How to play
- Choose the treble or bass clef and a level: the root alone, then the root and its quality, then the same chords turned round into their inversions.
- Press Start the round. Three notes appear on the staff, struck together: tap the chord they make on the pad, or type it.
- Right, and the next chord comes at once. Wrong, and the notes are circled and the right chord shown for a moment, with its position.
- After 60 seconds the round ends and the page shows your score, your average time and the chords that held you up.
The levels
- Root onlyName the root, the note the triad is built on, in the white keys' own triads, always in root position: three notes stacked in 3rds.7 answers.
- With qualityName the root and the quality, major, minor, diminished or augmented, on any white-key root, with the sharps and flats each one needs.27 answers.
- InversionsThe same chords turned round, in root position, first inversion or second inversion, so the root has to be found inside the shape.27 answers.
The roots are the seven white keys, and B augmented is left out: its 5th would be F double sharp, a spelling a reader almost never meets. A chord on a black key reads the same way, with a sharp or flat on more of its notes.
The triads the library strikes
The library's 419 pieces strike 11,758 triads as one chord. 66 % of them are major, and 50 % are turned round into an inversion, so a reader who knows root position alone is left puzzling over that share of a page. Root-position major turns up in 296 pieces.
Counted wherever three different notes, in either hand or both, start at the same moment and make a triad, in any octave and with any note doubled; the lowest of them decides the position. An augmented triad splits the octave into three equal parts, so its root, and so its position, can't be told from the notes alone.
Find them in a piece
Each shape, how many library pieces strike it, and the easiest of them, the quickest place to meet it in real music.
| Chord | Pieces that strike it | Easiest of them |
|---|---|---|
| Major, root position | 296 | Ode to Joy (level 2) |
| Major, first inversion | 206 | Study, Op. 139 No. 2 (level 2) |
| Major, second inversion | 201 | Study, Op. 139 No. 2 (level 2) |
| Minor, root position | 179 | Berceuse, from Enfantillages pittoresques (level 2) |
| Minor, first inversion | 175 | Berceuse, from Enfantillages pittoresques (level 2) |
| Minor, second inversion | 110 | Berceuse, from Enfantillages pittoresques (level 2) |
| Diminished, root position | 82 | Study, Op. 139 No. 1 (level 2) |
| Diminished, first inversion | 105 | The Blue Danube (theme) (level 2) |
| Diminished, second inversion | 61 | Study, Op. 139 No. 1 (level 2) |
| Augmented, any position | 32 | Romanian Folk Dance No. 2 (level 3) |
Name it fast
- Root position looks like a snowman: three notes on three lines or three spaces, each a 3rd above the last. The bottom note is the root.
- Turned round, look for the 4th. An inverted triad has one gap wider than the others, a 4th, from a line to a space. The upper note of that 4th is the root: on top in first inversion, in the middle in second.
- The white keys' own triads are major on C, F, and G, minor on D, E, and A and diminished on B. Know those seven and a sharp or flat tells you what changed.
- Each note keeps its own letter. A triad is spelled on every other letter, so signs change the quality, never the shape: F–A♭–C♭ is F diminished, and E–G♯–B♯ is E augmented. Lower a major chord's 3rd a half step and it is minor; lower its 5th too and it is diminished; raise a major chord's 5th and it is augmented.
Questions
Do I need a piano keyboard?
No. Tap the chord on the pad under the staff, on a phone, tablet or computer, or type it on a computer. Nothing to plug in.
How do I type an answer?
Type the root's letter, a to g. At the first level that's all. When the level asks the quality, type it after the letter: M for major, m or - for minor, o or 0 for diminished, + for augmented.
What do major, minor, diminished and augmented mean?
They count the half steps above the root. A major triad has a 3rd of 4 half steps and a 5th of 7; a minor triad a 3rd of 3 and a 5th of 7; a diminished triad a 3rd of 3 and a 5th of 6; an augmented triad a 3rd of 4 and a 5th of 8.
What is an inversion?
The same three notes with another one at the bottom. In root position the root is lowest; in first inversion the 3rd is, and the root sits on top; in second inversion the 5th is, and the root sits in the middle. The chord's name stays the same.
Why only white-key roots?
Every quality on the seven white-key roots already needs sharps and flats on its 3rd and 5th, and reading those is what the game trains. The piano chord chart shows the major and minor triad on all twelve keys.
How is a round scored?
A round lasts 60 seconds. Each chord named right counts one and the next comes at once; a wrong answer shows the right chord for a moment, which costs time. At the end you see how many were right, your average time and the chords that held you up, circled in red pencil.
Is my best score kept?
Yes, one best for each clef and level, kept in this browser on this device. Every answer also goes into your reading profile, the same as the chords drill, so Clefsight's practice knows which chords you read at a glance.
Learn them first: how to read chords: triads, inversions and sevenths, and the piano chord chart, the major and minor triad on every key.
Then play them: the chords drill shows chords to play on a MIDI keyboard or the keys on screen as soon as you read the shape.
More games: the note reading game, the interval reading game, the rhythm reading game and the key signature quiz.