+fxdlriderny Arr comment of the day. I love to hearing this - I've been thinking a lot about the big picture lately, trying to boil things down to the few things that really matter, and this is one of the few things.
Hi Julian, Can't thank you enough for making it so easy, with your graphics & explanation. I was drowning, but now I now HOW to practice Intervals and learn them without pain. Tanya from Sydney, Australia
My exercise right now is to walk down the circle of 5ths and at each key, play a 7th shell in the left hand, and the 3 and 5 in the right. For maj7, min7, 7 and min7b5 chords. The goal is to be able to do this without looking at the keyboard at all. Still much, much else after that, but just having this down will mean I can start to play songs by ear, and/or play a basic version of a song straight off a lead sheet. Six months ago I wouldn't have thought this possible. Julian, you are so right about seeing those fingers wiggle and hesitate. The goal is to make that go away.
Very cool Julian! Thanks so much. So much is difficult for me at 70 years old but this is a “trick” that will really help me. Your mental arithmetic is exactly how my mind works. You just put all the steps together for me.
Thanks Julian! I've downloaded the tracks and they're helping me understand the subject a lot better! I recommend everyone to download these tracks. It's free, you just enter your email and the tracks get sent right to you!
It's easier for me to "assign" certain emotions to intervals - minor 3rd is spooky/sad, major 3rd is happy/meloncholy, perfect 5th is triumphant, minor 7th is sassy, etc. Of course, these emotional descriptions only apply to the raw interval out of context, since a major 3rd "feels" quite different as the upper 2/3 of a MINOR triad.
The "rule of nine" helped me in my earlier days, but I soon began using an amateurish version of what Julian's mapped out here. The rule of nine is: any interval plus its inversion equals 9 and its quality will reverse. So a minor 2 inverted becomes a major 7 (2 + 7 = 9). A major 3rd inverted becomes a minor 6th. Perfect intervals remain perfect. A perfect unison becomes a perfect octave (1 + 8 = 9) and perfect fourth inverted becomes perfect fifth (4 + 5 = 9). Tritones remain tritones of course.
It’s all about ear man. Now i know why you emphasise ear training that much. Without your ears guiding you, whatever interval you play, you are doomed. Thanks a lot dude. Cheers.
About 2 weeks ago I was watching the video Jaco Pastorius modern electric bass. In the interview he spoke of doing most of his learning away from his instrument in his brain.....I was inspired but not really sure how to begin..... You video is just what i needed to help put a focus to those first steps of visualization. Thanks a bunch!
This seems to be the natural way to learn intervals as I've been doing this without realizing it and quite a lot of comments state something similar. It still helps to be conscious of it, speeds up the learning process, so thanks for this video! Quality stuff, subbing for sure.
(Pt 2) Looking at intervals with a much more effective and efficient way would be this: for starters, every interval has an inversion that always adds up to 9... Up a perfect 5ths inversion would be a perfect 4th 5+4. Up a minor 7th inversion would be a major 2nd 7+2. And so on. With that being said, going further would be to say this with a major interval there will be a minor inversion. With a minor interval there will be a major inversion. With an augmented interval there will be a diminished inversion. With a diminished interval, you guessed it an augmented interval.
i really really love this, but i think it would be good to clarify that this is a great technique ~in tandem~ with and building upon what was shown above (remembering half whole fifth octave), not just a much more effective and efficient way on its own. because knowing that the inversion of a major 6th is a minor 3rd won't really help if one does not already know how to build both the major 6th and the minor 3rd. that being said, this is a tremendous piece of information and (after pairing it with what i learned in the video) i can already witness its value and effectiveness.
Julian, Thank you so very much. I’m a long time sax player and almost 2 years self taught at the piano. I’ve used music math in the past, but it always related back to the number of flats and sharps in the key, and then flatting a 7th or 9th. So the math I was using was more like algebra. This math is pure geometry. In the old math diminished chords are the hardest for me to voice. It took less than 10 minutes to learn the minor 3rd interval, and you know the rest. I cannot wait to learn my 5ths. Kenny Barron here we come!
One of the best tutorial, I had problem with descedent interval and I lose confidence to practice them, but after this video and table, everything is much easier and I practice interval again. Thank you very much:)
Another refreshingly clear and helpful tutorial. For me, this aspect of learning how to improvise is the most important of the lot. Until this knowledge becomes second nature, negotiating even a basic chart is just painfully slow and frustrating. Thanks for the useful tips. Looking forward to your next lesson! :)
I follow several piano gurus on UA-cam but I've come to appreciate Julian Bradley as maybe the best; he has a way of meeting exactly where I am in my learning and giving me tips and techniques that truly help me become a better "piano player." I've bought one of his books/courses and I work through all of his online videos. Thank you Julian for the way you break down difficult concepts and make me smarter and better at the keyboard!
