rotations, and functional cadences.
The Back Button deletes the last chord that was added. It is handy in case you accidently hit the wrong one. The Return to First Step Button clears everything you have added and starts from the beginning. You’ve lost your place? Start again.
The Volume Slider sets a comfortable listening volume for where you are. Fullscreen expands the widget to fill your screen. Gives additional room for the pad grid and staircase. Handy if your device has limited screen space (smaller devices).
The Help panel contains quick reference notes on harmony, controls, and more. It explains how inversion rules and keyboard mappings works in a little more detail. If you’re not sure what something does, refer here.
Begin slowly with a brief passage in reflective time. Concentrate on hearing how each chord moves around the root. Sing along as you hear the bass line. This will help embed the chord progression into your mind. Gradually make the sequence longer and faster. Once you are confident with just the roots, try playing in inversion mode. Practise in various keys to develop a skill for transposition.
It’s meant as a way of improving your harmonic memory. It is a combination of tactile recall and listening skills. The more you do the better you’ll get at being able to listen and reproduce these progressions. As a tool for songwriting or preparing for music theory exams, it offers instant feedback that will highlight any weak areas, while maintaining a healthy streak so you can monitor progression overtime.
Feel free to play around with these options. This widget doesn’t have an answer per se. Consider it your harmonic playground; go nuts with your finger and ear. Experiment with other dialects and discover how genre shifts influence them. Turn on the function lanterns to dissect what makes a progression tick. Get through your initial round when you’re ready.