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