“What real book should I buy?

Jazz Tutorial FAQs First, make sure you get a real book that’s ‘in C’ (anything ‘in Bb’ or
another key is for transposing instruments like saxophone).

EQUIPMENT QUESTIONS
“What equipment do I need to learn jazz
piano?”
You need two things - a piano, and a real book.
“What piano do you use?”
For my videos, I use a Roland RD 700 SX.
This is an old model - no longer sold. The 2000 is the newer version:
https://amzn.to/3azfwvE
In recent videos (2019 onwards) I use piano sounds from a VST
called ‘Keyscape’ by Spectrasonics. You’ll need to connect your
electric piano to a computer for this to work, and to own a
sequencer like Logic X (quite technical to setup if you’re not familiar
with these terms).
“What piano should I buy?”
If you’re playing at home (and not gigging) then I prefer to play an
acoustic piano (made of wood and strings). For most people, a
second hand upright piano will be ideal - but hard to move.
Whether you want electric or acoustic, make sure you play the
instrument in the shop before buying it. Above all, choose a piano
that you LOVE to play - that’s what will attract you back to it again
and again to play.
Second, browse the song titles for each real book, and choose the
book that has the most songs you’d like to learn.
Here are 4 great real books which I own and use (all in C):
• ‘The Standards Real Book’ by Sher Music (this is the book that I
learned jazz piano with): https://amzn.to/32VJhE9
• ‘The Real Book: Sixth Edition’ (beige): https://amzn.to/2VMxCpz
• ‘The Real Book Volume II’ (red): https://amzn.to/38pIT1N
• ‘The Real Book Volume III’ (grey): https://amzn.to/38oH05C
If you’re a serious jazz pianist, you can buy more than one real book
- now that I have all 4 books (above) it’s nice having the sheet music
to virtually every jazz song you’ll ever want to play.
“What music notation software do you use?”
I use Sibelius software to produce my sheet music:
https://amzn.to/2VOEgfe
The links above are affiliate links - which means I receive a
small commission if you purchase through these links. You will
be charged no additional cost.

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BARRIERS TO LEARNING CONCERNS
Old Age: “I’m 70+, 80+, 90+… Am I too old to
learn?”
This is the most frequent question I get asked.
No - being old isn’t going to stop you learning jazz piano, or music in
general. This is especially true if you played a bit of music at a
younger age, and are now returning (versus starting piano
completely from scratch at age 80).
I have hundreds of success emails from audience members in their
80s and older. Ray Huckell from Canada has been studying jazz piano
intensely for the last 10 years. He’s 84, and he knows all the jazz
theory there is. We have deep conversations by phone, and he has
learned all of this from ages 74-84. He’s as sharp as anyone I’ve
spoken to in their 20s about jazz.
There’s pros and cons - whatever age you are. If you’re retired, then
you’ll have much more TIME than most 30-40 year olds. You’ll be able
to immerse yourself in jazz more than any busy parent.
You probably have less distractions.
I consider ‘lack of time’ to be a far bigger barrier to my audience -
not age.
As Henry Ford said:
“Whether you believe you can, or you can’t - you’re right.”
Small Hands: “I can’t stretch more than an
octave. Is this a problem for jazz?”
No - small hands are not a problem in jazz.
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
There’s been plenty of jazz pianists with small hands - Vince Guaraldi
being one of them. You just adapt your style of playing to fit your
hand size.
Most chord voicings I play do not stretch more than a 7th in each
hand.
There’s only one chord voicing which I commonly play that requires
a 9th stretch - and that’s the Kenny Barron 11th voicing:
C G D Eb Bb F (for C minor 11).
If you want to play this voicing but can’t stretch the 9th - hold down
the pedal and ripple it. Or arpeggiate it upwards in a syncopated
rhythm (which is often how I play it).
Limited Time: “I don’t have enough time to
practice”
This is the only REAL barrier on the list - ‘No time to practice’. To
get really good at music, you have to focus on music daily for a
period of time (in my experience, 2 years).
I did 80% of my musical development in a short 2-year period (aged
17-19). During this time I immersed myself in music every day. I was
playing piano for 1-2 hours a day (preparing for my grade 8 piano
exam). I was transcribing songs by ear (any time I listened to music). I
was studying music theory in my 6th form college classes. And I even
practiced music in my head while I was getting the train to and from
school - I used to count intervals in my head.
This is what it takes to master music - a 2 year period where you’re
able to focus on music.
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After that, I continued studying music at college, undergrad and day. Do NOT have your piano in a far away spare room. Make it as
masters - but I never experienced so much learning as the 2 years easy as possible to sit down and start playing - lid open, piano
when I was 17-19. stool in position, minimal devices to connect and switch on.

