Every Key Is Sacred
I've been reading Ross Russell's biography of Charlie Parker, Bird Lives!: The High Life and Hard Times of Charlie (Yardbird) Parker. One point about Bird's early years on the saxophone struck me. He didn't have much formal instruction, so it was not until after he'd gained some facility on the instrument that he discovered that there exist more keys than the one he knew. According to the book, he was laughed off the stage at his first jam session for this conceptual oversight. So Bird took it upon himself to learn the rest of the keys. No one told him that as a horn player, he only needed to practice three or four different keys in order to grasp most of the music he wished to play. So he gradually taught himself how to play in each of the twelve keys, one by one, until he was comfortable with all of them. This no doubt laid the foundation for his later reputation of calling familiar tunes in unfamiliar keys at unmanageable tempos.
As a guitar player, realizing transpositions and key changes doesn't present the conceptual hurdle that it might to a horn player. I just move the same shapes up or down a few frets or to the next set of strings. With the exception of playing with open strings in first position, playing in different keys doesn't physically feel different on the guitar. Everything but the starting point is the same. So I had never given much thought to delving into any specific key to learn its unique quirks, as it sounds and as it's played on the guitar. Learning about Bird's methods inspired me to try it out.
Earlier this month, I decided to start with the key of C and proceed with one key per day for thirteen days (including F# and Gb). Any scale or arpeggio exercises I was doing were to be confined to the key of the day. I've been working on different approaches to jazz blues progressions, so that work was also restricted to a single key. I went back to my Mother of All Major Scale Exercises every day.
The most important work I did during this period was with sight reading. I used my Sight Reader program (still unreleased) to generate melodies using the appropriate key signature each day. This has always been one of my sight reading weaknesses: confidence within any key signature. On the days I did the most sight reading, I got to the point where that key signature felt as natural as C major. I was no longer thinking that each F on the staff needs to be played as an F#, for example. I just played it without thinking.
I want each of these thirteen key signatures to hold a special and equally important spot in my brain. It's like the Crayola 64-crayon set. I could identify every one of those colors when I was a kid, not by qualifying one as a modification of others, but instant, individual recognition. That's how I want to know each of these key signatures.
My first round through these key signatures lasted from June 6 to June 18. I randomly chose the order so I wouldn't get used to any pattern of changing keys (C, F#, G, D, Db, Eb, E, B, F, Bb, A, Ab, Gb). I marked each of them on my calendar before I started. At the end of each successful day, I declared on my Twitter account, "Today I became one with the key of X major." If you were following and confused, scratch your head no more. I plan to do it again, starting today, so watch out.
Walter Cronkite (30 Jun 2010 at 2:43pm)
Does this mean you are not just moving up or down the neck to change keys, but experimenting with alternate fingerings at a static neck position? Just wondering; saw Roy Clark bust a top string moments into a piece, live on Carson's Tonight Show. He didn't miss a beat or a note, including solos. Also fascinated that Bird was laughed off stage early on. Bombing in front of peers at a young age is as important a rite of passage as it is a learning opportunity. On the other hand, bombing in front of peers at an advanced age merely stinks up the joint. Saw Foreigner on someone's chat show a few months ago; depressing. Compare to Neal Schon and Journey's rebirth; that guy can still wail away. Ramble Off.
Joe (30 Jun 2010 at 2:55pm)
This is more about exploring each key individually than about changing keys in the moment. Trying to create that special place in my head for each key, getting it firmly planted in my ears and fingers.
Neal Schon is unreal.
Nathan (17 Jul 2010 at 2:56pm)
This is a great idea. I think I'm going to try the same thing to help me get a better grasp of the whole fretboard and improve my sight reading.
Is there any chance you could release your sight reading program? I need to vastly improve my sight reading chops for college auditions in the fall and winter and it sounds like a really useful tool.
Also as a relative new comer to jazz and the guitar in general (I've only been playing for a year and a half), I really dig your blog. Keep up the awesome posts.
Joe (28 Jul 2010 at 7:00am)
Hi Nathan. Thanks for the kind words.
I probably won't get the sight reading program published any time soon. I've been crazy busy all summer, and I don't expect things to lighten up until the new year. In the meantime, I can send you my source code, but it's really sticky to get it working yourself.
As for books, the best one I've worked with is William Leavitt's Melodic Rhythms for Guitar. It methodically takes the reader through every possible single-measure rhythm of 8th notes, and provides etudes for each group.
Good luck,
Joe