As ear-training software, TruEar is unique in that it presents the chords in their true context - in an actual song. As the song is played with melody and accompaniment, the student identifies the appropriate chord from the chord bank using the mouse, or by playing it on a MIDI keyboard or guitar controller. Students who wish to practice the melody only can use TruEar to provide background - this is much more fun than playing with a metronome!

These styles are designed to not only provide appropriate accompaniment but especially to teach playing techniques of chord patterns for piano or guitar. In addition, the student can audition a particular pattern in the context of a particular song or key before investing the time to learn it.

The guitar accompaniment uses notes in the actual shape of the guitar chord - for example, the D chord is a 4 note chord, while the G chord is a 6 note chord. The student can select pick patterns (plucking single or multiple notes) using the p,i,m,a notation in patterns of quarter notes, eight notes, or mixed rhythm. Strums can also be selected, and two guitars can be used. Fills and lead-in runs can be selected. A fretboard with the current chord is shown on the screen.

For the piano patterns, the student can select left hand patterns from simple root-third-fifth to more advanced patterns which include color tones like the 9th.

Students are not confined to the chordal arrangements provided with each song. They can choose to add or delete chords as desired, and to generate accompaniments for those new arrangements. In the Gold edition, they can import melodies from MIDI files and arrange them also. All arrangements can be saved as standard MIDI files.

The songs used are public domain hymns which have stood the test of time and range from simple 3-chord songs to more complex pieces.

The demo version only plays in the key of C (Am).