+Paul Christy Wow! Paul this means so much for me to read. I had a feeling that this video was very important for me to make, but I didn't predict the heart felt comments that have followed it. I'm so happy to hear that I've helped break down musical concepts, and helped you with your playing. And thank you for buying my book and supporting my work. I have a lot of plans for the future and hope that I can help you much more in reaching your goals, Julian
Probably helps to be a guitarist - if you know the notes on a fretboard and you know what a 4th looks like you already know the notes. E.g. a fourth up from a G is just the same fret on the next string (C).
For the people having trouble learning/remembering their perfect fifths: A perfect fifth is *always from a white key to a white key* (from a natural to a natural) *or from a black key to a black key* (from a sharp to a sharp, or from a flat to a flat); *the only exceptions to this are fifths built on B and Bb* (only one letter/exception to remember, really).
Oooh, thanks. I know my perfect fifths, but this tip is actually going to help me remember the 4ths (with a couple of exceptions of course) because I can descend the same notes for the 4th.
So Awesome! Not only do you explain these lessons with perfect clarity, you really do have a grasp on the key points that help people understand. I just found your channel, but Im superbly grateful!! Thanks so much!
Many thanks for the tuitions Julian from Jim in Australia. I have used other tutorials, but yours is by far the most interesting. I find myself taking more time in practicing, because of this
I know this is a very minor waypoint on a very long journey, but I just sat down and played the chords in part A of Misty and within 15 minutes I had it down. This is because of a long weekend of drilling, drilling, drilling on 3, 5, and 7 in all 12 keys, and now my fingers just know where to go. Woohoo!
I only play a bit accordion. I have difficulties in knowing WHY a certain SEQUENCE of notes bring out or HELP a RYTHM FEEL! Even ethnicity and also defines better between a polka and a March or a paso double etc. Also I Can't get the triple feel in jazz, others I am ok! However, I notice that in jazz the 1st note in a measure is held longer and the pick up comes from a previous 4th count 8th note even the same note! Any suggestions? Thanks.
This is a really good exercise. I've been doing something similar to try and get the patterns and sounds of each modal scale into my musical reflex. One thing that has really helped is visualizing the fretboard or the keyboard in my mind so I can see the shape of the interval. It's easier for me to hear a fifth in my mind if I imagine playing C and G on the piano. It's kind of helped me map out the instrument and avoid searching for the right note. Really a great lesson. It's always nice to find something I'm excited to practice.
Great lesson Julian. Especially as you can do the exercises on the daily commute. I will add this to my practice repertoire and report back in a months time!
I've been using the memorising of fifths to determine my dominant 7 chords since the past two weeks. This whole thing you're doing with it, i love it. It's gonna help me a lot. Thanks for this!
this video will be very useful for those who think in intervals but for me, my ear and my fingers bypass my brain and help me play what I want to hear.
Music isn't just intervals though. We don't just hear note to note to note. Most music is tonal and the ear will hear notes as they relate to a tonal center. In other words, scale degrees.
Agreed. The reason why this exercise sound horrible is that it has absolute no notion of tonality. Everything gets much easier when you are working inside a tonality and the intervals used just sound natural. I think this kind of exercise is a good way to torture yourself, but won't help you much.
awesome--- this is what I try to do-- not nearly as well as you. i think all great players are doing this to some degree, and a lot is just scale and muscle memory. this is key to really hearing what's going on I believe! If you do this for a while you are on the path to having perfect relative pitch-- really helps any musician. thanks!
Oh Wow! Thank you for this! My brain is slow in making connections. I come to piano (and guitar) from a Brass perspective (Trombone, playing one note on the page at a time), and one of my hangups has been figuring out intervals in my head on the fly. I think this makes it so much easier for me to figure out, than trying to remember yet another mnemonic to try to remember something I am trying to remember.
Ok, an easy way to remember the 5ths is to think of the order that the sharps occur on the staff. FCGDAEB (or Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle) - you have to know this anyway. Once you can name a 5th above and note, the perfect 5th is the 5th that is in the same key as the starting note - you have too know key signatures anyway. Down a 5th is the same note as a 4th above which is just the order the flats occur on the staff BEADGCF (the word BEAD with CGF added to it). For a perfect 5th descending, again it must be in the same key as starting note. Example: a perfect 5th above an Eb has to involve B (see above order of sharps), but to be a perfect 5th, B must be flatted because Eb has three flats (Bb, Eb, Ab)
Dear Sir! You are truly a genious of a music educator!!!! I love your remarkable ability of making complicated concepts truly simple and easy to put into practice!!!Bless you sir for your clear and concise explanations so that a novice like myself can truly advance in my playing.
