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You are here: Home / Jazz Lessons / Ear Training / Developing Relative Pitch-Hearing the Key
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Developing Relative Pitch-Hearing the Key

$9.99

SKU: 106 Category: Ear Training Tags: ear training, hearing, intervals, jazz improvisation, video lesson
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Description

Learning to play by ear is one of the most important aspects to jazz improvisation.  When I was a young student in junior high school, I was taught from a few great method books.  The main books I worked out of were the Charlie Parker Omnibook and Patterns for Jazz by Jerry Coker.   For  a couple of years all I did was work out of these books but there was a missing ingredient………………I wasn’t learning to play by ear!  Everything I learned was from a book.  Luckily, during this time, I discovered the local library.  I would go there every Saturday and checkout a bunch of jazz albums.  I would go home and listen to them in awe of what I was hearing.  I wanted to play like that!  Somehow  my books didn’t seem like they were taking me there.  There was one album specifically that was a breakthrough for me.  It was Dave Sanborn’s album “Voyeur”.  I got it home and put it on and was amazed.  I had never heard an alto saxophone sound so cool and funky.  I remember taking my sax out and trying to play with the recording.  I must have played to that album at least 1000 times in that week.

The big moment came when I discovered that the notes that fit the song I was playing over fit a blues scale that my teacher had given me. (even though it was 30 years ago, I can still remember that it was the C# blues scale)   It was like a light bulb went off in my head.  I soon discovered that there was a blues scale that fit every song on that album.  I also realized that Dave Sanborn was mostly playing notes from that blues scale.  As I played more and more to music, I realized that this held true to most songs I heard.  Of course, many of the jazz albums had harder changes than a blues scale would fit but the other 90% of music I heard was perfect for the blues scale.

It was during this time,that I learned how to hear what key a song was in.  I was playing by ear.  I didn’t realize it then, and didn’t know if songs were major or minor.  All I realized was that for each song, there was a blues scale that fit the best.  Later in my development, I learned about major,minor and dominant tonalities.  Thanks to my early work with those blues scales it was easy for me to figure out those sounds and keys when I played with a song.

It was also during this time that I developed a blues scale vocabulary.  Practicing a scale from a page of music will only get you so far.  Hearing the blues scale played by a legend and copying that legends best ideas is a totally different learning experience.  You are learning from that persons learning.  All the years they have spent studying and perfecting their playing  is summed up in the choices they make on  that album.  When you copy their best ideas then you are learning from there learning…………much better than starting from scratch!

In this lesson on relative pitch, I take what we’ve worked on so far and apply it to figuring out the keys of a tune.  I demonstrate how to use your saxophone to figure out what key the song is in and give you many helpful hints. I take you through how you can use the Aebersold play alongs to practice this skill, hear the key of a song, play by ear and also to test yourself.  I take you through  many major and minor tonalities and show you how to start working on hearing the key yourself.  Hearing the key of a song is a fundamental building block to playing by ear.  Playing by ear, is of course what jazz improvisation is all about………..Enjoy! (29 Minute Video & Audio)

 

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Lesson Sample

https://public.neffmusic.com/Developing%20Relative%20Pitch-Hearing%20the%20Key%20clip.mp4

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Hi Steve, I have been shedding your materials for quite a while now and I love them! They are extremely well organized and presented and there are tons of ’em! I really appreciate your methodical approach and find myself referring students to your resources often.  Thanks so much!  
Kenyon Carter
Steve- I joined your site this month and have downloaded 4 lessons and also purchased your new book and video on diatonic patterns. I just want to say I am very pleased with your approach and teaching techniques. I am getting back into playing after laying off for some time. The information you offer on your site is of great value and I am enjoying being a member. Thank you for what you are doing for the saxophone community.
Tony

Steve, just a note to say thanks.

I’ve been playing a long time, but your material, laid out in such a thoughtful way, helps me to understand concepts in a new and deeper way.

You are a true gift to the jazz community.

60 lessons and going strong,

Kevin Ledbetter

Kevin Ledbetter

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin
Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony
I want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc

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