Chords Have Families

Day 1 | 20 to 30 minutes

Hear the surprise before naming it

Focus: meet J. D. Crowe, Tony Rice, and the sound of Rounder 0044.

• Learn a little about J. D. Crowe, Tony Rice, and why J. D. Crowe & The New South, commonly called Rounder 0044, became such an influential bluegrass album.
• Listen to The Old Home Place once as a complete performance. Notice the singing, ensemble balance, rhythm, and emotional shape.
• Listen again with your attention fixed on the chord progression. Let the familiar parts feel familiar.
• When a chord makes your ear say, "What was that?", mark the lyric or timestamp. Do not identify the chord yet.

• Story day: J. D. Crowe, Tony Rice, Rounder 0044.

Why wait to name it?: If you label the chord immediately, you may remember a fact without developing recognition. Today's work is to notice harmonic surprise as an experience first.

• The Old Home PlaceJ. D. Crowe & The New South, 1975A search, not one recording: the master is on a label, and the copies on video sites come and go. Tony Rice sings it, and the album, J. D. Crowe & The New South, is known by its catalog number, Rounder 0044.Listenhttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=J.+D.+Crowe+New+South+The+Old+Home+Place
• The Old Home PlaceThe Dillards, 1963A search, not one recording: the 1963 original. Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne of the Dillards wrote the song.Listenhttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Dillards+The+Old+Home+Place+1963

• End-of-day check: I can locate the surprising harmonic moment in the recording without naming or playing it.

Day 2 | 30 to 35 minutes

Find the outside chord by ear

Focus: use the familiar family to expose the chord that does not belong.

• Determine the key of the recording or version you are studying. Find home on the mandolin, then identify I, IV, and V.
• Play along using only those familiar functions until the surprising moment arrives. Pause immediately.
• Test the diatonic minor candidates: ii, iii, and vi. Listen to why none produces the color you heard.
• In the commonly played G framework, test B major. Compare it directly with B minor and confirm which one matches the recorded pull.

• I, IV, V, and one that is not: stop, test, listen.

The family in G: I is G, ii is Am, iii is Bm, IV is C, V is D, vi is Em, and vii diminished is F sharp diminished. B major is not in that diatonic family, and that is why your ear notices it.

The chord chartEvery shape on one page, with the notes in each shape named beside it, once your ear has found the functions.mandolintrainer.com/chords/

B, the outsiderB major, with its notes named under the grid.mandolintrainer.com/chords/b/

Bm, the family memberB minor, the iii chord in G, to compare with B major by ear.mandolintrainer.com/chords/bm/

• End-of-day check: I can establish I, IV, and V, locate the surprise, and distinguish B major from B minor by ear.

Day 3 | 30 minutes

Change one note: iii minor to III major

Focus: isolate the chromatic pitch that changes the entire harmonic color.

• Play the G major chord family slowly. When you reach iii, play B, D, F sharp: B minor.
• Raise only D to D sharp: B, D sharp, F sharp. You have changed iii minor into III major.
• Alternate G to Bm and G to B. Keep tempo, voicing, and attack as consistent as possible so the third is the only meaningful variable.
• Sing D, then D sharp, against the B chord. Describe the difference as color and direction rather than only as "minor" and "major."

• Bm, D to D sharp, B major.

One note changed: B minor belongs to G major. B major introduces D sharp, a chromatic note outside the key. The new chord is not random. Its altered third creates a strong expectation about what should happen next.

Bm: B, D, F sharpThe iii chord, with D as its third.mandolintrainer.com/chords/bm/

B: B, D sharp, F sharpThe same chord with only D raised to D sharp.mandolintrainer.com/chords/b/

• End-of-day check: I can build Bm and B major, sing the changed third, and recognize the III major color instantly.

Day 4 | 30 to 35 minutes

Hear III pull toward vi

Focus: find the single moving voice inside the chord progression.

• Play B major to E minor several times. Let the E minor chord settle fully before repeating.
• Extract only the motion D sharp to E. Sing it, play it in two locations, and hear E as the destination.
• Compare B to Em with Bm to Em. The first has a stronger leading motion because D sharp sits one half step below E.
• Name the function after hearing it: B major acts as V of Em, a secondary dominant relationship. For now, remember the practical rule: III pulls toward vi.

• B to Em: D sharp rises to E.

Harmony is made of voices: The whole chord seems to move because an individual note inside it points toward the next harmony. D sharp to E turns note-level tension into chord-level direction.

B, the III chordD sharp is its third, the note that leans up.mandolintrainer.com/chords/b/

Em, the vi chordE is its root, the note D sharp arrives on.mandolintrainer.com/chords/em/

• End-of-day check: I can hear, sing, and play the leading motion inside III to vi.

Day 5 | 30 to 40 minutes

Chop the function, not the shape

Focus: turn the progression into an audible road map.

• Write the chord progression for the version you are studying. Put the Roman numeral above every chord before you begin playing.
• Chop through the song without singing or playing melody. Keep time, recover without stopping, and feel the form.
• Call the functions silently as they arrive: I, III, IV, V, vi, and any others in your chosen chart.
• On the next pass, close or avert your eyes. When III arrives, recognize the color before checking the mandolin shape.

• I, III, vi, IV, V, I.

Hear "that sound": The goal is hearing where the harmony is going, and faster chord grabbing is beside the point. A shape is local to the instrument, and function transfers to every key.

The chord chartThe whole G family on one page, plus B major, with the notes in each shape named beside it.mandolintrainer.com/chords/

• End-of-day check: I can chop the progression in time, call its functions, and anticipate the III chord by sound.

Day 6 | 30 to 40 minutes

Hear melody change under a new chord

Focus: a note gains meaning from the harmony beneath it.

• Learn one verse melody by ear using the established sequence: listen, sing, find, verify.
• Mark the notes that occur over the III major chord. Identify each as a chord tone, passing tone, approach note, or suspension if you can.
• Hold one melody note while alternating B major and B minor beneath it. Notice how the same pitch changes function and emotional weight.
• Play the verse with a simple backing track or recorded rhythm. Keep the melody stable while listening underneath it for the III to vi motion.

• Melody note plus current chord equals meaning.

Melody is relational: A note does not carry its full emotional meaning alone. Its stability, color, and direction depend on the harmony sounding at that moment.

• End-of-day check: I can sing and play a verse while hearing how the III chord reframes its important melody notes.

Day 7 | 30 to 40 minutes

Compare two routes to E minor

Focus: make one chromatic note reveal the whole harmonic mechanism.

• Play G to B to Em slowly. Sustain every chord and sing D sharp to E inside the final change.
• Now play G to Bm to Em. Compare the color and the strength of the arrival.
• Chop one full song pass, then sing and play the verse melody. Keep the III major sound in your attention.
• Finish by playing the progression in another key. Find III and vi by function, not by copying the G-position shapes.

• G, B, Em against G, Bm, Em.

Old Home Place whoa: D becoming D sharp turns diatonic iii minor into chromatic III major and creates a powerful route toward vi. One note changes the chord, and the changed chord redirects the whole phrase.

Bach, week 9: Chords Have FamiliesThe Bach track for this week, on the Air from BWV 1068: the voice-leading side of the bridge, and the super-exercise loop run as that week's experiment.mandolintrainer.com/workbooks/bach/week-9/

• End-of-day check: I can explain and demonstrate why G, B, Em pulls more strongly than G, Bm, Em.