Learning Keys?

[J.A.]

Hello, I haven't posted here in awhile, but then again, until recently I haven't been practicing much. How did everyone learn all of the keys? I can play easily in a (very) few. Like C (of course), G, and D and that's about it. Is there any way to apply the CAGE system (I'm pretty fuzzy on the concept). I haven't found a teacher yet in my new city, so I fogured that I would ask you guys, since I'm sure a bunch of you have successfully tackled this issue.

[Phil W]

I didn't learn that way but I took a lesson from Lynne Davis who recommends:

 

1 Learn a key a day/week

 

2 Work round the cycle of fourths/fifths to learn them study and learn the cycle too

 

3 Learn the 'rhythmic' pattern of each key e.g. C major say

C D E F G A B C

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F major say

F G A Bb C D E F

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Adding a flat at a time until you get to the key of Cb, then back to C and adding a sharp at a time until you get to the key of C#.

 

4 Make flashcards for each key and test yourself e.g. the cards might say root; 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th and when you pick a card you have to say the name of the note in the key you are studying. e.g. you are studying F# major what is the 13th? What is the 9th? etc.

 

5 Play the major scale and sing the names of the notes along

 

6 Play all the modes of each key that you are learning both as scales and as arpeggios

 

7 Improvise in the given key (singing note names or intervals)

[Phil W]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths

[Phil W]

Keys mnemonic

 

http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mne/1299musi.htm

[1111000]

Do you play any jazz...? Really, just get into some modal jazz pieces and, as long as you keep just a select few pieces of theory in mind, like how the Dorian mode relates to Ionian, as well as Mixo to Ionian... (II to I, and V to I), you'll be fine. Having this in mind is all you need to start out on a jazz piece.

 

Here are some songs that are all in roughly the same modal pattern:

 

So What

Impressions

Little Sunflower

 

...Which work in D Dorian (C Ionian) to Eb Dorian (Db Ionian) "B sections" and back to the D Dorian again, although little Sunflower also uses the Ionian on the D and Eb for half of the "B section".

 

For me, learning to walk using modal theory was the absolute best way to learn keys, because it allows you to grasp as much as you can at a time without getting overwhelmed. The Modes never stop teaching you new things.

[Phil W]

Oh and learn keyboards at the same time as keys are far more visual.

 

And (the way I learned) learn the pattern of intervals in the major scale - Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone and apply that pattern to all keys.

[Robitaille59]

This is probably just repeating what everyone else said but basically I first memorized the circle of fifths and then circle of fourths (the same thing only going couter clockwise it's the circle of fourths).

 

To simplify things I only learned 12 keys, I left out C# and Cb and figured I'd just use B and Db. So now I have a little system where if the root note is natural then there are only sharps and if the root note has an accidental then there are only flats.

 

Make sense? The only exception is C and F so if you take our C and F (which are easy to just memorize) you now have 10 keys to learn and this way you'll start to see a pattern:

 

G has only one accidental and it's F

Gb flat has only one natural at it's F

So once you learn G you'll know Gb. (I think of Gb as the opposite of G if you line them up it looks like:

 

G A B C D E F# G

Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb

 

the same thing with D and Db, E and Eb, A and Ab, B and Bb.

 

learn the one that has the fewest accidentals first and then know the "opposite" key.

 

I also made flash cards to help reinforce this stuff. Hope it helps.