[Ferlas Soram]

I can't play piano, and I feel that it would really help me if I could hear these chords that they're playing. Any help?

 

[jazzcat58]

I can't play piano, and I feel that it would really help me if I could hear these chords that they're playing. Any help?

How about, listening to the sound of major, minor,dominant chords!,ie if you had a song sheet with chords on it, as you follow the song listen to the sound of the chord,you will get the sound in your ears, those three chords alone are different in sound but it would help you a lot to recognise
the harmony.
You need to do this often for instance take the A train has a major chord to start with,this should help..

 

[JL]

Listen to recordings of tunes that you can find the chords to. That can help. But if you really want to hear exactly what each specific chord sounds like, get a cheap electric piano and work them out yourself. You don't need to really know how to play the piano, but you do need to know the keyboard, which is pretty easy to figure out. The white keys are the C major scale and black keys are flats and sharps, so once you know where C is on the piano, you can find all the other notes. Then just play the chords and listen to what you hear. It might take you a while to figure that part out, but it will prove invaluable. Everyone who wants to improvise on any instrument would be well-advised to learn at least enough piano to plunk out some chords!

 

[Pete Thomas]

I second what JL said, if you are serious about learning theory, you will have to be able to "use" a keyboard. No need to actually "play the piano".

 

[jlima]

I suggest using Band-in-a-Box. You just type in the chords you want, select and appropriate kind of track, and listen to the result. I use it all the time for practicing.

 

[SaxTMan]

I suggest using Band-in-a-Box. You just type in the chords you want, select and appropriate kind of track, and listen to the result. I use it all the time for practicing.

It's a OK solution. But really is way more 'Hear Opening' to really play the chord progression... trying different voicings and other kind of approaches.