Good Use Of The Transposer!

[seemunny]

What?...why all the weapons? 

I put this idea on my other ("humorous") thread titled: "Clever Way To Put A Transposer On Any Organ!!" But i thought that i would put it on it's own thread, for those who this hasn't occurred to yet.

Let me begin by saying that, it's true "Transposers Are The Devil" lol...HOWEVER, there IS one way you can trick the Devil by making the transposer "help REMOVE your need to transpose!". And this is what you do:

To practice "soloing" in keys that are difficult for you, or better yet "all keys", you can:

Find your favorite recording to solo to, and for example, it might be in the key of Ab, then you solo to it in Ab.

But then, use your transposer and change the key. At that point, in order for you to continue to solo to your favorite recording and "stay in key", your fingers now must play in a different KEY!! 

Keep pressing that Devil Button in until you've practiced, gone through, and become a Beast in ALL KEYS with your soloing, and then you can stick ya chest out and proudly say: "Get thee behind me Satan!" - 12 times for every key!

[seemunny]

By the way, i forgot to mention, i got this idea from "Jamal Hartwell".

[themidiroom]

I'm going to go get my kevlar suit because I'm sure the flames are going to spread quickly.

[THE WOLFMAN]

What?...why all the weapons? 

I'm going to go get my kevlar suit because I'm sure the flames are going to spread quickly.

[ajohns23]

What?...why all the weapons? 

I put this idea on my other ("humorous") thread titled: "Clever Way To Put A Transposer On Any Organ!!" But i thought that i would put it on it's own thread, for those who this hasn't occurred to yet.

Let me begin by saying that, it's true "Transposers Are The Devil" lol...HOWEVER, there IS one way you can trick the Devil by making the transposer "help REMOVE your need to transpose!". And this is what you do:

To practice "soloing" in keys that are difficult for you, or better yet "all keys", you can:

Find your favorite recording to solo to, and for example, it might be in the key of Ab, then you solo to it in Ab.

But then, use your transposer and change the key. At that point, in order for you to continue to solo to your favorite recording and "stay in key", your fingers now must play in a different KEY!! 

Keep pressing that Devil Button in until you've practiced, gone through, and become a Beast in ALL KEYS with your soloing, and then you can stick ya chest out and proudly say: "Get thee behind me Satan!" - 12 times for every key!

The musician would have to have a pretty strong ear to adapt to it.

[under13]

 I think it is a silly idea. Just sit down and practice every key. You wanna develop your finger memory, so that you are used to the notes being in the same place every time you play.

[Ladyn]

I agree with Under13

I responded to this idea before, and I contend that this is not a good way to learn to play in all keys.  You have muscle memory in addition to head memory when it comes to music.  I can NOT play in C and "hear" Eb, or any other key for that matter.  When my hands are in "C" position, my ears expect to hear C.  This method is counterproductive to effectively learning where a certain sound is!

I believe this sets you up to have a disconnect between your fingers and your ears.  I know there is a more technical explanation, but I don't know how to explain it any clearer at the moment.

I suggest that you get the song in midi format then transpose the midi to the next key and play in that key.  For example, I took a song There is a River and it is in F; I played it in F; then I transposed the midi file to Gb and played the song in Gb, A,Ab etc.  No need to hear one key and play another.

[seemunny]

Under13, respectfully speaking, you may have missed this part:

Find your favorite recording to solo to....

...in order for you to continue to solo to your favorite recording and "stay in key"....

THAT'S the key here. IF you wanna play along "with your favorite recording", and practice soloing to it in every key.....the recording WON'T change keys for you - YOU have to PURPOSELY change the key, by using the transposer!

The recording will stay in ONE key. So if you enjoy playing along with that particular song, but simultaneously want to practice in EVERY key, there is no other way to do it, UNLESS you can make the song recording change keys. That way you won't have to use the transposer for THIS purpose.

Other than that, the original idea stated above is "THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT" (or to accomplish this paticular purpose with your favorite recording)

Now, obviously,

• If you want to simply practice soloing in every key "alone, to yourself" with no recording or any "accompaniment"....Or
• If you want to "shed" with one or more other musicians in all 12 keys....Or
• If you want to find 12 different favorite recordings, in all 12 keys to solo to....

all of that is fine. And all are different Options & ways of accomplishing the same thing.

But the originally above mentioned way, is merely "another fun & very Convenient Option", because you're playing along with ANY of your personal FAVORITE songs...(and not just in that ONE key that the song was originally recorded in), but technology allows you to "Jam with it" in EVERY KEY which is the whole point!

