Practice away from the piano

When there is no piano nearby

For most of the day you are away from a keyboard. Much of learning chords happens in your head, though: knowing what a chord is called, which notes it contains and how it sounds. You can practice all of that on a phone.

Naming mode on a phone: notes shown, four answers to tap. — Naming mode on a phone: you tap the answer, with no instrument to set up.

Name the chord

The app shows the notes and you pick the name from a row of buttons, either by tapping or by pressing 1–9 on a computer. This reverses the usual practice screen, where the app names a chord and you play it.

Naming mode on a laptop: the keyboard with the notes marked and answer buttons below. — The same drill on a bigger screen.

You choose how the question is shown: as notes on the piano keyboard, as note names in circles, or printed on a staff, which makes the drill sight-reading practice as well.

Naming mode with the chord printed on a staff and answer buttons below. — Read the chord on the staff and pick its name.

Naming mode uses the same chord pools, keys and statistics as practice at the piano, so a chord you drill on the bus counts toward the same numbers.

Train your ear

In ear training the app plays the chord without showing it, and you pick the name. The chord can sound all at once or as an arpeggio at one of three speeds, and you can replay it as often as you like.

Ear training: a question mark, a play button and the answer buttons. — The screen shows only a question mark, a play button and the answers.

Ear training on a phone. — With headphones, you can do this drill on a phone anywhere.

The ear-training settings: playback style, note pace, hide style, MIDI answers, auto-play. — Settings for harmonic or arpeggio playback, the note pace, and whether the root is revealed.

Try a drill

Name the chords Triads and seventh chords in every key. Try it →Read and name Sight-reading practice with the chord printed on a staff. Try it →Ear training Listen, then pick the chord. Try it →Ear training for beginners Only major and minor triads, a good place to start. Try it →