Chord Qualities Guitar Lesson
Chord Qualities
Matt Brown introduces his new series on ear training. He covers basic chord qualities for the first training session.
Taught by Matt Brown in Ear Training with Matt Brown seriesLength: 39:01Difficulty: 1.5 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Ear Training with Matt Brown
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsMatt Brown provides instruction and exercise to facilitate ear training.
Lesson 1
Chord Qualities
Matt Brown introduces his new series on ear training. He covers basic chord qualities for the first training session.
Length: 39:01 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Introduction to Intervals
Matt Brown offers up a lesson on how intervals are notated and their spacial relationships on the neck of the guitar.
Length: 48:58 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Hearing Intervals
In lesson three of his ear training series, Matt Brown explains how to identify melodic intervals by ear.
Length: 52:34 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Harmonic Intervals
In lesson four, Matt Brown demonstrates listening techniques for identifying harmonically stacked intervals.
Length: 33:46 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Progressions
Matt Brown discusses and demonstrates how to identify common chord progressions by ear.
Length: 30:09 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
About Matt Brown
View Full Biography
Matt Brown began playing the guitar at the age of 11. "It was a rule in my family to learn and play an instrument for at least two years. I had been introduced to a lot of great music at the time by friends and their older siblings. I was really into bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins, so the decision to pick up the guitar came pretty easily."
Matt's musical training has always followed a very structured path. He began studying the guitar with Dayton, Ohio guitar great Danny Voris. I began learning scales, chords, and basic songs like any other guitarist. After breaking his left wrist after playing for only a year, Matt began to study music theory in great detail. I wanted to keep going with my lessons, but I obviously couldn't play at all. Danny basically gave me the equivalent of a freshman year music theory course in the span of two months. These months proved to have a huge impact on Brown's approach to the instrument.
Brown continued his music education at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He completed a degree in Classical Guitar Performance in 2002. While at Capital, he also studied jazz guitar and recording techniques in great detail. "I've never had any desire to perform jazz music. Its lack of relevance to modern culture has always turned me off. However, nothing will improve your chops more than studying this music."
Matt Brown currently resides in Dayton, Ohio. He teaches lessons locally as well as at Capital University's Community Music School. Matt's recent projects include writing and recording with his new, as of yet nameless band as well as the formation of a cover band called The Dirty Cunnies.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Mark Kroos
Free LessonSeries Details
Randall Williams
In this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Lincoln
Time to unlock your creativity because in this information packed lesson. Mark dives deep into how to deconstruct the process...
Free LessonSeries Details
Kaki King
In lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries Details
Danny Voris
Lesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries Details
Hawkeye Herman
Hawkeye teaches several Robert Johnson licks in this lesson. These licks are played with a slide in open G tuning.
Free LessonSeries Details
Orville Johnson
Orville Johnson introduces turnarounds and provides great ideas and techniques.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Kailana Nelson
Mark Nelson introduces "'Ulupalakua," a song he will be using to teach different skills and techniques. In this lesson, he...
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Amodeo
Nick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Tosin Abasi
Tosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
DJ Phillips
Learn a handful of new blues techniques while learning to play Stevie Ray Vaughn's "The House Is Rockin'".
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Greathouse
Nick starts his series with Alternate Picking part 1. Improve your timing, speed, and execution with this important lesson.
Free LessonSeries Details
Brendan Burns
Brendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries Details
Jane Miller
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Kellie
Nick explains how to use scales and modes effectively when soloing over a chord progression.
Free LessonSeries Details
Allen Van Wert
Allen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries Details
Eric Madis
In this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
Free LessonSeries Details
James Malone
James explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries Details
Kenny Ray
Albert Collins brought a lot of style to the blues scene. In this lesson, Kenny breaks down Albert's style for you to learn.
Free LessonSeries DetailsAdditional Lesson Features Available to Members
While we have attempted to provide you with an accurate rendition of our video lesson experience, there are some features which
require a membership with us!
Custom Progress Reporting
At JamPlay, we give you the ability to monitor your own progress for any lesson! If you watch one of our lessons and feel as though you understand around half of it, mark your progress at 50%. This adds the lesson to your customized Progress Report, and gives you an incredible ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.
Progressive Bookmarking
With thousands of lessons at your fingertips, JamPlay can be a touch intimidating to a first-time user. With Progressive Bookmarking, we give you the ability to systematically bookmark sections of any lessons you are working on to quickly access later. After all, what is the point of all this content if it isn't easy to use?
Save Your Notes
JamPlay also gives you the ability to leave notes for yourself on any lesson. Just like in any educational system, taking your own notes while learning gives you the ability to highlight the instruction that is important to you. Leave your notes, and we store them in our database for you to reference each and everytime you come back to the lesson.
Join the Thousands of Members at JamPlay
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Basically i mug up the chords and play them and identify them with the quiz .. ??
That's actually kind of the opposite of what you want to do...You just want to take the quiz and identify the quality of chord you're hearing...Don't look at the answers first...If you don't do well, don't worry about it! that's just a good indicator of something to work on.
Hey matt.. I guess there are many types of chords of the same name .. so say i learn a G major .. there are many ways to play that .. so for the ear training purpose i may as well 'by heart' the chords given in the supplemental content and then proceed to the ear training ? IS that a good enuff way ? but it wont give me broad knowledge of indentification by ear am i right?
38/45 not too bad I think.
