>NOTE: To learn ALL the techniques and strategies that you’ll need to start learning songs on your own, sounding flavorful, and being comfortable playing anything you want, go here:

http://www.hearandplay.com/products

In reading through some of my recent e-mails, I found a message from someone who REALLY gets it.

***Comment From A Reader Who GETS IT***

Jermaine, doc, where have you been all my life? Since I purchased your GospelKeys 202 and have been reading through your online blog lessons and resources, they have really opened my mind up to the whole world of “numbers.”

I was one of those folks who thought music was about letters. I thought chords used letters. UNTIL God led me to your website. And now everything I thought I knew about music has been challenged and I’ve gotten to the next level because now I know how to think in terms of numbers.

I don’t think about a C major 7 chord going to an F major 7 chord anymore (well I still do but it’s not the dominant thought like it used to be). Now I think about the 1st tone of the scale going to the 4th tone of the scale if I’m in the key of C or the 5th tone of the scale going to the 1st tone of the scale if I’m in the key of F major.

And when I do this, I find that I can take the same patterns to basically any major key because I’m not stuck thinking about C going to F liked I used to be. Now I’m thinking a totally different way and with the numbers I can just fill in the blank as the cliche goes and be free to play anywhere I want. It’s really changed the way I do “thangs” and I gotta give you the credit for it.

Keep it up man. I’ll see you at the top.

Terrell S.

>>> My Comments (and explanations):

Well Terrell, it looks like you TRULY get it.

You’ve stumbled on to one of the greatest secrets of “playing by ear.” It’s numbers.

When most people think about music, they think about “creative” stuff like notes and letters and sharp “(#)” signs and flat “(b)” signs. But music is highly mathematical too.

NUMBERS rule in music and when a musician truly “GETS” this, their playing explodes.

I remember one of my earlier students - Royzell - and how fast it took him to start learning real songs on his own. I mean this guy was up and playing in like 6 weeks. He was hungry for it, YES, but one thing I made sure he understood out the gate was the number system (i.e. - taking every major scale and learning each tone as numbers… “C” is 1, “D” is 2, “E” is 3… and so on).

Then I taught him how to play chords using the same numbers (i.e. - “combine tones ‘7′ + ‘3′ + ‘5′ to play a nice-sounding major 7 chord in ANY key”). No, that isn’t the “regular” default way to play a major 7 chord. We were killing two birds with one stone by learning nicer voicings of the chords using the numbers so that we could literally take the same voicing to all 12 keys in minutes.

Then we naturally did patterns and chord progressions next (i.e. - “6-2-5-1 chord pattern” … very common pattern). It’s the same numbers at work but this time entire chords are moving from one to the other using the numbers. Songs came easy after that.

Fast forward several years and let’s just say he’s passed me up! And I don’t mind. He realized just how IMPORTANT numbers were in the beginning and now there’s virtually nothing he can’t pick up in minutes (and take to a new key without practicing). He’s even played for celebrities and filled in at West Angeles, the mega church where the hit producers and musicians, Jason White and Michael Bereal, play. And to think, it all started with NUMBERS (I don’t want to discount him either because he had a lot of drive and passion and was serious about his craft).

>REMEMBER - You can do almost anything by understanding the number system. And most importantly, it’ll allow you to play in any key because you’re essentially not memorizing any of the specific chords of a song… you’re not really memorizing ANYTHING. You simply understand that a pattern, for example, is a chord off the 1st tone of the scale moving to a chord off the 3rd tone of the scale… then to the 6th tone, then 2nd tone, then 5th tone, then back home to the 1st tone again.

AND GET THIS — once you realize that about 1 in 3 songs have that same pattern occuring in some way, shape, or form, then it really gets easy to learn and play songs off the top of your head because they all use the same patterns. Numbers allow you to do all this… and “then some” as mom would say.

To learn other unique techniques and strategies you can use to take your playing to the next level, go here:

http://www.hearandplay.com/products

Talk soon,

Jermaine

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Our last radio show was awesome! We took several callers, gave away tons of prizes, and delved into some more music theory concepts!

One of our callers had a question about a particular altered chord and I spent some time unraveling it with her. In this post, I just want to take some time to review what I told her on the air. I think this will be extremely helpful for people in the same situation.

Her question had to do with playing a C diminished 7 chord over F bass. She wanted to know what type of chord it was.

So we broke it down…

F on bass
C diminished 7 on right hand: C Eb Gb A

Note: I’m using “A” on purpose. If you were taking a music theory exam, you’d make that “B double flat” (Bbb). But let’s just keep it informal so I can make my point easier. That disclaimer is just for my theory heads. Most people can careless (just being honest).

Here’s something to help you out…

Whenever you don’t know the name of a chord, try starting with the 3rd and 7th tones of the keynote. In this case, the keynote is “F,” our bass.

(This is when knowing all your scales as numbers is important. If you can know the 3rd and 7th of virtually any key without having to think much about it, then finding the names of chords will be super easy for you. So work on that in the meantime).

Notice there is an “A” and “Eb” in the chord. Immediately when I see that, I think “F dominant 7 chord.” I don’t even think about it. Unless there’s something crazy going on with the other tones we haven’t analyzed yet, this chord has a very high probability of being some kind of dominant seventh chord… but we’re not done yet!

So that’s the kind of the thought process I go through. I find and hold on to the best match until it is dethroned. Make sense?

Notice the “C” in this chord. What is its relation to the keynote?

The “C” is simply the perfect fifth. From past lessons, you know that the fifth isn’t really as helpful as the other tones because you’ll find it equally in major, minor, and dominant chords. So it can’t really be the deciding factor when trying to differentiate among those chords.