I think it is a lot of counting! With me, Roughly, in a quick glance I find it easier - From a white note, there are 3 blacks between a fifth. From black note there are 2 blacks! Most 5ths start & end same colour! To me the 5th guides others (6ths, 4ths etc.)
Your technique of staying in one key, the C minor, is quite similar to the Kodaly method of using the moveable "Do." The method uses "Do" as the tonic regardless of the key being used. I enjoy watching your videos and I have just started watching them today. I am sure I will learn a lot from you.
(Pt5) all that's now left is 2nds. The cycle of 2nds! (C D E F G A B C). Same thing to figure out 7ths. Look one back from what you're on. (Ex D look back one you get C). Now putting it all together: you have the cycle of 5ths, 4ths, 3rds, and 2nds to figure everything out. When figuring something out in a given key say F#, think of the different cycles but apply the accidentals for the key: F# = 6 sharps in that key. If you remember which key has what accidentals you'll never fail on the intervals. Say I wanted to get an augmented 6th in F#... Look at cycle of 3rds and go one back. That would give me D, but I'm in F# with 6 sharps. I know that D # is in F # already so I raise the D# one to get the augmented 6th and end up with D Double Sharp! Simple. Cheers
(Pt3) Right away we need to know that the 4th and 5th intervals are classified as 'perfect'. Perfect intervals lowered a halfstep become diminished and when raised a halfstep become augmented. The rest of intervals (2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths) are all considered 'Major' intervals. Meaning when they are lowered a half step they become 'minor' and when lowered another become 'diminished' and when raised a halfstep from major they then become 'augmented'. So that would be helpful to the learning pupil to get straight. You wouldn't want to say a minor 4th... Or perfect 6th...
Brilliant elegant system thanks..I now realize that this is the way I already think musically (I am self taught with a certain mastery of several instruments and voice) and I wouldn't have progressed as quickly as I did if I didn't have a good grasp of intervals..looking to return to my first instrument the piano/ keyboards pretty soon as soon as I have the cash. Thanks again😉
+Khurram Aziz Great to hear this Khurram - it's true - note names aren't important (D F# Bb etc) - it's the intervals that you should be thinking about
Julian, thank you for this. I feel like in an evening I realized I've been playing with intervals all along, but hadn't 'connected' the intervals I was playing between each hand. It's already changed the way I play and improvise. Thank you
+malfunkt Wow, I'm so pleased to hear this Malfunkt! I was the same way - people kept asking me if I think in 'notes' or 'numbers' - but the answer is 'intervals'. That's all I think in. I'm so pleased you've made this connection, and I really appreciate the comment!
this is probably THE MOST useful video ive cone across in a long time. refreshing. thumbs up. coming from a guitarist trying to transition to keyboards
For me the 4th is so close to the root that it's easier to just notice the four keys are between them(or 2 whole notes). From here if I need to find the fifth I'll just move up a whole step.
Thank you Julian! I cannot even begin to tell you how much this video means for me. From the first second on something finally clicked for me! I am most thankful and humbled by your willingness to share such amazin tips with us! Rene
+RRTheN00bPwner Arr it's my pleasure Rene! I've been dying to post this for so long. A lot of people ask me if I think in terms of notes (D F# Bb) or numbers (flat 2nd, 5th, etc) - but really I think in intervals - all day long, that's what music is. I'm glad I was able to convey the importance of this one thing - and I might post a follow up talking more about this. Thanks for the amazing comment - it made my day!
+jazztutorial you know what (quick update), I've been practicing this all day since this morning (while I was out shopping and while taking a bath) and I worked with the beginners mp3 you provided (and was able to pass it) - I just sat down at the piano and oh boy, IT WORKS. I tried to build some Kenny Barron Voicings or some So What voicings and by taking that new approach I was that much quicker to it! I was always thinking numbers and notes and that way is very complicated when it comes to sophisticated voicings. Just thinking intervalls is lefe changing! So I'll continue working withe the mp3 and try to get even faster and better. This truly is the holy grail! Be well, my friend and thanks!
+Doğukan Sezgin Absolutely - this applies to all instruments - if you want to understand harmony, the first step is master intervals. Glad this one helped, thanks Dogukan!
Hi Julian. I hsve a question. On the guitar fretboard its all half steps so every interval ( major 3rd, minor 3rd etc. ) constitutes a shape which is unique to that interval and always the same. What about intervals on the piano ? Are the shapes unison on the piano as on the guitar ?
Doğukan Sezgin, the irregular black and white pattern of the keyboard distorts the intervals on the keyboard. Your fingers need constant practice and cooperation with your ears to figure it out
I think my biggest thing is that even though I can play pretty decently I can't read music and I don't even know where all the notes are (without having to think). So this should really help out.
