-hey Adam -yes -do you like practicing in all keys -I do -oh okay good so this
should be an easy and fun episode -I've heard that before
-I'm Adam Maness -and I'm Peter Martin
-you're listening to the you'll hear at podcast -daily music advice
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look at that practice in all 12 keys that's what we're talking about -take it up
buddy take take it up
yeah so we talked a lot about practicing all 12 keys you might say that we yeah
yeah we talked about a lot we maybe talk about too much but we talk about a lot
because it's so important to your development as a musician -yes we maybe
don't talk up we talk a lot about the importance of it and how it can help you
develop we maybe haven't practiced we haven't talked enough about how to
actually apply this to your practice -yeah but it's great because we've had
some suggestions from some of our users like and one of them you took to heart
like we had that suggestion from the guy that was like just do a key a week and
then every week you change keys and no matter what you're working on be that a
lick or a solo or tune or tunes you're just working on them in whatever key and
then after 12 weeks you cycle background -It's like the quarter system -I think the idea that
you are working on right now I think this might be one of the last days -yeah
we just finished it -okay oh yeah that's right so it was your January 30 day
challenge -yes -right and you practiced something every day in 12 keys -yes that
was the only kind of parameters for it was that we would well it's funny cause
it started it was just sort of a personal thing I was like I'm gonna
practice something for 30 days I love these 30-day challenges and -let's do it
let's do an episode on our 30-day challenges in a couple days but go
ahead -yeah yeah cuz you've got a fun one coming up -I do yeah yeah yeah
-but yeah it's just it's just a matter of doing something that you know practicing
and all 12 keys is something I did but I never like dedicated an actual part of
my practice every day to do it so if you're gonna do that you can't make it
like okay I'm gonna practice you know a 10 chorus transcription every day in all
keys you're not gonna have time for that or it would take over your
whole practice so it has to be the kind of small things and what I did was and
then I started sharing it and then I kind of felt responsible cuz people were
like oh I'm following you I want to do the same thing so I wanted to put stuff
out there that was challenging but doable so Sunday's it got kind of crazy
like we did like the you know you know the first eight bars of giant steps with
the chords and stuff that was probably the harder ones -yeah -we did
crazyology just the first eight bars that one was that what tripped up some
folks you know -for sure -but the the idea about it was yeah take anything oh we
did some voicings sometimes you know you know just to get around the keyboard and
then identify those areas that are more challenging and like we talked about a
lot of times with practice it's not about going through the ones the things
that are comfortable for you and that are that are easy and that are already
in your hands it's like what I was finding when I practice things in all
keys no matter what the challenges were there was like two or three keys
sometimes one key that would trip me up and usually it was more like a lot of
this stuff I can kind of hear in different keys pretty well but there be
some fingering issues would come up and so I'd really kind of worked those out
and it was amazing after 30 days how much more comfortable I was sort of
getting around those keys -yeah -that we're really providing those kind of
challenges -yeah that's great all right well let's talk about some
actionable things that you can put into play when you practice to help you hit
these keys the first thing that I think of is I know that you like to practice
twelve keys a lot of times chromatically -right -I like to mostly practice them
in the circle of fourths -yeah I was doin some but I've been I've been
coming around to that too I like that as well -but I'm coming around to the
chromatic thing because I think -maybe we'll meet in the middle -well I think both have
advantages the thing with the circle of fourths is it's a great way to get through
to focus on sort of hard keys at one time but most people are starting their
practice like if we're out if I'm practicing scales I'll start on C yeah
don't do that don't -especially if you're practicing the circle of fourths try
starting on D flat -yeah
because the next key is G flat and then the next key is B -right -and then the
next key is E now those are four of the hardest keys for sure but even A after that but
that way you're not front-loading easy keys like C F B- flat E-flat A-flat -right I love it -keys that all
jazz musicians play in all the time start all your practice sessions
especially technique practice or whatever you are working on that you're
going through all 12 keys and you can in one session start it on D flat and work
up in fourths that way you always hit those hard keys first -that's right it in
case you get distracted or something you -or you start tripping up -yeah -right -yeah
yeah so you're gonna have to and then by the time your mind is kind of about to
explode you're getting to some stuff that you can kind of drift through a
little bit easier -that's right -as opposed the opposite I love that um I think it's
also good and part of the reason even for stuff like this that it's good to do
it in fourths is the challenges that I was telling you about what that was talking
about with fingerings like that builds in a better progression of fingering so
if I go that's a D flat
like that's the you know the main challenge I know what the notes are
that's pretty easy to do but to get the finger is so different where does if I
go up to G flat and actually that's got a challenge too but the fingering is
closer -right -than moving up chromatic -that's right -and you definitely see that
with your scales you'll see that with you know anything that's kind of based
upon sort of diatonic melodies or moving around the tonic in that kind of way
if you move through the fourths your fingers will make more sense -yeah well
sometimes though if you choose to move chromatically you can kind of get this
rhythm of easy hard easy easy -yeah -hard you know what I mean like you have this more
natural flow I like fourths too for practicing things like voicings like if
I'm going through a certain tune or something I like to practice that tune
and forths with the voicings because I'm usually guaranteed to do different
inversions that way -right -and I don't I'm not just moving my voicings up
chromatically as a shape it actually makes me have to think harder
about what I'm doing which is what I want to do when I practice I want to I
want to be kind of thrown off a little bit so that I have to figure it out -yeah
