3 Top Reasons For Learning To Play Jazz Piano In New Keys

Posted by Free Jazz Lessons on August 7th, 2019

Lots of individuals just take lessons from a jazz piano teacher without understanding what piano keys are. There are several reasons why keyboard players must learn to play in varying keys. Defaulting to the C, F, or G keys is the easy option, but it can be quite limiting, not just for the keyboard player, but also the musicians he’s playing with. So, this article brings the reasons why you should branch out into keys you might even be less familiar with.

1. Flat keys

Brass players have a great preference for playing in the flat ‘B’ keys like Eb and Bb. You might be quite comfortable playing a twelve-bar blues in F, but will you be able to do the same thing in let’s say, Db? Well, why not try it, just a simple 3-blues in Db. Begin with your scale over the Db7 chord. The notes are the; Db, E, Gb, G, Ab, and B. Does playing the notes actually feel awkward? Well, it is certainly an excellent thing if it does because what that means is that you have started to learn.

2. Alternation between keys

The second major reason for which you have to get yourself used to playing in varying keys is that the tune could start with one key, then, as you go along, actually move through other varying keys. This is among the foremost lessons to look forward to and also take into consideration when, when asking yourself ‘who is the best expert jazz piano teacher near me’? One of the foremost examples of this is the jazz standard ‘All the things you are’. If Ab major happens to be the key signature, then you will need to just remain within the Ab key for five bars. Then, the tune then goes on to move through the C major, Eb major, as well as G major keys and this will be something that will occur for just the initial 16 bars.

3. Remaining faithful to old favourites

This is the third and final reason why you need to really push yourself to play the keyboards in keys which are much less familiar to you. Remaining faithful to the old favorites (C, F, as well as G), engages your muscle memory that tries hard to reach for the old tricks and licks that you have always been depending on. The phrases which you have actually been churning out so far have, become quite repetitive and the new solo you are moving onto also happens to be quite similar to all of the old ones. Nevertheless, when you allow yourself to move into keys that are unfamiliar to you, your brain ceases to let you do this as your hands then move over a series of notes that are alien. This is excellent news as you are then forced into making fresh choices. Yes, you might well make a few more mistakes, but taking the risk makes for solos that are a lot more creative.

 These are the three foremost reasons for getting a jazz piano teacher to teach you how to play the piano in new keys that you are unfamiliar with.