Thinking A Tune In 12 Keys

[@marcosquito]

Greetings from Brazil ! - the tune is Maria Ninguem - Rita Lee

[@g1bC]

Someone almost as famous as you said something like “We choose to go to the moon and do these other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard....”. You speak truth+++++

[@Piedscooter1]

Times have changed for some ignorant reasons, Dan. Hopefully another JFK will emerge....

[@virginiamaes4th]

Doll!!! You crack me UP!!! You are BRILLIANT, and oy, I have been being SO lazy. Watching your process is delightful. I’ve only only ever done this with what might be called “the easy keys”, and only when another musician pushes me into it, you know(especially Singers, God love’em). Thank you for telling me to do my homework. It rang TRUE within. Jogging eh, I’d best stretch-out first, for about a week.

[@sablobsimus]

I still key the air trumpet when reading melodies, even though I haven't played a real horn in 20 years! Never occurred to me to do the same with piano. (doh!) Heading to your melody lesson. Thank you !

[@johnd.4536]

If I can get a new key 1/2 step from my comfort zone I consider that a win. I have the hardest time moving from Bb to A so I appreciate yor masterful lesson Aimee and your music touches my heart.

[@Album0029]

Aimee did i already say how much i LOVE you. I absolutely Cant keep up with you but still i watch you re so incredibly dedicated keep on shining star!

[@kardRatzinger]

Last time I went jogging by the riverside, there turned out to be a band there playing, with a singer, guitar player, bassist, drummer, pianist, tenor and alto sax, trumpet and trombone. They were playing Frank Sinatra and were absolutely stunning. I didn't manage to do much jogging that day.

[@rachelsmename]

It's interesting to learn how you absorb these tunes into your memory. Thank you for this!

[@alsacrime4806]

Your speaking voice is as distinctive and lovely and soothing as your singing voice. Husband = Very Blessed Guy

[@draginfly3000]

That piano has such a beautiful sound.

[@gloriagain7739]

I do similar stuff when learning a piece in deep. that is why I really appreciate your video because I thought you could just do it at once. I love your sharings and your ways. u r the best teacher~

[@gdamad1826]

What about playing a song in 12 keys while thinking about jogging? ;)

[@in2gadgets]

This has got to be one of your most important videos relating to the understanding of music, Aimee :-)

[@kassemir]

I can't believe you're able to do this. I've tried this. Playing through a song in one key and then moving down one semi-tone. For me, it's like my brain wants to remember and hold on to the key center I was just playing in. My brain just tells me, no, that ain't the right key-center for this.

[@AmeeliaK]

Could be easier then to move in the circle of fifth then. Up a fourth or fifth.

[@lucasshije9249]

i died........ - this was my first video here, and "Bruh i dont even melody!" I dont think i have ever even melody'ed. Look forward to watching/listening to all your content.

[@AimeeNolte]

🙌🏼🙌🏼you can do it!

[@OtRatsaphong]

Great lesson!! Thank you Aimee.

[@jeffolmsted]

Yeah. Simple. This is (with the possible exception of Stardust) the trickiest Great American Songbook melody in the jazz standard repertoire. (Argue!) Even moderately skilled singers will have a hard time singing it unaccompanied. I especially love the way the bottom falls out harmonically on "wonderful" and "sad" and the uplifting Kern-esque pivot at the end of the bridge. And one more thing: name any other well-known melody that starts on the 6th over the I chord. Mack the Knife, only kinda. And one more thing-sharp nine on "lead". You are great.

[@matthewgoldberg1461]

I vote for Lush Life as the most challenging

[@jeffolmsted]

You have a point. Lush Life is the worst great song ever written. A trough-ful of hearts?

[@sablobsimus]

Meditation? (Jobim)

[@walterbrown8694]

It's known as "Relative Pitch" - Playing in small combos, and church bands/orchestras in the 50's - 80's without written scores and random vocalists at times, that was a common practice. Most of the folks I played with were quite good at the practice.

[@Leo.Brodie]

This is great, Aimee. This is the skill I want to get a better handle on! I follow you up to a point, then I get lost. It's like a foreign language I learned a little of -- I can understand if they speak slowly enough. "And then it goes down to the six chord. There's the bridge. And then a little passing thing happens. It goes 6, it's gonna walk down to the 5, but the 5's going to turn into minor. Then its a 2 5 in the key of the 4 which is Eb. We go to the four, and then we've got a minor 2 5 to the 2. I remember it as being the flat 7, so a whole step down from the tonic. then it's a nice easy 2 5 1 to the 4. And then it just drops a half-step but it's major. This is the coolest part of Skylark. We do a 1 6 2 5. And that's a dominant 2 - call it a 5 of 5. Now we've completed our statement in the key of D and we just 5 it back to Bb major, and it does the same thing as the first A pretty much." I understand the concepts, mostly. I know most of the phrases, but not all of them. I can't follow it at that speed, and I can't always tell where your fingers are on the keys! Have you done a video where you tease apart those patterns, like "dominant 2, 5 of 5"?

[@AimeeNolte]

Hey Leo...I did one not long ago called Analyzing Lead Sheets that might be helpful.

