WATCH MY FREE EAR TRAINING VIDEO SERIES:: www.TheMusicalEar.com Download my free LIBRARY MUSIC BUNDLE at: TheMusicalEar.leadpages.co/julian-bradley-music-library/ EAR TRAINING LESSON NOTES: Most musicians never learn to play music by ear. Not because they lack passion or don't practice, but simply because they practice things the wrong way. It's the norm these days to tell music students to 'practice in all 12 keys'. However, playing in all 12 keys too early on just causes confusion. Most songs actually use the same few notes and chords, the only thing changing is usually the key. So it's virtually impossible to spot the recurring patterns while you're playing every piece in a different key. Attempting to play in all 12 keys is like trying to learn 12 languages at once. And I believe that it's better for a musician to master one key, than to remain equally unaware in all 12 keys. The other benefit to restricting playing to one key, is that it teaches you to paly music by ear. All of the time you're playing in one key, every note and chord sounds the same each time you play it. C always sounds like the root, D like the 2nd, E like the 3rd, etc. But if you then change key, suddenly each note takes on a new sound (a new 'tonal color') in the context of the new key. A note can take on 12 different colors, depending on which of the 12 keys it's played in. Ultimately your brain doesn't know which color to trust, so each new key you play in undoes the memories that had been building up from the previous key. Each note is just a muddy mix of memories - none of which stick: C sometimes sounds like the root, sometimes like the minor 3rd, sometimes like the 5th, sometimes like the major 6th, etc. But when you restrict your playing to one key, your memory of these sounds builds up naturally, unconsciously, without you having to give any conscious thought to what you're doing. After a while you'll notice that you 'just know' that that note is the root, or the major 3rd, or the minor 7th of the key. And the same for chords too. FIXED KEY LEARNING Instead of trying to build up your knowledge of all 12 keys, in slow motion, I suggest you double down on one key. Build your knowledge of that one key. Live and breath that one key. Dream about that one key. Listen to all music as though it's in that one key, and imagine that no other key exists. I suggest you stick mostly to one key for 6 - 12 months. If you enjoy the lesson I'd really appreciate a thumbs up. And please share this video with another musician who could also benefit from this information. Copyright 2015 Julian Bradley

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