Como siempre: excelente clase!!! Pienso que es aplicable tambièn a otros instrumentos. Por ejemplo a instrumentos de viento. Y voy a practicarlo. Muchas gracias!
I found really easy way to learn and play fast all the fifths(it works for me) Super easy.So if you want to play a fifth of any white key you simple skip 3 white keys and the forth 4 white key will be the fifth.If you want to play a fifth of any black key you simple skip 2 black keys from your (rote note) and step on 3rd black key and thats how you will get a fifth of any black key.ALSO KEEP IN MIND this technique dont work with b(flat) and B when going up the keybord , and f(sharp) and F when going down the keybord.So you have only memorize those notes.
I feel like I’m watching one of those math videos the night before the math exam. Because I’ll audition on the 31th of may and I really need to start doing this exercise from now on every day
+Charles Fournier Arr thanks so much Charles! I'm so pleased you enjoyed this one, and I hope you're doing well :) Any new transcribed computer game melodies?
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and perspective upon learning and teaching, your videos are absolutely inspiring. can't stop watching them, I fell in love with music studies again.
+Bryan Holt Arr I'm so pleased Bryan - yes - this is the first thing I ask every musician - 'how are you with intervals?' Get good at this, and everything will become easy - it will be less effort to learn new things, you're playing will be quicker, less effort - everything. Thanks so much for the comment!
I don't understand the descending fifths - If you go down a fifth from D it's G - but if you go up a fifth from D its A. There is something about the semantics here that throws me off, and I can't even think of how to frame my question. Maybe: What is the utility of talking about descending intervals? We built chords going up the scale and that gives us a 5th as a scale degree but that scale degree under the root note is a different interval - a fourth. How do you sort out the concepts of scale degrees and intervals using the same terminology - fifths - that can mean different things?
(Pt4) Now for the easy way of looking at things. Remember the cycle of fifths (F C G D A E B) we've all heard of? Yes that will be how you remember your 5ths. For fourths you remember the cycle of fourths, think flat keys ( B E A D G C F: when you get to F it starts over again but with flats--- F Bb etc..) for thirds the cycle of thirds: (F A C E G B D) remember the inversions game. Thirds inverted become 6ths 3+6=9. So for 6ths you look at cycle of 3rds and look back one from what you're figuring out. (Ex G looking back one would be E)
My high school chorus teacher taught us two things: Intervals, and one song in 4 part harmony. Nothing else - it's all right there for the rest of your life. The interval is the tape measure by which everything else in music is constructed.
It's these kinds of things that encourage me to continue learning when I have been feeling overwhelmed. Thank you!
+fxdlriderny Arr comment of the day. I love to hearing this - I've been thinking a lot about the big picture lately, trying to boil things down to the few things that really matter, and this is one of the few things.
Once you have the bulk of "Big Picture" items, please put together a playlist of the same. Just discovered you - THANK YOU!
i completely agree.
Hi Julian,
Can't thank you enough for making it so easy, with your graphics & explanation. I was drowning, but now I now
HOW to practice Intervals and learn them without pain.
Tanya
from Sydney, Australia
My exercise right now is to walk down the circle of 5ths and at each key, play a 7th shell in the left hand, and the 3 and 5 in the right. For maj7, min7, 7 and min7b5 chords. The goal is to be able to do this without looking at the keyboard at all. Still much, much else after that, but just having this down will mean I can start to play songs by ear, and/or play a basic version of a song straight off a lead sheet. Six months ago I wouldn't have thought this possible. Julian, you are so right about seeing those fingers wiggle and hesitate. The goal is to make that go away.
Very cool Julian! Thanks so much. So much is difficult for me at 70 years old but this is a “trick” that will really help me. Your mental arithmetic is exactly how my mind works. You just put all the steps together for me.
Thanks Julian! I've downloaded the tracks and they're helping me understand the subject a lot better! I recommend everyone to download these tracks. It's free, you just enter your email and the tracks get sent right to you!
It's easier for me to "assign" certain emotions to intervals - minor 3rd is spooky/sad, major 3rd is happy/meloncholy, perfect 5th is triumphant, minor 7th is sassy, etc. Of course, these emotional descriptions only apply to the raw interval out of context, since a major 3rd "feels" quite different as the upper 2/3 of a MINOR triad.
The "rule of nine" helped me in my earlier days, but I soon began using an amateurish version of what Julian's mapped out here. The rule of nine is: any interval plus its inversion equals 9 and its quality will reverse. So a minor 2 inverted becomes a major 7
(2 + 7 = 9). A major 3rd inverted becomes a minor 6th. Perfect intervals remain perfect. A perfect unison becomes a
perfect octave (1 + 8 = 9) and perfect fourth inverted becomes perfect fifth (4 + 5 = 9). Tritones remain tritones of course.