You wanna develop your finger memory...

You have muscle memory...

...and that's exactly what this does if you properly understand it. You develop "muscle memory" for EVERY key that you practice in.

Your muscle memory is nothing more than "note finger shapes or configurations" played repeatedly until developed. So, the more your fingers play those shapes & configurations, the more it becomes "automatic" when you reach for them. This technique does nothing but take you through each key to help accomplish your "muscle memory".

So, if you accurately understand the premise, there is nothing silly about it.

Here's a link of Jamal Hartwell demonstrating how he uses this transpose technique with his favorite recordings.
http://www.gospelmusicians.com/media/786/Transpose/

(fast forward to 5:50 for what is probably the best spot of demonstration)

[BimmerFan99]

[under13]

Dude with the bat looks like he's about to swinging at the black guy

[T-Block]

This is a "clever" idea C$, but that doesn't make it a good one.  I understand completely what you are trying to accomplish though.  I'd say this may work for people who don't have a good ear for music or specific key tones yet.

The only "good" way, IMO, to use the transpose is either up or down an octave to get higher or lower tones when needed.  This is for those of us who don't own an 88-key keyboard.

Dude with the bat looks like he's about to swinging at the black guy

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[under13]

After seeing the video, I think its a stupid Idea. What I suggest is that you use this software called Karafun. It lets you transpose your MP3s. http://www.karafun.com/karaokeplayer/

Yeah you may learn to play in every key, but you are NOT developing note/finger memory. If the notes are in a different location everytime you practice, your mind will never know where thy really should be.

When I sit at a piano I  can start playing without searching for the right notes. When a singer switches keys on me, I can pick it up right away. I think that using the transpose would mess that up for me.   If you wanna do that then fine, but I say you are doing more harm than good. I suggst that you transpose the songs, and not the keyboard

No Disrespect to jamal (I own many of his projects), but I think this time he is giving bad advice.

[seemunny]

I'd say this may work for people who don't have a good ear for music or specific key tones yet.

I'm not sure i follow what you mean by that, Mr. T. As i stated before, i got this idea from "Jamal Hartwell", Mr. "Urban Xtreme" himself. The same guy who successfully created & sold "advanced instructional" keyboard DVDs. lol Are you suggesting that Jamal "doesn't have a good ear for music?" 

Also, let me be clear just in case some don't quite understand. This method is not for "ear or pitch training". But rather "physical, soloing finger configuration" practice, WHEN YOU WANT TO ENJOY SOLOING TO YOUR FAVORITE JAM! (In all 12 keys)
========================================================
Example, T-block:

Imagine if you and i were at a keyboard, and your favorite fast cut was playing. Then i say to you: "T-block, let me see you solo to that!". You then start to solo (rippin' it up like an LGM BEAST on gamma ray! lol).

Then, i say: "Ok stop and close your eyes." I then change the key on the transpose button...then tell you "Ok T-block, open your eyes - NOW try it!....Then you notice that the keyboard is in a different key, so in about 1.38 seconds flat you find the NEW notes or "finger configurations" to play, in order to stay in key with the song!

I repeat this process with you over all 12 keys. Through this unique process, you probably found that some of those "transposed keys" were tougher to play in than others (that you have already fully mastered).
==========================================================
The whole point is: you were able to "ENJOY JAMMING" to your favorite joint, and did so in every key FOR SINGLE NOTE SOLO PRACTICE!...and you never had to somehow change the key of the song track the entire time! You just let it Jam On! while you went through all 12 keys, gettin a GOOD Ole workout! (am i comin' through now?...can you see it? lol)

In this example, your use of technology is no different than what athletes do everyday, where some prefer antiquated old fashioned ways of "working out or training", while others prefer "new technological advances" in equipment that they like to use. BOTH accomplishes the same goal, except technology simply gives you "more conveniences" (treadmills with meters and info, machines that give you computerized feedback, etc...) that older technology just doesn't provide.

Both exist, neither is bad, because both ADDRESSES SPECIFIC AREAS.

In the T-block example above, playing in the weaker keys clearly "addresses that area of concern", and allowed for you to "practice in the weak key(s)" TO YOUR FAVORITE JAM with the simple press of a button - only because of technology.