[@crusaderrjm]

Thank you Aimee! I love these vids

[@MarcosCabrera]

Thanks for this video Ive prepared a chromatic harmonica method about this and Im looking for other people doing it. Is not very common. However Ive heard that bebob musicians used to do this

[@thomasbrown1315]

Good stuff... I’ve always challenged my students with mental-aural musical exercises they can do away from the piano. On a recent road trip, I “thought” thru “Round Midnight” in all keys. (It really helps pass the time, for me its while on the treadmill). I think Ive always used your essential process when transposing. Hearing the melody is generally fairly easy. Hearing the chords for me starts with the ears. Im most satisfied when the ears work. When the ears fail, I resort to harmonic structure of the song, which is totally valuable for the musician, just less aural. But my ultimate goal is for the ears to do the job as validation that Im really comfortable in the harder keys. (Duh, we’d all probably say that.) Trying to transpose Dolphin Dance the other day was humbling: parts of the song were simple. For other parts I was aware that I did not yet “hear” the chords (and colors) automatically that Herbie was hearing. I had to go back to structure and sometimes muscle memory (probably the lowest technique on the intellectual order). Your video is affirming that this process is a valuable one for aural (if not all) musicians, laborious as it may be! (But it’s also kinda’ fun.)

[@stjorg]

I think i have to run a marathon to do that

[@paulallenMacca]

Aimee i like your voice in that song.

[@yujinkim_music]

You are the best teacher ever ❤️ Love your all vids and also your music !!!

[@fizzyfish-k4q]

Hi Aimee, at 2:39 is there a bar of G-7 / C7 / missing? Or did you reharm the tune?

[@joeblakeukeman]

Aimee, is there any reason why I should not think of the key of F# as Gb? I found my way into this (always looking for easy ways to play!) when I challenged my self to play Fats Waller’s Jitterbug Waltz in all 12 keys. It was fun!

[@Vicnsi]

Damn, I wish: a) I could play as good as you ‍❤️, b) I could play your Piano, it sounds absolutely gorgeous! 😋 When I'm learning to play a song on Piano I always like to seek out the original recording and then I very much tend to always stick to the 'original' key. Nonetheless I try to keep practicing music whenever I'm away from my instruments (Bass, Alto Sax, Piano, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar) by mentally visualizing (thinking) my way round the circle of Fifths in all possible directions: 4ths; 5ths; 6ths (Maj->Min or Min->Maj); triads CEG, GBD, DF#A, AC#E, etc. But Thinking A Tune In 12 Keys, wow, something I never thought to attempt until now... yeah, challenge accepted!

[@marcosquito]

And the same composer - Rita Lee - also compares her tune to that song from The Beatles - Do you Want to Know a Secret. They are quite similar.

[@katana7xv]

Wonderful video, and seriously pretty material. Talking through process wasn't all 'boring' (nor was root postion - because the melody's so rich?)

[@berkayozerbay6155]

How do you combine chords and melodies after learning both seperately?

[@DojoOfCool]

Doing cardio exercises is not only good for the body, but I can use the time to think about music or drill myself on all sorts of things. Just yesterday I was at gym doing cardio and thought I'll spell dominant 7 -9, +11, -13 chords in all twelve keys. I though this should be simple I've done the dominant 7 9 +11 13's a lot so now just alter them. But no, doing altered dom's the enharmonic note names were killing me. But in trying to come up with way to name these faster discovered a cool voicing for them and other ways to thing about those color tones. Free time driving or working out, waiting rooms, and etc can be your mental music lab.

[@williambunter3311]

Such beautiful, beautiful music, Aimee. Those chords and progressions are like candy from Heaven, they really are! Way, way above my present level, Aimee, but I could listen to you play for hours (and indeed have done so). I aim to do a lot of experimenting at the piano, trying to find beautiful-sounding chords, and trying to put them together in a nice musical sequence. It seems to me that there is a sort of advanced, almost mathematical, logic in what you do, coupled with a very discerning and aesthetically aware ear. Would you say, Aimee, that playing jazz and blues is indeed a compound of logic and hearing? And which is the most important when finding one's way around the piano? I ask this because when playing from a score, one doesn't need to know the theoretical structure of the piece, or even know what a chord or note is going to sound like when you play it. Obviously it is different with improvisation, especially when changing keys. But is the working out of the next chord primarily done with the jazz pianist's mind or with his/her ear? This is a question I've always wanted to know the answer to. Can you help?

[@AimeeNolte]

I think it’s about 50/50. At any given time, I’m half thinking and half hearing. Both both both. :)

[@williambunter3311]

@@AimeeNolte Thanks, Aimee.

[@flymoon24]

Hi, Thanks for this great video.

[@macabre2007]

audiobooks, meditation recordings, yin/yang thought processes to make jogging less boring - and Aretha's Skylark - the dreamy version i floated off over the horizon to in my teenage years, to me it will always be her tune.

