I'm Tim. I've been on the site a long time. I'm a self taught keyboard/pianist/aspiring organist who just started learning theory. I bought Jermaine Griggs series which has been real good for me. Question is: I understand the theory behind progressions....Now...when you are picking up songs from CDs...how do you determine whether the chords are 7th, 9th, 11th, or 13th? This always confuses me because if I played the song using triads (which I've done for 11 of my now 14 years of playing), I have no problem. I could use help here. How do I recognize the occasional substitution? I may figure out the chord progression is a 7-3-6, but then here come the substitutions and I'm lost.
What's the tricks to picking up the big chords by ear? Recognizing the substitution? and then......knowing what type of chord to play on each tone of the scale. E.G. I always thought the one chord was major....but then sometimes it's a dominant chord? HELP!!!