With all the content you have given us ... All we need to do is take the time to study and practice! Thx so much!
It’s all about ear man. Now i know why you emphasise ear training that much. Without your ears guiding you, whatever interval you play, you are doomed. Thanks a lot dude. Cheers.
I really appreciate how you took the time to actually go through the examples like that.
About 2 weeks ago I was watching the video Jaco Pastorius modern electric bass. In the interview he spoke of doing most of his learning away from his instrument in his brain.....I was inspired but not really sure how to begin..... You video is just what i needed to help put a focus to those first steps of visualization. Thanks a bunch!
You're very precise and almost surgical like in how you explain things .... you manage to boil it down ... Excellent tips.
This seems to be the natural way to learn intervals as I've been doing this without realizing it and quite a lot of comments state something similar. It still helps to be conscious of it, speeds up the learning process, so thanks for this video! Quality stuff, subbing for sure.
(Pt 2) Looking at intervals with a much more effective and efficient way would be this: for starters, every interval has an inversion that always adds up to 9... Up a perfect 5ths inversion would be a perfect 4th 5+4. Up a minor 7th inversion would be a major 2nd 7+2. And so on. With that being said, going further would be to say this with a major interval there will be a minor inversion. With a minor interval there will be a major inversion. With an augmented interval there will be a diminished inversion. With a diminished interval, you guessed it an augmented interval.
Matt Burns notably, the tritone inverts to itself, which is important in later concepts like tritone substitutions.
Yes, this might be even more useful for descending down intervals. Thanks!
i really really love this, but i think it would be good to clarify that this is a great technique ~in tandem~ with and building upon what was shown above (remembering half whole fifth octave), not just a much more effective and efficient way on its own. because knowing that the inversion of a major 6th is a minor 3rd won't really help if one does not already know how to build both the major 6th and the minor 3rd.
that being said, this is a tremendous piece of information and (after pairing it with what i learned in the video) i can already witness its value and effectiveness.
Julian, Thank you so very much. I’m a long time sax player and almost 2 years self taught at the piano. I’ve used music math in the past, but it always related back to the number of flats and sharps in the key, and then flatting a 7th or 9th.
So the math I was using was more like algebra. This math is pure geometry. In the old math diminished chords are the hardest for me to voice. It took less than 10 minutes to learn the minor 3rd interval, and you know the rest.
I cannot wait to learn my 5ths. Kenny Barron here we come!
One of the best tutorial, I had problem with descedent interval and I lose confidence to practice them, but after this video and table, everything is much easier and I practice interval again. Thank you very much:)
Another refreshingly clear and helpful tutorial. For me, this aspect of learning how to improvise is the most important of the lot. Until this knowledge becomes second nature, negotiating even a basic chart is just painfully slow and frustrating. Thanks for the useful tips. Looking forward to your next lesson! :)
This single video totally changed the way I play. Instead of remembering chords I can now build them! Thank you so much.
I follow several piano gurus on UA-cam but I've come to appreciate Julian Bradley as maybe the best; he has a way of meeting exactly where I am in my learning and giving me tips and techniques that truly help me become a better "piano player." I've bought one of his books/courses and I work through all of his online videos. Thank you Julian for the way you break down difficult concepts and make me smarter and better at the keyboard!
+Paul Christy Wow! Paul this means so much for me to read. I had a feeling that this video was very important for me to make, but I didn't predict the heart felt comments that have followed it.
I'm so happy to hear that I've helped break down musical concepts, and helped you with your playing. And thank you for buying my book and supporting my work. I have a lot of plans for the future and hope that I can help you much more in reaching your goals,
Julian
Probably helps to be a guitarist - if you know the notes on a fretboard and you know what a 4th looks like you already know the notes. E.g. a fourth up from a G is just the same fret on the next string (C).
For the people having trouble learning/remembering their perfect fifths:
A perfect fifth is *always from a white key to a white key* (from a natural to a natural) *or from a black key to a black key* (from a sharp to a sharp, or from a flat to a flat); *the only exceptions to this are fifths built on B and Bb* (only one letter/exception to remember, really).
Oooh, thanks. I know my perfect fifths, but this tip is actually going to help me remember the 4ths (with a couple of exceptions of course) because I can descend the same notes for the 4th.
Excellent advice. Intervals are the basics.
So Awesome!
Not only do you explain these lessons with perfect clarity, you really do have a grasp on the key points that help people understand. I just found your channel, but Im superbly grateful!! Thanks so much!
Many thanks for the tuitions Julian from Jim in Australia.
