Identifying chord qualities for audition...?

Question

For an upcoming audition at Berklee college of music in boston, all auditionees are being asked to"hear and identify chord qualities (major, minor, diminished, augmented etc)"

What do they mean by this?
For instance, if i was in the audition room right now, what would they be asking for me to do?

Answer 1

First I need to set one thing straight. There are many more than four chord qualties. You have whole tone, Dominant Seventhy, Flat five, Major Sixths. There are all kinds of chords that can be identified.

What they will probably do at Berklee, is play you a few chords, both broken (arpeggiated) and together. They will probably try to throw you off by playing some in second and third inversion. Major will sound happy, Minor will sound angry and sad, and Diminished will sound like the music they play in a melodrama, just before the climax, like when Snidely Whiplash ties Poly Pureheart to the railroad tracks and the train is coming at forty five miles an hour!!!

Make sure that the person who plays for you gives you both inversions as well as root position. (well, the diminished chord has inversions, but they all sound like first inversion since the diminished seventh is a "bridging" chord < a bridging chord can belong to any of four different keys and there are only three of them, really! > )

When I took my test (at NMSU, not Berklee) I told them what key they were playing in and they thought I was being sarcastic. (not the word they used but this is a family board) Just give them the quality of the chord unless they say otherwise.

In the key of C

Major

C - E - G

First Inversion

E - G - C

Second Inversion

G - C - E

C minor

C - Eb - G

1rst Inversion

Eb - G - C

2nd Inversion

G - C - Eb

C diminished Seven

C - D#/Eb - F#/Gb - A

1st Inversion

D#/Eb - F#/Gb - A - C

2nd Inversion

F#/Gb - A - C - D#/Eb

3rd Inversion

A - C - D#/Eb - F#/Gb

They probably won't bother with inversions on the diminished, and they probably won't ask you which inversion it is. Be aware of the fact that they might play the chord out of root position howver, because I have known that to severely throw people off who were not prepared for the sound. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

This is a bit or Aural Skill testing. These are all triads I'm guessing, although maybe not. Are there more than these? If there are, then you will definitely need to practice those. Here is what I suggest: sit down at a piano and play them out. If you don't know what they are, consult with someone: probably a music teacher that you are sure went to college. Some piano teachers and such might not know some different theory things.
There is also a great web site that will help you A LOT. Go to it! REALLY! It is http://www.musictheory.net/ Go to the Lessons box, and click on triads and chord ear trainer. If you don't know too much theory, first go to Lessons and work your way through the lessons so you know the theory for chord structures and such. Also helpful would be interval trainer. If you can't identify intervals properly, ear training is VERY hard.
Does the auditioning sheet say anything about chord inversions? This is very important to know, because chords will sound somewhat different in inversions, and identifying them could become a really big challenge if you haven't practiced inversions.
Here is a little bit on chord triads, (quick refresher if you already know the theory)
Triads are chords built with three notes built on major and/or minor thirds.
A major chord (starting from the lowest note) will have the root note, the note a Major 3rd above, and then a note a Minor 3rd above that. From the root to the top is a Perfect 5th. An example: D F# A. You can identify it by the happy sound. It sounds happy and complete.
A minor chord has the root, a Minor 3rd and then a Major third. An example: D F A. You can identify it by its complete but sound or angry sound.
A diminshed chord has a minor third from the root and a minor third on top. An example: D F Ab. You can identify it by its incomplete sound that feels like it wants to go somewhere. It usually seems to want to resolve out.
An augmented chord is built on the root with two Major 3rds from the bottom. An example D F# A#. It sounds incomplete also, but doesn't feel like it wants to go anywhere. Some people feel like it should resolve, but inward. This can help you if you are stuck between a diminshed and an Augmented.

Also extremely helpful is to find a song with the chord, and use that as a pnuemonic device - a memory tool. This chord reminds me of Fiddler on the Roof, that means its a this or that chord. This stuff is tough, but if you work at it you will do really well. I saw an answer that said you almost need perfect pitch: let me just say that that is bull. He doesn't know what he is talking about. Ear training is for a quality called "Relative Pitch". This is about training the ear to hear intervals, rhythm, chord qualities, etc as they relate to each other. Perfect pitch involves knowing specific pitches all of the time. A person with perfect pitch could sing you an A 440 perfectly in tune without hearing it. A person with relative pitch can harmonize with another pitch that is being played. It is actually somewhat easier to learn relative pitch if you don't have perfect pitch. Anyone can learn relative pitch: the main thing is effort. Don't worry too much: you'll get the hang of it.

(When you get into Berklee, check out the Staff Paper Generator in the Utilities tab on Musictheory.net - It's a life saver for Theory class!)

Answer 3

they would sit you down in a room with an examiner, probably with a piano or a keyboard. The examiner would play a chord, which is a combination of 3 or more notes played simultaneuosly. Then the examiner asks you what type of chord s/he just played. Major, Minor are the easiest to identify. I would worry about the Augmented (Sharp 4th) and Diminished (Flat 5th) since they might sound similar.

I would worry about things other than these few. Get a book of chord diagrams and learn the subtle sound differences differences between your chords.

Good Luck. I wish I majored in music!

Answer 4

I'm still in highschool but i do piano theory and well there are 4 kinds of chords. A Major is a happy sounding chord, a Minor is a sad sounding chord, a diminished is like an evil strange one, and augmented is happy and a bit higher. Um just recognize them according to the sound i'm guessing.

Answer 5

Some colleges do this differently - some have it on a listening or musicianship test - some do it in an audition. It would be helpful to know your instrument. What they are asking you to do is to identify the chord "type" based on hearing alone.

The basic chord types they are asking you to identify are:

Major - chord is made up of a Major third on bottom, minor third interval on top, such as A-C#-E, or do-mi-sol, in the solfege

Minor - chord is made up of a minor third on bottom, major third on top, such as A-C-E, or do-ma-sol, in the solfege

Diminished - chord is two minor third intervals, such as A-C-Eflat

Augmented - chord is two major third intervals, such as A-C#-B

You can practice distinguishing between them by having someone play different chords, and trying to determine which is which - major chords sound brighter, minor sounds more mysterious and forboding, and so forth. Good luck on your audition!

Answer 6

This means that you have to know the sound of a chord by ear, you have to almost have perfect pitch to do this, it's not easy, so you better get familiar with the sounds of the chords for your instrument. The only way I can think for you to study this is to play the chords and name them, and then put them on tape and play them over and over again so that you can tell the minute that you hear them what they are, good luck on this one, buy !

Answer 7

You have answered your own question and the answer above is the same as your question/answer. Berklee is a tough school to get into to. I know a young man who has been accepted and it was because he came from a music acadamy so he was accepted for grad work

Answer 8

They would play a chord and ask you to identify it. Major, Minor, dim, or aug?