Progression Ear Trainer
Chords have jobs, and your ear can learn them: the trainer plays a four-chord progression in a random key, tells you the tonic, and you name the rest in Roman numerals. Six levels climb from I–IV–V to borrowed chords, there's one shared daily round, and the famous progressions become ear challenges. New to numerals? Start with the Nashville numbers guide.
Name that progression
The six-level ladder the trainer drills. The interactive game replaces this list when JavaScript loads.
- Primary Triads The three pillars: I, IV, and V. Hear "home", "away", and "leaning back home" before anything subtler.
- The Pop Four Add the vi — the relative minor — and you can hear the chords behind most of the pop charts.
- Full Diatonic Every major-key triad but the diminished: the ii and iii bring the subtle in-between colors.
- Sevenths The same functions wearing jazz clothes — maj7, m7, and dominant 7th qualities on every degree.
- Minor Keys Natural-minor progressions: the i is home, and the VI–VII climb is half of rock radio.
- Borrowed Chords Modal mixture: bVII, bVI, and the minor iv crash the major key. The boss level of harmonic hearing.
Tip: sing the bass movement before you answer — the root motion (up a 4th? down a 3rd?) gives away most progressions. Pair this with the interval & chord-quality ear trainer, then test yourself against the real thing on the famous progressions pages.
About hearing progressions
Recognizing chord progressions by ear is the skill that turns "I can play chords" into "I can play what I hear." Because harmonic function is relative, the training happens in Roman numerals: a I–V–vi–IV sounds the same in every key, so once your ear tags each chord's job — home, tension, relative minor — you can transcribe a song without knowing its key first. Every round here is a fresh, seeded progression, so you're learning the sound of the functions, not memorising answers.
- Why does the trainer tell me the first chord?
- Hearing is relative: you need an anchor before the other chords have meaning. Real transcription works the same way — find the tonic first, then hear everything else as distance from home.
- What are borrowed chords?
- Chords taken from the parallel minor while a song stays in a major key — the bVII, bVI, and minor iv. They add sudden warmth or drama, and they're everywhere in rock and film music.
- Is the daily progression the same for everyone?
- Yes — it's derived from the date, so every player worldwide hears the identical progression each day. Solve it to build your daily streak, which counts toward your practice stats.