Nice work! Always room for improvement...
hey matt very helpful lesson .. I went around the first quiz and got about 6-7 right of the 15 questions .. Anyway how do i work on knowing the names and types of different chords for the other quizzes.. ? What do you think is the best approach for learning chords .. ? Before starting the other lessons i need to know the chords and i have always found learning the CAGED system a bit hard.. Do reply as i am interested in your quizz and ear training lessons :)
Well, I think you'll personally have a way easier time with the ear training quizzes if you know how to play these chords and are already familiar with what they sound like...At this point, I would probably focus your time on learning the basic open chords and playing them musically in chord progressions. Then I'd suggest return to the ear training stuff...I think you'll find it a lot easier...When I first started, I worked through a book called Progressive Rhythm Guitar (http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Rhythm-Beginner-Advanced-Students/dp/0959540474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336165044&sr=8-1) that really helped me...The more vocabulary you know (chords, scales, etc.) the easier the ear training will become and vice versa.
If you have something like Am/C is that a major or minor chord? Major right?
Nope...that's a minor chord. If it has minor in the name, it's minor. Half diminished seventh chords are an exception...Those are often called "minor seven (flat five)" chords...I'm guessing Am/C might be tripping you up due to it's similarity to a C6 voicing (C, E, G, A)...These are the exact same notes as Am7, just in a different order. Also, the fifth within a major sixth chord (the G note in C6 for example) is often omitted...When that happens, you're left with the notes (C, E, A), which are the exact same notes in an A minor triad...The way in which you name the chord (C6 vs Am) depends on the way the chord is functioning within a musical context...For instance, if the progression is a I IV V in C, and the group of notes C, E, A are used as the first chord, we'd call it a C6 chord instead of Am, since the chord is functioning in the progression as some sort of C (I or tonic) in the progression.
Thanks Matt, I missed 10 out of 45 and see my weakness. Great lesson and I hope to be at 100% soon.
Hey! 10 out of 45 is a pretty common score when you first get started. Keep up the practice and you'll get there! Learn to play by ear just as much as you learn materials from reading music/tablature.
Enter your comment here.
I've never done ear training but got 100% on the last quiz!!! pretty pumped
Nice! Some people definitely are just naturally better at this kind of stuff...You must be one of those people.
Not too bad. I missed 8 questions. The inversions threw me off a bit though.
Yeah...the inversions are going to be harder just because they are used less frequently...Keep practicing and quizzing yourself!! Ideally, you want to get to the point where you're consistently getting every question right.
got them all right on the first quiz =D
Nice! Sounds like you're ready for something more challenging.
I got 11 wrong out of 45.............What should I do?
11 wrong out of 45 is pretty good. I'd look through and see if you notice a common thread amongst the questions you got run. For example, are you confusing dominant chords and major chords? Are inverted chords ("slash" chords) throwing you off? What I suggest you do is either come up with your own quizzes that focus on your weaknesses. Or, pick up some ear training software like MacGAMUT.
Perhaps I missed something in the intro to the lesson, but I'm a touch confused on how to proceed. I'm having about a 75% success rate at determining the chord qualities but I don't know if i'm to play the quizes over and over until I (hopefully) can achieve 100% or move on to the next lesson in the series. Could you give some guidance please? Thanks.
Great question! What I recommend you do is come up with your own quizzes like the one in this lesson. Just come up with an answer key of some sort. Then, record yourself playing each of the "questions." Then, wait a few days and take the quiz. If you wait a few days, you'll forget the order of the answers and will not be tempted to cheat. I realize that this isn't the most fun use of practice time....I recommend that you also check out a program called macgamut. I believe a free trial version is available. It's basically an ear training software program with quizzes built into it. As far as the lessons on here are concerned, if you got a 75% on the first quiz, I'd say that you can move on to the next lesson. If you get below a 75%, I'd suggest that you do some practicing on your own before moving on to the next lesson.
i least i can recognize which are major , minor or seventh...
Well, just like any other musical skill, ear training takes a lot of practice. Keep it up, and you'll get there!
Thank you for the lesson Matt. But I got 6 wrong--I didn't realise I suck so much.
No worries! Practice makes perfect. Keep working at it, and you'll eventually get better.
I got 3 wrong... some of it was flukey... Just to check, any chords with 7ths in the quiz are dominants right? Also B flat chord is a major?
right. If it has a "7" right after the root, then the chord is dominant. If a chord is just a root note and nothing else like Bb, than it is assumed that the chord is major.
I did OK, 60%. Its enough to give me encouragement and to also realise there is still a lot of work to do. Great job, Matt.
Hey everybody! Like I said in the lesson, this stuff takes practice. Think of participating in these quizzes as being similar to the first time you tried to play your first chord. It was really hard and frustrating right? But, with some practice, you eventually got it down. I suggest you work on ear training once a week to start off with. Either quiz yourself by recording some questions, try to learn a song by ear, or pick up some ear training software. If you continue to work at it, I promise that it will get easier, and you'll start to reap the benefits of your work.
Awesome lessons, thanks
Monster lesson Matt!
I think I have to to the doctor and get new ears installed!!!
I totally failed the quizes -_- Good thing these series exist! :D
Great stuff! My ears needs training...
very good lesson Mat! whats the name of the software you said?
It's called MacGAMUT. www.macgamut.com
Ear training lessons are a real good addition to the phase 2 lessons! Thanks Matt
Good Job Matt, very helpful!
Hey guys! I'll get the answers to the quiz up tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!!!
Booyah.
Perfect! This is just what I needed!