In this case, the “C” doesn’t change our answer. It just further confirms we’re on the right track by adding another note to our F dominant 7 chord, which is “F + A + C + Eb.”

Back to the chord that was posed on the show…

F on bass
C diminished 7: C Eb Gb A

There’s just one more tone left… the “Gb.” And that’s what makes this chord more than an “F dominant 7″ chord.

So what we do from here is figure out what tone of the scale Gb is based on.

First off, there’s no Gb in the F major scale so we know it’s not a tone directly out of the major key of F. Something is either going to be sharped, flatted, augmented, or diminished — we just haven’t figured out what it is quite yet.

“G” is the 2nd or 9th tone in the F major scale.

Yes, I know that may sound confusing but here’s where the numbers come from.

If you play an F major scale only using one octave and number each tone as you play it, “G” will undoubtedly be the 2nd tone of the scale. This is the norm. You probably already know this.

However, if you extend the scale another octave (basically keep going), “G” will be the 9th tone in the next octave. You don’t stop counting… you basically keep going.

1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > 11… and so on.

So that’s where 9s, 11s, and 13s come from.

But here’s the thing…

Just think of:

• 9 as 2
• 11 as 4
• 13 as 6

It will be so much easier.

Now, there does come a time when you use 2, 4, or 6 and this is usually when you’re playing simple triads with added notes. Like if I play an F major chord (F+A+C) and just add the “G” in between the “F” and “A,” I could simply say “add 2″ (F + G + A + C).

However, when you start getting into dominant seventh chords and your chords start reaching across octaves, that’s when the higher numbers come in. For example, some will say if you add “G” in the next octave and still maintain that regular F major triad (F + A + C + G), then you can reference it as “add 9.” Chord naming is very ambiguous like that but as long as you’re in the right neighborhood, people will know what you mean!

So, indeed, “G” is the 9. But “Gb” is what’s in the chord so we have to say “flat 9″ (a.k.a. - “b9″).

In other words, this is an F dominant 7 chord with a lowered 9.

Big picture thinking

Now how can you easily play this chord in every key?

Here’s what I like to do.

I try to find some commonality that I can turn into a “rule” that works any time.

Also, “rules” (in the way that I’m defining them) don’t use specific notes or else they wouldn’t be rules. They use universal numbers so that they can be applied to any situation.

There’s several ways to approach coming up with your own internal rule for this chord.

Let’s try a few…

1) I can think of this chord as the keynote plus a diminished 7 chord played on the 5th tone of the keynote’s scale. Yes, I know it sounds complex but it really isn’t. Basically, I’m telling myself that whenever I want to play a dominant chord with a flat 9, all I have to know is the diminished seventh chord a fifth up from my bass note and I’m good to go!

If I want to play an Ab 7 (b9) chord, all I do is put Ab in my bass and go up to the 5th tone (Eb) and play its diminished seventh chord (F on bass + Eb diminished 7).

If I want to play a D7 (b9) chord, I do the same thing. Play D on my bass, go up to the 5th tone of D and play its diminished seventh chord (D on bass + A diminished 7).

If I want to play a C7 (b9) chord, my rule works there too (because my rule works in EVERY situation). I just play a G diminished seventh chord over C bass and “BAM,” there it is!

But this isn’t the only rule. If thinking of the “fifth” on the spot works for you, then go for it! But maybe I can get closer…

2) There’s something unique about diminished 7 chords. Take that C diminished 7 chord (C + Eb + Gb + A) and play it with Eb on the bottom. It still sounds like a diminished 7 chord right? That’s because it is a diminished 7 chord… Eb diminished 7 (Eb + Gb + A + C). Do the same thing with Gb… play the same exact notes starting on Gb — Gb + A + C + Eb. So basically, once you know 1 diminished chord, you know the other 3 in the group because they all share the same notes. So if that’s the case, maybe I don’t have to play the C diminished 7 because I have three other choices that will pretty much give me the same sound (…now if you want your melody to be on top, you’ll have to pick the chord that does that). With that said though, I’m going to use Gb diminished 7 (Gb + A + C + Eb). Keep in mind that the ONLY difference in this chord and the C diminished 7 is the order of notes. That’s all.

Now that I’ve figured this out, I can change my rule a little bit. I can simply think of this chord as the diminished 7th chord RIGHT ON TOP of my bass. Get it?

My bass is F right? Now, I’ve figured out that my C diminished 7 chord can actually be Gb diminished 7 if I want it to. And Gb is just one half step higher than F right? So that means instead of having to think of this chord as the keynote plus the 5th tone’s diminished chord, I can ease my mind a little bit by simply thinking of this chord as the keynote plus the diminished 7 chord a half step up!

Bam!

So let’s compare:

Rule #1
Keynote plus 5-diminished7 chord
F + C diminished 7
F + (C + Eb + Gb + A)

or

Rule #2
Keynote plus diminished 7 chord half step up
F + Gb diminished 7
F + (Gb + A + C + Eb)

Up to you!

But that’s the idea.

It’s not always about having to do a lot of thinking. For me, at least, it’s about finding universal rules I can apply on the spot. Heck, your rules are your rules… even if they don’t make sense to others! :)

So try taking some of your favorite chords and come up with some numerical rule that you can apply to easily take these chords to any key you want on the spot (assuming you know the underlying chords you’ll be using — if your rule includes playing a big 9th chord with smaller major chords, then you had better know all your major chords or even the rule won’t do you any good).

Well, this post was a little long but I hope it helps!

All the best —

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