How to Practice in ALL Keys | You'll Hear It

It's important to be able to play in ALL keys... Can You? Because if you can't, you need to practice... here are the tips you need from Peter Martin and Adam Maness

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[jackwilloughby]

One thing I've learned from both Bach and Beethoven is when you do something, also do it in reverse. The unnaturalness of going around the circle of 4ths backwards helps cement things in your mind/brain. Going up Chromatically then going back down. Same for thirds, same for both Whole Tones and Diminished. Mon/Thur, Tues/Fri, Wed/Sat. You can practice all 12 keys 6 times in 3 different ways and really Internalize the Tune. Also if you want to play fast, learn something slow in Quarter notes right before bedtime, then first thing in the Morning play it at the same tempo in 8th notes, then 16th notes, then 32 Notes, then drop back to 16th Notes. You'll quadruple your speed in less than 24hrs and the Accuracy will amaze you.

[Digatron]

It's reassuring to know that even you guys struggle with this and that it's often "not comfortable" in certain keys. Sometimes your videos can be basically highlight reels of bad-assness, so it's nice to sometimes go through the struggle with you. Thanks for the amazing content. Back to the shed!

[patrickthames]

The All Key dilemma was correctly explained to me about 20 years ago by a top notch Classical Trombonist. He insisted that all musicians should be able to play in all keys. My reply was that only jazz musicians did that kind of practice and he proceeded to play difficult trombone parts in all keys. This went one for about 30 minutes and I was convinced that all musicians should learn themes and music in all keys by EAR. The reason he gave was that he got tired of reading clef changes during a performance. He could read the clef but for him it was easier to just think in other keys rather than reading the music. This was music that had several modulations and was in the high tessatura for trombone. Good Teaching in your video!

[raybrown]

Adam: 05:20 practice ALL keys in the circle of fourths (anticlockwise), starting from Db. Very good idea Adam.. you certainly are an excellent teacher!
All the best
Ray Brown

[clintjones]

My all keys practice routine that's working well for me is I work 1 major key and its parallel minor for 2 days. I tried plowing through many keys in one sitting, but I didn't retain much that way. Staying in 1 key for a week took too long for me to get through all of them. You kinda have to spend time in a key to get it to settle and get comfortable, but you obviously want to get through them in a reasonable amount of time. This way has been working the best for me. It's kinda fun. You get good at transposing, become more fluent, and you don't dread any keys as being hard anymore.

[alaincolet]

I'm a bass player. Personally I'm learning Autumn leaves in all 12 keys. Mastering all my 2 5 1 major/minor. It helps me a lot to understand the mechanism of each key. Afterwards I'll do the same with Blues for Alice and tunes like Misty n All the things you are. Everytime I'm Learning a new key I'll just write down the progressions tothese tunes just to figure out how they look like in that particular key.

[JaymesLeavitt]

You guys are the best on the internet! I love your show

[michealmaillet]

Love the channel guys! One of the ways I like to practice all 12 keys, aside from circle of 4ths and chromatic is by moving through all of the interval groups. Expanding on the Chromatic method.. So, chromatic, whole tones, minor 3rds, major 3rds etc. It takes a little while in a practice session, but I like what it accomplishes!

[longhaulblue]

One big plus of practising chromatically is its application to playing tunes because it is common to change key a half step up and down.

[jazzerson]

I have a notebook full of concepts, chord voicings and moves. I try to always work on learning them in all 12 keys but I keep discovering too much to have time to practice every concept in 12 keys but for sure it's a huge thing in developing as a musician.

[april]

So inspiring! You guys are such pros!! I can do baby steps in all 12 keys, like the first two measures of something and it hurts my brain! I know you respect Aimee Nolte, so I don't mind mentioning that she has an unedited video of her practicing Misty in all 12 keys that is also inspiring, complete with the parts that are hard for her. Thank you for all you do! And I dig the new pod suite....movin on up ya'll are!!

[tonympirrotta]

You guys are very different from each other, and watching you guys work together and be patient with each other really makes for a good combination. You work and explain things super well when you guys let each other flow. It makes me feel comfortable expressing my knowledge seeing two very different people teach from different perspectives and energy levels.

[tomzheng]

You guys are the best, I cant find a better resource of learning jazz piano than you guys, and i really love your style of playing. Keep on, Openstudio!

[jakemf]

You guys rock-ignore the haters! Free killer content what's to hate

[auhusax]

My fav podcast out there! Keep doing this!!!

[mcrestwood]

circle of fourths in small increments, a line, a scale, working up to longer things like melodies or changes, and slowly, the key to speed is accuracy.metronome is quite helpful, playing on the click then using the click as the high hat on two and four to start with.

[PIANOSTYLE]

20 years ago. Came up with the Bead system..I am sure that it's not new. I drew it out. [ (B E A D) G C F (Bb Eb Ab Db) Gb Cb] Learnable in a minute...this literally has given me anew way to think about things. I started to play in Db and actually it has a beautiful sound in itself. I noticed that a beginner can hit a Ab chord or octatave
base on left hand and just sweep the black keys in any direction. It is be beautiful. The notes are Db Eb Gb Ab Bb. A good thing to do is to use a spiral. notebook. I write out the diatonic 7ths Db Maj7 a the way to Cmin7b5..It helps to make a better player. A good practice is to get some sheet music paper and write out the chords in both treble and cleft. Always can go to Wikipedia or the like and copy their info.

[HelioLagoJr]

Hi Peter and Adam. I'm loving your podcast episodes here on YouTube. Greetings from Brazil.

[JohnHorneGuitar]

Sometimes during the intros, I get a very Jim Halpert/Michael Scott vibe from Adam and Peter.

[polkmusic]

Some great info here. I need to start practicing in all keys.