Transposing and Stuff

So, today I just wanted to briefly talk about this tool commonly found on digital pianos called: Transpose. Basically what transposing does is that it allows for the moving of a collection of notes with their pitches up or down by a constant interval. Doing so can lead to playing a song in an entirely different key but the hand positioning for the song will not change. It is an interesting tool to play around with and experiment on because it allows you to hear a song you play in a different key.

This becomes handy when dealing with certain songs that have difficult hand positioning (i.e songs that have 7 flats, groan*) and learning a song by ear. For example, if there’s a song that you would like to learn but everything is in Flats/Sharps, you might want to transpose it so that you play it on some white keys. I have done this for only one song so far which is the song that I shared the link to in my last post. The song required me to play a lot of black keys (flats/sharps) and I found it awkward to play in that configuration, so I learned another way to play the song by ear with easier hand positioning, except in a different key. However, with transpose, I adjusted the pitch in order to make it sound like the original. (Sorry if that was confusing.)

Although transpose is an interesting tool, I don’t see myself using it a whole lot; I can’t tell yet though since I still have a lot to learn! I just think the tool is interesting because it is able to shift the pitches of songs; this makes it pretty awesome to hear songs you already know in different keys. I have seen the function on many electronic pianos; however, I am not too sure if the process can be done on an acoustic piano. If anyone has other opinions on transposing let me know!

Piano Musing Episode 1: Things I Do To Help Learn by Ear

From time to time I’ll be doing random posts that consist of music musings. I wanted to talk about things that I do to learn a song by ear.

1. I pick a song that I really like. Something you identify with or just really like the sound of. This is really important! #PickASong

2. I listen to that song multiple times over and over (A LOT) to get an overall feel for the way it sounds. #Repetition

3. While listening I usually try and identify what parts are the intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and so on. #ThePartsOfASong

4. For the piano, I’ll also listen to the song’s melody. Melody is so key to me. It’s the voice and tune of the song. #Melody

5. The second part I listen closely for is the bass line. This is harder for me. It makes up the rhythm and deep sound of a song. #Bass

6. On the piano I’ll play around with the notes for the right hand first, for the melody. For me this is easier. #RightHand1st

7. Then, once I think I’ve got a good grasp of the right hand melody, I’ll do the same with the bass. #LeftHand2nd

8. Once I feel comfortable with each individual hand, I’ll try and put it together. Any changes or improvements I make along the way.

-Note that it takes quite a while to do this process (at least for me). Be sure to stop, rewind, forward, and pause as much as you need!

-Please also note that you can do the same process for guitar. We just find the melody and bass/rhythm for on fretboard instead.

I’ll end with a song I first wanted to learn by ear. It’s from a music rhythm game called DJMAX. And yes, #KPOP. It sounds REALLY catchy.