Ear Training - Root Movement Cheat Sheet

Making Predictions the Easy Way

Memorize the following table – or make some flash cards using this information – for easy recall of the implied Roman numeral and figured bass analysis that we can predict from examining the movement of the bass notes in harmonic dictation.

Bass Notes	Likely Chord Pattern
do, re, mi	I-V6/4-I6 OR I-V4/3 OR I-viio6-I6
do, re, sol	I-ii-V
do, mi, fa	I-I6-IV
do, mi, sol	I-I6-V
do, fa, re	I-IV-ii
do, fa, mi	I-IV-I6
do, fa, sol	I-IV-V OR I-vi-ii6
do, sol, la	I-V-vi
do, la, fa	I-vi-IV OR I-vi-ii6
do, ti, do	I-V6/5-I OR I-V6-I

What to take away from this:

Root movement is cardinal to identifying chord progressions. Even if you usually listen “melodically” to music, try focusing your listening on basslines this week.

Take the bassline challenge!

When you listen to pop and rock music, turn up the bass and try to sing along with the bassline using solfege. You will quickly start to identify common chord progressions in context.