I have used other tutorials, but yours is by far the most interesting. I find myself taking more time in practicing, because of this
I know this is a very minor waypoint on a very long journey, but I just sat down and played the chords in part A of Misty and within 15 minutes I had it down. This is because of a long weekend of drilling, drilling, drilling on 3, 5, and 7 in all 12 keys, and now my fingers just know where to go. Woohoo!
This mental exercise it so true. Other similar method is using singing and check the tunes occasionally on piano.
I only play a bit accordion. I have difficulties in knowing WHY a certain SEQUENCE of notes bring out or HELP a RYTHM FEEL! Even ethnicity and also defines better between a polka and a March or a paso double etc. Also I Can't get the triple feel in jazz, others I am ok! However, I notice that in jazz the 1st note in a measure is held longer and the pick up comes from a previous 4th count 8th note even the same note! Any suggestions? Thanks.
Really helpful. This is how I think of music but I've never heard anyone articulate it so clearly before. Thanks.
This is a really good exercise. I've been doing something similar to try and get the patterns and sounds of each modal scale into my musical reflex. One thing that has really helped is visualizing the fretboard or the keyboard in my mind so I can see the shape of the interval. It's easier for me to hear a fifth in my mind if I imagine playing C and G on the piano. It's kind of helped me map out the instrument and avoid searching for the right note. Really a great lesson. It's always nice to find something I'm excited to practice.
Great lesson Julian. Especially as you can do the exercises on the daily commute. I will add this to my practice repertoire and report back in a months time!
I've been using the memorising of fifths to determine my dominant 7 chords since the past two weeks. This whole thing you're doing with it, i love it. It's gonna help me a lot. Thanks for this!
God bless man. Honestly the most comprehensive way to approach piano that I've learned this far.
this video will be very useful for those who think in intervals but for me, my ear and my fingers bypass my brain and help me play what I want to hear.
Music isn't just intervals though. We don't just hear note to note to note. Most music is tonal and the ear will hear notes as they relate to a tonal center. In other words, scale degrees.
Agreed. The reason why this exercise sound horrible is that it has absolute no notion of tonality. Everything gets much easier when you are working inside a tonality and the intervals used just sound natural. I think this kind of exercise is a good way to torture yourself, but won't help you much.
awesome--- this is what I try to do-- not nearly as well as you. i think all great players are doing this to some degree, and a lot is just scale and muscle memory. this is key to really hearing what's going on I believe! If you do this for a while you are on the path to having perfect relative pitch-- really helps any musician. thanks!
Julian you absolutely right. This is what is working for me, even when practicing sight reading☺☺
Oh Wow! Thank you for this! My brain is slow in making connections. I come to piano (and guitar) from a Brass perspective (Trombone, playing one note on the page at a time), and one of my hangups has been figuring out intervals in my head on the fly. I think this makes it so much easier for me to figure out, than trying to remember yet another mnemonic to try to remember something I am trying to remember.
have no words to express my gratitude. thank you , excellent
Ok, an easy way to remember the 5ths is to think of the order that the sharps occur on the staff. FCGDAEB (or Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle) - you have to know this anyway. Once you can name a 5th above and note, the perfect 5th is the 5th that is in the same key as the starting note - you have too know key signatures anyway. Down a 5th is the same note as a 4th above which is just the order the flats occur on the staff BEADGCF (the word BEAD with CGF added to it). For a perfect 5th descending, again it must be in the same key as starting note. Example: a perfect 5th above an Eb has to involve B (see above order of sharps), but to be a perfect 5th, B must be flatted because Eb has three flats (Bb, Eb, Ab)
Dear Sir! You are truly a genious of a music educator!!!! I love your remarkable ability of making complicated concepts truly simple and easy to put into practice!!!Bless you sir for your clear and concise explanations so that a novice like myself can truly advance in my playing.
HalleluYah awesome ! Keep up the greet work!!!! Your labor of love is not in vain ! Blessings
I think it is a lot of counting! With me, Roughly, in a quick glance I find it easier - From a white note, there are 3 blacks between a fifth. From black note there are 2 blacks! Most 5ths start & end same colour! To me the 5th guides others (6ths, 4ths etc.)
THIS IS AMAZING teachjng Julian you are a gifted teacher thank you so much! Billy Gebbie
You are a masterful educator!
You are my new favorite channel. Iv been searching everywhere for musical brain exercises made simple.
i did the same when i was age 17-18 but only just with scales, and like you, no one ever told me that. im glad to know im not alone :-)
Your technique of staying in one key, the C minor, is quite similar to the Kodaly method of using the moveable "Do." The method uses "Do" as the tonic regardless of the key being used. I enjoy watching your videos and I have just started watching them today. I am sure I will learn a lot from you.
