Piano Guidance
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How do you learn all 12 keys?

The Most Practical Way To Master All 12 Keys Simply put: Take 3 songs you know and learn them in all 12 keys. ... So if a song is in Eb major, you'll attack E major next by literally taking every note in every chord and moving it up a half step. More items...

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I’m often asked the best way to learn all 12 keys and while I’ve advocated many methods in the past, the most practical way is to adapt my “3 x 12” rule. Simply put: Take 3 songs you know and learn them in all 12 keys . It helps if they are songs that utilize a variety of different chords. That’s why picking 3 is important because between them, you should get a good mix of chords off every tone of the scale. And since most songs follow the same patterns, you’d be surprised how few chords you really need to know to play in all 12 keys. Taking 3 different styled songs and learning them in all 12 keys usually gives you plenty. The easiest way is to simply start at the original key of the song and move every note up a half step. So if a song is in Eb major, you’ll attack E major next by literally taking every note in every chord and moving it up a half step. Transposing a song to a new key is no more than moving every note up the appropriate amount of notes. If the next key is a half step up, every note of every chord simply moves a half step up. However, if you’re trying to move to a new key 4 half steps up, then you need to move every note of every chord 4 half steps up. As long as you move the same distance for every note in every chord, the end result will be the same song in a new key.

Exercise:

Move these chords in F major to Gb major.

Hint: Gb major is a half step higher than F major. That means every note is moved up a half step. F major 7: F + A + C + E D minor 7: D + F + A + C G minor 7: G + Bb + D + F C 7: C + E + G + Bb F major 7: F + A + C + E To move this to Gb major, just take every note up a half step, thus giving you the equivalent chords in Gb major: Gb major 7: Gb + Bb + Db + F Eb minor 7: Eb + Gb + Bb + Db Ab minor 7: Ab + Cb + Eb + Gb Db 7: Db + F + Ab + Cb Gb major 7: Gb + Bb + Db + F

Is it hard work in the beginning? Sure it is.

Does it get easier over time? Definitely.

Because songs repeat the same chords and patterns over and over so as you start seeing the same chords and memorizing them in all 12 keys, you need not work out the transposition from scratch each time; rather, you’ll pull from your memory bank.

So make this your next goal: 3 x 12

3 songs in 12 keys.

It seems simple but it’s quite a hard thing to do. If you can master this, you’ll get to pro status in no time.

Until next time —

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With Halloween just around the corner, you have likely been nibbled by the scary soundtracks in horror movies and want to play similar spooky sounds for the terrifying holidays. No matter if you enjoy watching horror movies or going to ghostly houses at Halloween, spooky sounds and music will play an important role in every thrilling experience. Scary sounds at Halloween are as crucial as those spooky costumes. Think about the last horror movie you watched! What made the movie so scary? Perhaps, the sounds accentuated the scenes in the movie, making it eerie, so much so that the hairs on your arms rose, and your body shivered. So, how do you emulate those frightening sounds to create mysterious scenes at Halloween? Or you might just be wondering as to which instruments make those spooky sounds that you hear in Halloween audios. Well, it all comes down to the instruments used to make spooky sounds. Here are the instruments used to make those spooky Halloween sounds.

Waterphone

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