[@songbird377]

Do you have the piano sheet music to that Portuguese tune? Such a pretty song :D

[@peterjansen4826]

I am a reasonably experienced runner (many years, moments where I ran >= 60 km a week in 5/6 days), my experience is that running gets a lot less boring when you get more fit and you can push yourself more and run faster. It is best to run in a forest or at least on a soft path (sand), if possible.

[@AimeeNolte]

Thanks Peter! I’ll try and keep at it. Good advice.

[@peterjansen4826]

If you get fit enough you get what they call runners high. I've had it a lot, the longer the run lasted up to over an hour, the easier it got and the faster I got to run while feeling better and euphoric.

[@wyattstevens8574]

For a couple seconds, that Brazilian tune (especially with your scatting) sounded like "Do You Want to Know A Secret?" by the Beatles.

[@willritter4076]

Once i find the key that i like for a song where i can play it the way i want to and it fits my voice, it becomes taboo to think of the song in any other key, almost like infidelity... i guess it's a way of staying grounded. But it definitely benefits you as a player to have the ability to change the key of a harmonically complicated song on a dime.

[@Weaseldog2001]

I'm increasingly backing up other singers. Learning to transpose to other keys on the fly, has definitely helped my playing.

[@ffggddss]

On the guitar, we have this thing called a "capo" . . . Say, where can I find one of those for my piano? ;--) Fred

[@kassemir]

If it's an electric piano it might have a transpose button on it. Acoustic pianos, however, has no such thing ;)

[@ffggddss]

Yeah, some electrics even have a "bender" rocker-type control. ;-) Fred

[@LearnerChess]

My fingers aren't as long as her's. Is there a 3/4 piano? :)

[@NeverWolf]

Donald Miller there are keyboards with mini keys

[@popespalace823]

;----)

[@petersmart894]

Nice video.Trouble is I have always had difficulty in thinking in one key centre.

[@noahmaillouxmusic]

Dope video

[@juanpablomartinezluque1944]

Love this videooo

[@BAwesomeDesign]

Thinking in terms of numbers would be super simple if tunes didn't modulate 😃 If you can keep track of each modulation then numbers make sense in relation to the new tonal center. I did a transcription of a Mister Rogers Neighborhood tune on my piano channel showing the numbers of each chord and melody note--but only in relation to the starting key. It might be confusing if people are expecting a new "one" when the tune modulates.

[@chico2012able]

Aimee this is Mario, can you make a video on the pentatonic scale, I Do not understand it. Thanks

[@rainerschnelle1]

Are you aware that you are taking liberties with the melody at two places which in the original version give the melody a very unique character? Two bars before the bridge the last four eighth-notes are b7, 6, 5, 4 - not b7, b6, 5, 4. And also in bar six of the bridge the notes are - I'm thinking in the IV-key - 3, 5, 6, b3, 5. To me these particular notes give the melody a very special sound. I don't want to come across as jazz police but in this case I really think it makes a difference.

[@antoniodtlee]

why don't you use Tonic Sol fa on melody then more easy to move around 12 keys.

[@88keyes]

Good Morning.

[@hezekiahdaggett2179]

how much did that piano cost it looks really nice. also what type of piano is

[@AimeeNolte]

I have a video all about it. It’s called $130,000 Piano Vs $13,000 Piano. Kind of a fun comparison. Thanks!!

[@hezekiahdaggett2179]

holy cow thats a lot for a piano! totally worth it though for jazz! Ill look into it. Love your videos even though I dont understand half of it ; )

[@Bashanvibe]

Is the orginal an Aretha Franklin song? Trying to find the orginal so I can learn myself

[@eitanrapp]

Aimee go have a listen to Rai Thistlethwayte playing Skylark. Ear candy for the day

[@urbanana725]

you would have to have a phenomenally trustworthy, highly developed relative pitch to be able to do this ( or PP of course)

[@AimeeNolte]

To sing it, yes. Not to say it though, which is just about as helpful.

[@urbanana725]

true

[@alanimranali]

wow, another benifit of jogging! Now can it be done in 12 steps 😏?

[@juanitogaspar8826]

This is juanito I don't what is nebula I'm not talking about school I just want to learn by myself if I can learn by nebula that's good enough as long as I can learn something I'm learning its up to me to learn better than no I formidable to start give my email I'm not so good in internet Ty

[@MaxRamos8]

What's a real book?

[@soyoltoi]

The Real Books is a collection of jazz standards.

[@victorsixtythree]

Just don't jog into traffic!

[@Rheologist]

Your plosives are a little harsh with that mic set up

[@AimeeNolte]

Just a little ASMR for you

[@xFliox]

Jogging is the worst exercise ever, google it

[@rickshafer6688]

So......, you thought through a tune in all twelve keys on a jog. You were able to delineate between A and A# while jogging. Well, you Ms. are Mozart. You are not Mozart, you cannot do that even at rest. Perhaps the extra blood flow made you think you were "Thinking a tune in twelve keys"; so that a fifth, or fourth seemed chromatic to your chemically altered state of consciousness. You shouldn't put that out there, it will discourage people who are not on the oxygen asphyxiation of true tonality while getting in a good run.

[@Leo.Brodie]

Do you even chord?