I can't hear chord changes!

Hi everybody.


I have a hard time hearing chord changes in songs, sometimes I can do it, but most of the time I need to check the song's chords so I can "hear" the changes. Otherwise I can't tell if there's a change.

Sometime the bass hints, but when there's a lot of stuff going on the song, I just can't tell.


How do you do this?
Do you focus on an instrument or the song as whole?

Any tips/insights will be really appreciated! Thank you!

Originally Posted by: ckzinHi everybody.


I have a hard time hearing chord changes in songs, sometimes I can do it, but most of the time I need to check the song's chords so I can "hear" the changes. Otherwise I can't tell if there's a change.

Sometime the bass hints, but when there's a lot of stuff going on the song, I just can't tell.


How do you do this?
Do you focus on an instrument or the song as whole?

Any tips/insights will be really appreciated! Thank you!

Mostly you should focus on the instrument (ie - guitar).

That said, the key, I think, to hearing changes is to know what a chord sounds like. To know that a chord change goes from a G to a C is to know it when you hear it.

Easier said than done, I know.

From a brain perspective, you're building new pathways (neural pathways) in your brain when you something (anything) new. This includes understanding sound.

Something I did a long time ago was to hum chords as I played them. I would play a D and the sing 'Deeeeeeeeeee' along with it in key, then E and so on.

Granted, ya can't just spend your time humming chords throughout the neck but hitting some of the most commons ones like E, A, G, C, D, F in all the root/open positions helps the ear. My thought anyway.

If you know the note in your head, you can hear the chord and change when you listen to a song

Another good way is to learn different progressions, certain styles of music lends itself to types of chord progressions (ie blues I-IV-V, or 1-4-5 of the key of music being played). Start with the style of music you want to learn and look up different progressions associated with that style. You start picking up cues and can guesstimate when and where the next chord will be. The more you know through playing, the more you can hear. Also ear training helps a ton. Sing the intervals of the chord progression while droning on the key of the song. Cycle between playing the root of the chord, sing it, then play the key note of the song and sing the interval (the next chord's root note). This alone will really expand your ear.