Hi Buddy ... allthumbs' advice is good. Work your way out from the chords.
Unless it's some kind of way out there tune, most of the chords used will be related chords -- chords from the key. There are three majors (I-IV-V) three minors (ii-iii-iv) and the rarely used vii (the half diminished). So, the first thing to do is establish the key, which is kind of like saying 'find the I chord'. Once you do that you've started to zero in on the possibilities.
You'll find that if the chord isn't one of the related chord, it's probably a majorized minor or a minorized major. That's the first place to look for any outsiders. The lessons I post here are full of them and I always point them out in the commentary. You start to hear them after a while ... if it's not one them either, listen first to the bass note. Assume it's a root to begin with, so experiment with other flavors using the bass note as root ... if it's still not fitting the bill then assume the bass note is the 3 of the chord ... chords like G/B or D/F# or Am/G ... if it's a passing chord, look at diminished and augmented ...
I hope this helps ...
|