and I think that by that same token if you take a voicing like this just kind
of fourth with the major third on top you know two three voicing that's very easy to play -right then you're not learning anything -but if you do it that's more challenging moving in fourths
-like if you're not familiar already have to be like okay that's the 13 that's
that you know what I mean -yeah -so that is the kind of work that needs to be
done in the practice room -yeah -and it gives you different places like or even
if you did like whole steps even though you'd have to come back around and move
it a half step at some point so you take that same voicing and you move it down in whole steps like you get here then you move up to A flat minor
it gives you a different perspective on these beyond just the chromatic and really you want to have
all those different perspective because you're gonna have chances to use those
and remember too your especially for voicings like this two-handed voicings
but but almost anything outside of maybe scales I don't know that you would
practice in 12 keys it's as much of a technical challenge like I'm talking
about with the fingers but also like with this like getting your hand into
position so you can move those things around in a way that you know your hand
gets used to the spacing and stuff so it's it's it's kind of an ear thing I
think and and that's why I recommend when you're doing stuff like melodies
however you go to the next key if you go up a whole-step don't think about
I'm going up a whole-step I try to get that next key and hear it (scatting) where's that major seven -that's important
try to hear it before you see it -exactly or even feel it and then you have to
move through the keys fast enough and I think we did that on the yeah today's
well the one of the final challenges all the crazyology on that melody what I
challenge everyone's like stuff don't think about think about how it sounds
don't think about transposing because you're not gonna have time on a
melody like that so that's B flat first of all you hear in relation to the tonic so
if you do it in G and you can pick something that's kind of unrelated
I try and sing it because you can usually hear it by singing it a lot
better than you can just by thinking about the notes like I'm on the 3rd I'm
on the 4th but then just sort of charge right through it you're gonna make some
mistakes go back and catch them identify those keys as we talked about that are
more difficult and really hone in on those and it's amazing how this can
develop your ears your technical things -it happens real fast -and your ability to play in these other
keys -yeah this is the fastest way to do that and you know as we're talking about
this I I just think you may be the most important factor for for doing this is
that we committing to the mindset of doing it -yeah -so that anytime that you
discover something new whether that's a new lick that you have the the
wherewithal to start transposing it as soon as you have it in your fingers like
really or just as soon as you hear someone else play it ya know but that
idea of like ok I have this new thing and before I get all excited and just
play it in a B flat blues for 30 minutes right you know what I mean which is fun
let me take this through all 12 keys -yeah -because you're really gonna learn more
that way and you're really gonna lock that lick in more that way -and then you
know some of the most challenging things with this you can you can overlook but
if you think about like from our episode the other day about the bluesy double
stops if you think about -It was one of our best -you know
once we got to take 29 it was no but you know like things that are
very comfortable and feel good in certain keys like you got to really
force yourself so if you talk about so that's F you know -yeah but can you
-I mean that's hard that's a little easier I like your idea of starting on D
flat and going let's start with the hard ones like those probably sound good
but I can say the way they feel they don't feel comfortable to me so that
means I know that I just need to go through that repeat them because then I
have a chance when I'm playing or even over F blues you know to kind of
spice it up with a little bit of chromatic -you can do that -yeah why should I
not be able to do that just because it doesn't feel comfortable in my hands you
know because normally it's like we'd go to is that something that it's like
comfortable over that key and that's fine but maybe you hear it -got to be
able to do it -got to be able to do it -got to be able to do it it's really you know
we talked about the superiority of jazz musicians and we are better than most
-why are you getting so quiet about it -because I feel a little embarrassed to be honest no but one of the
but one of the things I think that makes you know the masters of our music so great is that
they're able to do that kind of stuff -yeah- you know what I mean -yeah -and it's
just part of the tradition of the music that we're we have that kind of
musicianship here -yeah you know what I like in it to is you know you've been
around a great conductor that could look at -No -oh oh we're gonna have to do a
seven best conductors now that's -brilliant conductors -no they can look at a score a
full score full orchestral score and just sit down and reduce it and play it
in real time -yeah it's incredible -almost transpose I mean it's
it's amazing -yeah transposing the horns and all that stuff -but that's part of
the gig and so like this is really part of the gig especially as pianists -yep
-yeah -cool man well this was really fun and hey if you want to see Peters 30 day
challenge where he was doing all of this practice on all 12 keys go to the hey
open studio Instagram account find us on instagram hey open studio is our handle -and
actually by the time this is on I think we're gonna have it on YouTube we're
gonna put them all together as one -are we really -on the open studio youtube page -oh that's exciting
know each day I mean they're super informal I was like in the lobby when we
were in New Orleans doing them you know kicking the little kids off the piano
-well if we have that ready Alex put a note to link to that YouTube video here
in the desperation -yeah that's right it's not up by today we'll be within the next
couple days -but also another good reason to go to our hey open studio account is
that I'm starting a 30 day challenge well talk about that more -February 1st right
-February 1st that's already going on -drop to 30 days -drop and give me two
that's so much easier than the bootcamp -anybody can do that I feel like all right
-hey man we're feeling it big guy -we're back on track let's back on track
I think this chocolate where did you this chocolate from -that's gonna be another
hopefully sponsor -who is it -I don't know I purchased it at a small boutique I
have a relationship with called Whole Foods Market -oh -that's very good it's pure
and until tomorrow -you'll hear it