Playing By Ear, Knowing What Key Your In...

[sjonathan02]

I know you can't hep it.   

Way to answer the question; nice job. 

[Fenix]

I know you can't hep it.   

Way to answer the question; nice job. 

My money is on TMR. Sjon may be big, but TMR is fast.

[themidiroom]

My money is on TMR. Sjon may be big, but TMR is fast.

  Fenix, this is a Christian site.  No betting!  unless it's bingo.    

[bullet1]

The main point is that you have to know your scales.  Scale through the song.  You can normally pick up the key of a song after playing a few notes of the scale. 

9 times out of 10 the song starts on the one and ends on the one.  In some cases you will get a song that doesn'e start on the one or that resolves.  If the song does either of the two then just scale through very softly and you will figure it out. 

[T-Block]

I see some excellent advice in this thread.  Pretty much knowing your scales will help u indentify the key.

[IGotSkillzJustNeedDatPush]

So, what advice could y'all give me on picking up songs??  Like during (Devotional period)/(praise and worship)...  When someone sings songs during worship, how do you just pick it up??

[sjonathan02]

So, what advice could y'all give me on picking up songs??  Like during (Devotional period)/(praise and worship)...  When someone sings songs during worship, how do you just pick it up??

Listen, listen, then listen some more. Grab your CDs, go on Youtube and find songs there. The only way you get better at it is by practicing. And, just waiting for Sunday mornings ain't gonna cut it. 

[T-Block]

Listen, listen, then listen some more. Grab your CDs, go on Youtube and find songs there. The only way you get better at it is by practicing. And, just waiting for Sunday mornings ain't gonna cut it. 

That's it right there.  The key is to listen for the pattern of the song.  If u need to, bring a tape recorder or notepad with you and write down the songs being sung at the most at your church.  Then, when u get home, review the tapes and/or notes and practice them.  That way, when the next Sunday comes u will be prepared.

[chevonee]

That's it right there.  The key is to listen for the pattern of the song.  If u need to, bring a tape recorder or notepad with you and write down the songs being sung at the most at your church.  Then, when u get home, review the tapes and/or notes and practice them.  That way, when the next Sunday comes u will be prepared.

Ladies and gentlemen the maestro has spoken
Seriously though, this is exactly what I do...I take my trusty notebook and small tape recorder with me everywhere I go.
The more time you put into learning your craft, the better you'll be. I spend hours listening and trying to mimick what I hear.

[cas10a]

I see some excellent advice in this thread.  Pretty much knowing your scales will help u indentify the key.

Not "Pretty much", T..., I can't think of a scenario where you would go wrong with the key, if you know your scales; however, you can go wrong listening for the tonic (rare, but it can happen)...lol

To add to this there are songs that move back and forth between keys (up a half step then back down - small changes) and unless you know your scales you will quickly get lost...

[IGotSkillzJustNeedDatPush]

GREAT!!  Thanks for the advice fam..  I guess I should hit up Wal-Mart and get me a cheap tape recorder then..

[musallio]

Cas touched on a very important aspect--that of the tonic not being the starting or ending point of a song.
that's fine. there are lots of songs like that.

The key/ trick with such songs, is to HAVE THE TONIC INTERNALIZED IN YOUR MIND-

This is the other method I use..
You can't really tell what key a song is in by hearing 1 note, but once you hear 2 or 3 notes, you can do a run-through of the scale in your head to arrive at the tonic, sometimes you can go straight from the note to its tonic. Again this takes time to actually proactively humming the common progressions in your head--on key..those people who change keys while singing might have a problem to do this

I would also advise you to take some time to internalize not only the tonic, but also other tones.
You do not have to do them in order (ie, 1,2,3 etc)..
you could for instance do 1, 7, 4, 6 etc..or follow 1,6, 2,5.
Once you can identify the sounds of these, you will be able to find the key very quickly even if you are playing at a specific key & some1 starts a song in an unrelated key. This is because the mind associates certain sounds with certain "resolves/  resolvations"..

I hope this makes sense.

Of course everything heavily depends on you knowing the scales.

[themidiroom]

Ladies and gentlemen the maestro has spoken
Seriously though, this is exactly what I do...I take my trusty notebook and small tape recorder with me everywhere I go.
The more time you put into learning your craft, the better you'll be. I spend hours listening and trying to mimick what I hear.

Maestro nothing.  We got this.   
You're right though.  You must put in the practice time.  After a while, it becomes second nature.  The choir is always doing double takes when they spring a new song on me and I can play it on the spot.  They'll ask when did I learn it and I'll say just now.

[tia123002]

This advice is very helpful and encouraging.

[under13]

Maestro nothing.  We got this.   ;DThe choir is always doing double takes when they spring a new song on me and I can play it on the spot.  They'll ask when did I learn it and I'll say just now.

thats cool, but then they expect you to be able do that with every song.

[themidiroom]

thats cool, but then they expect you to be able do that with every song.

Actually, it works out most of the time. There aren't many songs they've wanted to sing that I hadn't heard already.