Sax on the Web Forum banner

Why practice in all keys pays off

1K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  Tryptykon 
#1 ·
Sometimes I post on a thread, that seems to disappear, so here is a "rerun" I felt was relevant on the topic of why should we practice exercises in all keys. The original post used Steves Neff's ii-v-i books as an example:

I had a gig tonight that fully demonstrated the need for practicing in obscure keys.

In my line of music, requests often feed the tip jar, so tonight someone wanted to hear "Fever" (old pop-blues tune). It's fairly simple, so without any charts we quickly found lyrics on a cell phone & jumped in... suddenly our guitarist decided to modulate up a half step... several times! It made for a great tune, but I would have been in so much trouble if I had taken short cuts with Steve Neff's books!

Then, later in the gig, the same thing happened with "Mac the Knife!" Multiple Modulations!

Thanks Steve for providing us the tools to navigate the unexpected!
 
#2 ·
Practicing in all keys is most import for me because harmonic relationships ala patterns in intervals are based on moving in and out of the key you are in.

If you're going to play a lick or pattern that goes up in half steps or minor thirds or whatever you need to be totally aware of what your notes need to be in order to get through it. And that only comes from a strong understanding of the 12 basic scales and modes.
 
#3 ·
Absolutely one of the best things you can practice. You can get a lot of practical application of it by sitting in or gigging with different groups since they frequently change keys - especially with singers, who have a way of needing to change the key a lot. Doing the 'circle of 5ths' in all keys is a great way to start a practice session.
 
#4 ·
Sometimes I post on a thread, that seems to disappear, so here is a "rerun" I felt was relevant on the topic of why should we practice exercises in all keys. The original post used Steves Neff's ii-v-i books as an example:

I had a gig tonight that fully demonstrated the need for practicing in obscure keys.

In my line of music, requests often feed the tip jar, so tonight someone wanted to hear "Fever" (old pop-blues tune). It's fairly simple, so without any charts we quickly found lyrics on a cell phone & jumped in... suddenly our guitarist decided to modulate up a half step... several times! It made for a great tune, but I would have been in so much trouble if I had taken short cuts with Steve Neff's books!

Then, later in the gig, the same thing happened with "Mac the Knife!" Multiple Modulations!

Thanks Steve for providing us the tools to navigate the unexpected!
It's common for "Mack the Knife" to modulate in half steps 1-3 times (Though Weill didn't write it that way).

Fever? Your guitarist is a jerk who was showing off. He should have at least told you what he was going to do. I've worked with a few people like that. They were all guitarists who (for good reason) usually worked as solo acts.

But yeah, unless you will always lead your own band, it's good to practice in all keys.
 
#5 ·
I always play ideas in all keys and that has helped my ear so much that I can hear just a few bars of a progression and know the key right away. I like to play material on different instruments to keep the transposition of keys moving between C, Bb and Eb instruments.
 
#6 ·
To put it simply it opens up the horn .

The more fluent in all keys you are the less the instrument itself is there and you can focus more on the music.

I think [one] of the major reasons learning clarinet before saxophone was encouraged was that you are forced
into dealing with the [virtual] fingerings from ALL 12 keys (so to speak) on saxophone when you play the clarinet.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top