How to recognise chords by ear

If you want to play backup fiddle, or to improvise over a song, it is essential that you are able to recognise the chord changes by ear. In this video I first suggest how a key, a scale, an arpeggio and a chord are all related, and how you can use this knowledge to work out the key of a song. I talk about the difference between major and minor chords, and how a single scale can be used to construct a series of both types of chord. I then show how you can recognise the IV and V chords by counting the steps up or down from 1. Finally, I look at a couple of Hank Williams songs to illustrate this movement. This video is aimed at fiddle players but should also be of interest to other musicians. A free pdf of the plan and sheet music for this lesson is available to subscribers (see below).