And again, this technique does "NOT" deal with "ear or pitch training" but rather "finger configuration solo improvement in every key", and also...this has ZERO to do with "performing live at a function" using the transpose button. This only serves as a "12 key solo practice mechanism" that happens to be fun as well, while you're jamming along with "Beyonce Got Back" that T-block just LOVESSSS to solo to! lol
If i didn't make this abundantly clear this time (with all the nuances & details), i don't know what else to say! lol
Oh, and by the way, the "weak keys" example above, was purely fictional and strictly for illustration purposes. Because we all know that T-block HAS no weak keys!...He might have a weakness for Alicia Keys, but NO weak keys!...He might play the keys every week, but NOOO weak keys! lol

[seemunny]

After seeing the video, I think its a stupid Idea. What I suggest is that you use this software called Karafun. It lets you transpose your MP3s. http://www.karafun.com/karaokeplayer/

Yeah you may learn to play in every key, but you are NOT developing note/finger memory. If the notes are in a different location everytime you practice, your mind will never know where thy really should be.

When I sit at a piano I  can start playing without searching for the right notes. When a singer switches keys on me, I can pick it up right away. I think that using the transpose would mess that up for me.   If you wanna do that then fine, but I say you are doing more harm than good. I suggst that you transpose the songs, and not the keyboard

No Disrespect to jamal (I own many of his projects), but I think this time he is giving bad advice.

Under13,

1) As i said before, there are many options to reaching one goal, and the Karafun may be one of them. But that still doesn't diminish the option of the transpose button in this paticular manner. BOTH require for your fingers to "adapt" to the note configurations of each key!

2) You say "you're not developing note finger memory". Well, it depends on your definition of that. It absolutely aids you in "knowing the note CONFIGURATIONS in every key" until your muscles start to do it automatically, just like on any acoustic piano. A run in Eb requires certain finger shapes. Those same shapes are applied in Jamals method. You learn all 12 shapes & thus, practice your runs in every key, and you can apply that to ANY KEYBOARD, whether electronic or acoustic! But, maybe you have a different definition of finger memory.

3) As for it it doing more harm than good, that's a matter of opinion. Because you already see a very talented guy in Jamal who loves this technique. So, evidently it comes down to "whatever floats YOUR boat", not whatever floats somebody elses boat. lol...

But again, it's merely ONE enjoyable option to learning and practicing your "runs" in 12 keys while playing along with your favorite Joint!

[under13]

Like you said, "whatever floats your boat".  What works for some doesent work for all. There are more than enough songs in all 12 keys that I can practice to. And you can always just turn off the CD take the song up a half step at a time.

[seemunny]

When I sit at a piano I  can start playing without searching for the right notes. When a singer switches keys on me, I can pick it up right away.&nbsp...

 @ them "red squiggle symbol thangs"...

[under13]

 @ them "red squiggle symbol thangs"...

dont know why my post came out like that.

[seemunny]

dont know why my post came out like that.

 

"caught up in the spirit?" lol

[T-Block]

Also, let me be clear just in case some don't quite understand. This method is not for "ear or pitch training". But rather "physical, soloing finger configuration" practice, WHEN YOU WANT TO ENJOY SOLOING TO YOUR FAVORITE JAM! (In all 12 keys)

This is exactly what I was talking about.  Some people who have an ear for music tend to let their ear takeover, which makes this transposing idea ineffective.  If you can do it and not worry about the sound, then go ahead.  I've experimented with this technique myself on occasions, but eventually found it easier to just go to the regular key and learn it.

Oh, and by the way, the "weak keys" example above, was purely fictional and strictly for illustration purposes. Because we all know that T-block HAS no weak keys!...He might have a weakness for Alicia Keys, but NO weak keys!...He might play the keys every week, but NOOO weak keys! lol[/color]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!  I do have some "initial" weaknesses in some keys.  But after playing in them for a minute, I retain my finger memory and I'm fine.      Time to go pop in that "Beyonce Got Back" song, LOL.

[4hisglory]

I'm not sure i follow what you mean by that, Mr. T. As i stated before, i got this idea from "Jamal Hartwell", Mr. "Urban Xtreme" himself. The same guy who successfully created & sold "advanced instructional" keyboard DVDs. lol Are you suggesting that Jamal "doesn't have a good ear for music?" 

Just because Jamal says jump off a cliff, doesn't mean people should follow.   I have much respect for Jamal, but I'm not feeling that idea at all.  I don't like any type of short cuts because it end up costing you more time. in the future.

I'm going to call him up right now, and get him to defend himself, so we can see what he was thinking.