The ability to play in every key is essential for all musicians. From the complete beginner, to the serious music student, all the way to the seasoned professional…
And it’s especially important for musicians that are striving to get to the next level with the nuts and bolts of jazz improvisation.
However, attaining freedom in all keys with every single aspect of music can often seem like a chore, even an insurmountable task. But if you have the right approach, it’s a goal that’s easily within your reach.
The good news is that unlike the more vague aspects of jazz improvisation, the elements of music theory are cut and dry – if you put in the practice, you’ll see the results.
Any musician, regardless of their ears or experience, can build a foundation in all keys. Think about the process of mastering keys like the “homework” that you have to do if you’re serious about improving.
If you’ve found yourself continually avoiding the “hard keys” or playing it safe by practicing tunes and language in only one key, it’s time to unlock your musical potential.
In today’s lesson we’re going to show you a method for effectively practicing jazz improvisation in every key, focusing on essential elements like:
- Scales & modes
- Intervals
- Melodic patterns & simple melodies
- Chord & progressions
- Tunes
- Jazz Language
Let’s get started…
How many keys are there??
Before you start practicing scales, before you transpose your favorite lines, and before you learn tunes in different keys, you need to figure out one thing…
You need to know exactly how many keys to practice. Is it twelve keys…twenty-four with relative minors…more??
Rather than guessing or relying on random practice to cover your bases, it helps to have a mental framework in place – a plan of action for approaching the elements of improvisation in every key.
To begin, let’s take a look at the “rules” of music theory for a moment, starting with the circle of 5ths…
At the top you’ll find C Major (no sharps or flats). If you move to the right you ascend in 5ths, adding a sharp (#) to the key signature with each key. And to the left you ascend in 4ths, adding a flat (b) with each key.
You can add up to 7 sharps (#) in the key signature on the sharp side and up to 7 flats (b) on the flat side, arriving at C# and Cb Major respectively:
Counting the key of C, this gives you 15 major keys to master. Within these fifteen keys there are 3 enharmonic keys – keys with the same pitches and fingerings, but different names.
These keys are B/Cb – F#/Gb – C#/Db. Although they sound exactly the same, they are different keys that you should be familiar with. (This will become important later on when you begin transposing chord progressions and learning tunes in new keys).
Finally, for every major key that you learn, there is a relative minor key:
Altogether, that’s 15 major keys and 15 relative minor keys. This can seem like a lot of information to absorb, but the good news is that once you learn it, you’ll have it forever.
Remember – the number of keys that you need to learn will always be the same. A month from now, a year from now, or in 5 years… The sooner you ingrain them, the easier it’ll be.
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