Basics of Ear Training Part 1

The Steve Stine Podcast · Sep 17, 2026 · 10m · transcript

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If someone says “This one’s in G” and your brain goes blank, this will give you a simple map you can actually use. We’re kicking off a practical ear training series by focusing on chords first, not complicated interval drills, so you can learn songs by ear faster and feel calm when playing with other people.

We start with the major scale as the foundation for understanding any key, then we get straight to the useful shortcut: in a major key, the 1 chord, 4 chord, and 5 chord are major, while the 2 chord, 3 chord, and 6 chord are minor. Using the key of C as the clean…