Quick Tip #8: Practice In All 12 Keys

Another quick tip for you, number 8 in fact. And the tip this time is practice in all 12 keys. Of course, there are many of you who already practice in all 12 keys, and that’s brilliant. But there are still a lot of people who don’t do this. Practicing in all keys is going to give you the ability and the confidence to play just as great in F# or Db, as you do in C - so it’s a must for any jazz musician.

Some of the things you can practice in all keys are:

• Scales and modes

• Arpeggios

• Lines/licks/phrases

• Hexatonics

• Pentatonics

• Melodies/heads from jazz standards

If you’ve got a lick that works over a C7 chord, practice it in all 12 keys so you can use it on any dominant 7 chord when it comes up. You’ll also be able to use it in a chord substitution (check out my posts about substitutions for and against the chord and using chord substitutions with jazz lines, if you don’t know what that means). So, when you practice all those kinds of things - and maybe more - in all 12 keys, it really gets your brain working.

If you do all of the above, you’ll have great control over your instrument and no matter what is thrown at you, you’ll be able to handle it.