Learning about chords can be overwhelming.

Want to learn to play guitar? Trying to learn how to write pop songs? Need to analyse a 14th Century composition for music theory class? Understanding the world of chords is essential for all of these, but there’s so much to learn.

I’m going to share a particular way to look at chords which is simple – but actually provides the bulk of the understanding you’ll need to build these musical skills!

From the 24 major and minor chords, to all the variants (augmented, extended, and power chords, just to name a few types!), to knowing which can be used when according to complex rules of harmony… There is an awful lot to know about chords! But most of the music we listen to sounds so simple and so natural – surely things can’t be all that complicated?

It turns there are just three chords which are most important to any piece of music. If you want to really improve your music appreciation, learn about these 3 chords.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

This lesson will discuss the I, IV and V chords and their importance in music.

Don’t be discouraged by the use of these strange symbols I, IV and V! If you’re not familiar with roman numerals, that’s just a way of writing “the one, four and five chords”. As you follow this article, just read I as “one”, IV as “four” and V as “five”.

We’ll use the famous song “Imagine” by John Lennon as our example of a I–V-IV (“one five four”) progression.

Whether you are just starting to explore music or have been playing an instrument for many years, you have surely heard or read about the I, IV and V chords. These chords are extensively talked about in music theory and for a very good reason; in short, they represent the fundamentals of classical and popular music.

These three chords are considered the Click to read the rest…

Our interval training app for iPhone, RelativePitch recently got a great review in the iPhone App Directory:

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The iPhone App Directory is published regularly by Imagine Publishing in the United Kingdom.

Here’s what they had to say about the app:

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and haven’t tried RelativePitch yet, it’s a great way to do interval ear training at any time that suits. It’s a top ear training download in the App Store and is consistently rated 4 or 5 stars by users. There’s also a free app called RelativePitchLite which gets you started and teaches half the intervals of the octave.

If you have any questions (about RelativePitch or interval training in general), come ask in our ear training forums and we’ll be happy to help!

At Easy Ear Training, we’re hugely excited about the potential for technology to revolutionise ear training, and we think training apps on smartphones are leading the way. Our newest app release, Step and a Half, is a game which teaches you to understand melodies so that you can play them by ear, write them down, or bring the music you hear in your head out on your instrument.

About Step and a Half

I posted some information about Step and a Half earlier this week – but there’s lots more to tell you! If you missed that post, you can catch up here or watch this video we made to show you the ropes:

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