(Pt5) all that's now left is 2nds. The cycle of 2nds! (C D E F G A B C). Same thing to figure out 7ths. Look one back from what you're on. (Ex D look back one you get C). Now putting it all together: you have the cycle of 5ths, 4ths, 3rds, and 2nds to figure everything out. When figuring something out in a given key say F#, think of the different cycles but apply the accidentals for the key: F# = 6 sharps in that key. If you remember which key has what accidentals you'll never fail on the intervals. Say I wanted to get an augmented 6th in F#... Look at cycle of 3rds and go one back. That would give me D, but I'm in F# with 6 sharps. I know that D # is in F # already so I raise the D# one to get the augmented 6th and end up with D Double Sharp! Simple. Cheers
super helpful!
(Pt3) Right away we need to know that the 4th and 5th intervals are classified as 'perfect'. Perfect intervals lowered a halfstep become diminished and when raised a halfstep become augmented. The rest of intervals (2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths) are all considered 'Major' intervals. Meaning when they are lowered a half step they become 'minor' and when lowered another become 'diminished' and when raised a halfstep from major they then become 'augmented'. So that would be helpful to the learning pupil to get straight. You wouldn't want to say a minor 4th... Or perfect 6th...
Brilliant elegant system thanks..I now realize that this is the way I already think musically (I am self taught with a certain mastery of several instruments and voice) and I wouldn't have progressed as quickly as I did if I didn't have a good grasp of intervals..looking to return to my first instrument the piano/ keyboards pretty soon as soon as I have the cash.
Thanks again😉
+Khurram Aziz Great to hear this Khurram - it's true - note names aren't important (D F# Bb etc) - it's the intervals that you should be thinking about
Julian, thank you for this. I feel like in an evening I realized I've been playing with intervals all along, but hadn't 'connected' the intervals I was playing between each hand. It's already changed the way I play and improvise. Thank you
+malfunkt Wow, I'm so pleased to hear this Malfunkt! I was the same way - people kept asking me if I think in 'notes' or 'numbers' - but the answer is 'intervals'. That's all I think in.
I'm so pleased you've made this connection, and I really appreciate the comment!
Thank you sir for teaching us. This is so effective
this is probably THE MOST useful video ive cone across in a long time. refreshing. thumbs up. coming from a guitarist trying to transition to keyboards
Amazing stuff
+Hendrick Samuel Thank you Hendrick!
Great tips and exercises - I have actually done the same myself, but never thought of it before you said it.
Brilliant Julian... you are very very good teacher... thx very much.
For me the 4th is so close to the root that it's easier to just notice the four keys are between them(or 2 whole notes).
From here if I need to find the fifth I'll just move up a whole step.
+Elliott Smith whatever you say mr smith
Loving your last two videos. Thanks
Thank you Julian! I cannot even begin to tell you how much this video means for me. From the first second on something finally clicked for me! I am most thankful and humbled by your willingness to share such amazin tips with us! Rene
+RRTheN00bPwner Arr it's my pleasure Rene! I've been dying to post this for so long. A lot of people ask me if I think in terms of notes (D F# Bb) or numbers (flat 2nd, 5th, etc) - but really I think in intervals - all day long, that's what music is. I'm glad I was able to convey the importance of this one thing - and I might post a follow up talking more about this.
Thanks for the amazing comment - it made my day!
+jazztutorial you know what (quick update), I've been practicing this all day since this morning (while I was out shopping and while taking a bath) and I worked with the beginners mp3 you provided (and was able to pass it) - I just sat down at the piano and oh boy, IT WORKS. I tried to build some Kenny Barron Voicings or some So What voicings and by taking that new approach I was that much quicker to it! I was always thinking numbers and notes and that way is very complicated when it comes to sophisticated voicings. Just thinking intervalls is lefe changing! So I'll continue working withe the mp3 and try to get even faster and better. This truly is the holy grail! Be well, my friend and thanks!
Interval training is paramount I tell all my students this ❤❤
great lesson. the same princible can be applied to guitar. chords, scales, melodies everything is intervals. cheers mate ! ;)
+Doğukan Sezgin Absolutely - this applies to all instruments - if you want to understand harmony, the first step is master intervals. Glad this one helped, thanks Dogukan!
Hi Julian. I hsve a question. On the guitar fretboard its all half steps so every interval ( major 3rd, minor 3rd etc. ) constitutes a shape which is unique to that interval and always the same. What about intervals on the piano ? Are the shapes unison on the piano as on the guitar ?
Doğukan Sezgin, the irregular black and white pattern of the keyboard distorts the intervals on the keyboard. Your fingers need constant practice and cooperation with your ears to figure it out
all i got to say is thank you for sharing your talent
I think my biggest thing is that even though I can play pretty decently I can't read music and I don't even know where all the notes are (without having to think). So this should really help out.
