An extremely useful ear training exercise to jazz artists especially is one that I would call "chord changes." It is similar to that of the chord progression exercise, except that it works differently, and only would have questions composed of two chords back to back.
The type of chord for both the first and second chord would be selected randomly from the list of given chords in exercise setup, and the root movement would also be selected randomly. Answer input would involve selecting the type of the first chord, then the root of the second chord, and type of the second chord.
This is extremely useful in that many jazz charts have chord progressions that are not diatonic, nor are they very consonnant. It would improve one's ability to hear voices move regardless of cadence or diatonic recognition, giving a much broader sense of harmony. It would also help individual chord recognition, a skill needed for both chord identification and more importantly in chord progression training, since chords must be recognized very quickly as they go by. Also, progressions often tend to make a certain chord "feel" different in certain contexts. This kind of exercise would be extremely valuable to anyone wishing to have a more broad sense of harmony than a simple diatonic major scale sense.
Suggested New Exercise: Random Two-Chord Changes
Moderator: Quentin
