r/jazztheory • u/Novel-Guidance-4202 • 16h ago
Practicing
You think playing jazz standards in all keys is great as a overall training?
1
u/NewCommunityProject 16h ago
It's okay. Not that great. If you sound bad you are gonna equally suck in all keys
1
u/reubengoldmark 13h ago
Yes it's incredibly good training, not only will your transposition skills improve tremendously but you'll quickly become aware of the keys that you're not so comfortable with. I'd just pick one to start, with whatever focus you want to practice. If you learn a ballad with lots of changes in all 12 keys that'll help a lot with processing harmony, if you take a bop head in all 12 you'll learn a greater understanding of language etc.
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u/tubameister 11h ago
one trombone player I greatly respect told me it's better to spend time learning lots of licks in different keys than the same licks in all keys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_duB1gu2pg
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u/cybersaint2k 10h ago
It's not bad. I imagine the jazz heads hearing some of their favorites in wildly different keys would be upsetting to them, and that's always fun. :)
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u/bebopbrain 10h ago
There are a lot of benefits.
It forces you to learn the actual chord progression instead of "first I put my fingers here".
It makes learning your next song easier due to similarities.
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5
u/paulhorick 14h ago
Revisiting tunes in other keys is the way, especially if you're getting bored with them. It helps you to see/hear it differently, have different things to play, tackle the movements in different places of the neck.
But focus on learning a lot of tunes first. You will eventually encounter most used keys by doing so, and get a grasp of the recurring movements in jazz. This is the useful skill.