Great tips,Thanks Julian!
Thanks Julian :D Have a great weekend.
Very good exercise. Thanks!
Thanks! I have decided to take up my childhood dream of learning music on the piano. This is VERY helpful.
Yooo three years later, are you still going for it? Would be awesome!
Your training style is pretty unique and highly effective. Thank you.
I am doing this all the time in my head, glad to hear it can actually help my improvisation
Awesome man!!! Well thought of and produced. Way to go Julian :)
Como siempre: excelente clase!!! Pienso que es aplicable tambièn a otros instrumentos. Por ejemplo a instrumentos de viento. Y voy a practicarlo.
Muchas gracias!
I found really easy way to learn and play fast all the fifths(it works for me) Super easy.So if you want to play a fifth of any white key you simple skip 3 white keys and the forth 4 white key will be the fifth.If you want to play a fifth of any black key you simple skip 2 black keys from your (rote note) and step on 3rd black key and thats how you will get a fifth of any black key.ALSO KEEP IN MIND this technique dont work with b(flat) and B when going up the keybord , and f(sharp) and F when going down the keybord.So you have only memorize those notes.
Wauw, what a quality content, thank you for putting that effort in in. Its my first time i hear it explained that clear and costructive!!
Thank you for all your time!!!
"My Man!" *Denzel's Voice*
I liked the video even before watching It, this how good this channel!!
Very nice video. Thanks. I like the exercise and I also like the idea of thinking of chords as nothing but intervals. Makes it easy
Just subscribed! Thanks for being so clear at explaining and teaching music! Keep it up!
bro your videos are sooooo good
I feel like I’m watching one of those math videos the night before the math exam.
Because I’ll audition on the 31th of may and I really need to start doing this exercise from now on every day
Another AMAZING video. Thank you Mr.Bradley!!! :)
+Charles Fournier Arr thanks so much Charles! I'm so pleased you enjoyed this one, and I hope you're doing well :)
Any new transcribed computer game melodies?
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and perspective upon learning and teaching, your videos are absolutely inspiring. can't stop watching them, I fell in love with music studies again.
Tremendous value! From the bottom of my 'Visual Learner' heart - thank you. Holy Grail is right!
+Bryan Holt Arr I'm so pleased Bryan - yes - this is the first thing I ask every musician - 'how are you with intervals?' Get good at this, and everything will become easy - it will be less effort to learn new things, you're playing will be quicker, less effort - everything. Thanks so much for the comment!
Thanks!!
Appreciate the video and mp3 tracks, it was really helpful to count intervals.
+Don Hahm Thank you Don! I'm so pleased to hear this. Really glad this one helped :)
5ths are super easy to memorize, just take the third note of the major or minor chord.
maaan thanks so much, i was looking for omething like this for months!!
I don't understand the descending fifths - If you go down a fifth from D it's G - but if you go up a fifth from D its A. There is something about the semantics here that throws me off, and I can't even think of how to frame my question. Maybe: What is the utility of talking about descending intervals? We built chords going up the scale and that gives us a 5th as a scale degree but that scale degree under the root note is a different interval - a fourth. How do you sort out the concepts of scale degrees and intervals using the same terminology - fifths - that can mean different things?
Thank you for the video :) One thing: The jingle playing when the questions come up completely distracted me when thinking of the interval.
I really appreciate your tutorials! Thank you!
This is truly awesome! This knowledge is just great, I have been wanting to learn piano and videos like this REALLY HELP! Thank you sooo much!
The freeze frames are great. Just stay calm and let your brain work it out!
Jill
+Jill Bellchambers And hit pause if you need more time! I have a follow up video to this one where there's lots of testing - aka more freeze frames!
(Pt4) Now for the easy way of looking at things. Remember the cycle of fifths (F C G D A E B) we've all heard of? Yes that will be how you remember your 5ths. For fourths you remember the cycle of fourths, think flat keys ( B E A D G C F: when you get to F it starts over again but with flats--- F Bb etc..) for thirds the cycle of thirds: (F A C E G B D) remember the inversions game. Thirds inverted become 6ths 3+6=9. So for 6ths you look at cycle of 3rds and look back one from what you're figuring out. (Ex G looking back one would be E)
I'm gonna try that out - thanks fpr your useful tips!
Excellent video as always! I look forward to future lessons :)
+Blake Davis Thank you Blake! So pleased you like this one - I'm posting a deleted scene from this lesson in a couple of days too
Thanks a lot Julian!
You are a game changer
Thanks!
What a great channel! Love your video editing!
My high school chorus teacher taught us two things: Intervals, and one song in 4 part harmony. Nothing else - it's all right there for the rest of your life. The interval is the tape measure by which everything else in music is constructed.
Excellent!