FINDING TIME TO PRACTICE Practice QUESTIONS

“How can I get more time to practice?” “How can I practice music when I’m away from
my instrument?”
A few ideas to:
There are 2 exercises that I you should practice when you’re away
• Get rid of television (I didn’t have a television in my house
from your instrument (they should be practiced away from your
growing up - and I don’t have one now)
instrument):
• Limit entertainment - entertainment IS NOT an essential human
need. Save your entertainment until the end of the day, after the • Counting Intervals: To learn music theory, you have to memorize
your intervals. You have to know what a 5th above F# is. Or
hard work has been done.
what’s a tritone up from Ab? What’s a minor 7th up from Eb?
• Limit phone time (there were no smart phones when I learned Practice counting all 12 intervals from all 12 notes. Do this in your
music - I don’t think I’d have gone as far with music if I’d had a mind, away from your instrument. This exercise will speed up your
smart phone while I was learning). Switch your phone off, or put it jazz piano playing (every chord voicing is an interval pattern), and
in a hard to access place (like a garage). Or if you’re really serious it will make learning music theory EASY (you’ll be able to learn
- settle for a non-smart phone. I know several very successful new interval patterns quickly).
people who don’t carry a phone (Christopher Nolan is one of
them).
• Get up earlier (and go to bed earlier). Early morning is excellent
time to practice - it’s when most professional musicians practice,
first thing.
• Build a daily habit - the first few days of practicing daily are the
hardest. Once you establish a daily practice routine (preferably in
the morning), you’ll start to do it without thinking. Practice at the
same time each day to make train yourself to do it.
• Place your piano somewhere that’s easy to get to. Put it
somewhere visible, that you walk past many times throughout the

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Practice tip: Count all 12 intervals from all 12 notes.
• Ear Training: Listen to music and transcribe it by ear (figure out
the notes and chords). If you’re a beginner, just try to figure out
the melody by ear - then test out your answer when you get
home. If you’re not listening to music, then choose a famous song
you know - like Happy Birthday, or a Christmas song.
These 2 exercises were crucial to my own musical success - I
recommend these more than anything else you could practice.
Practice tip: Become an ‘active listener’ - attempt to transcribe every
song you listen to. Then test your answer at the piano.
BEGINNER QUESTIONS (JAZZ PIANO)
“I’m a beginner - where should I start?”
1. Piano Technique: Before you start learning jazz, first I
recommend at least 5 years piano playing experience - so that you
have a grasp on the instrument, fingering, pedaling, etc This will allow
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
you to focus on the music theory that you’ll be learning (jazz piano is
95% theory).
2. Counting Intervals: Now you’re ready to start learning jazz
theory. First you have to learn how to count intervals (mentioned
above). Watch video one from my ‘Interval Arithmetic’ course here:

Video: Click here to watch ‘Interval Arithmetic Explained’ (15 mins)
3. Jazz Chords & Theory: Next, I’d recommend my video ‘Jazz
Theory Explained In 20 Minutes’ - watch it here:
Video: Click here to watch ‘Jazz Theory Explained’ (20 mins)
4. 2-5-1s Through All Keys: After that, I recommend practicing
playing the 2-5-1 chord progression through all 12 keys. Here’s the
most basic type of voicings you must master first with your left hand:
Notice that the V chord is played in 2nd inversion, which creates
smooth voice leading and allows you to keep your hand in the same
place.
Watch one of my premium lessons on this exercise here:
Video: Click here to watch ‘2-5-1 Voicings Lesson’ (8 mins)
These are the fundamentals which must be learned FIRST. After that,
it’s more flexible what order you learn things. You can keep adding
things onto this foundation and it should all make sense.
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“Have you made a video on …?”
See my Jazz Tutorial Roadmap document, which lists my most
important YouTube videos:
Click here to see my ‘Video Road Map’
“I need is a study plan that will help me
advance without wasting time”
If you want to take the most direct learning path I can offer, the Jazz
Tutorial Membership is what I recommend. You can subscribe for as
little as one month, and it gives you access to all of my jazz piano
courses. The courses are laid in order, one course goes to the next,
and it teaches you jazz piano from the ground up (rather than
jumping between random topics). The Jazz Tutorial courses teach you
everything once, in order. You don’t have to waste time repeating
things you already know:
Get access to all jazz courses for as little as 30 days:
Click here to see membership details
To play jazz songs from a real music you’ll need to be able to read
treble clef (just for the melody - there’s no bass clef usually). The
most important part is learning to read the pitches (the notes), not
so much the rhythm. The rhythm is what takes longer to grasp, and
you can get by without it.
Click here to watch ‘How To Read Music In 15 Minutes’
PIANO TECHNIQUE
“What can I practice to improve my piano
technique?”
Here are a few things I’ve always focused on in my practice:
- Playing Chords ‘As One’ - play any series of chords, and focus on
playing all notes in the chord at the exact same time. There should
be no delay to any of the notes. To do this, find your fingers to the
notes of the chord, then lock your hand, and finally push down
with your wrist - to play the chord ‘as one’:

READING MUSIC
“I don’t read music - can I still learn
music?”
I recommend learning to read music - at least the basics. It’s one of
the easier things to learn, and can be learned quickly. It will help you
to learn music - because you’ll be able to glance at a theory book, or
a website, and identify the notes in the sheet music. It will increase - Rippling Chords - next, play the same series of chords and this
your confidence in your ability. And it will allow you to play songs time, ripple every single chord (play each note in ascending order
from a book.

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 with a very slight delay between each note). This is used often in
jazz piano to highlight specific chords:
- Playing In Time - Practice playing slowly to a metronome. You
can use a song that you know, or play a scale up and down, or play
a series of chords. Practice to a slow tempo (around 60BPM). If
you can’t play in time at a slow tempo, then you won’t magically
be able to play in time at a faster / normal tempo. Slow practice is
key to everything.
- Record Yourself - record yourself playing on a phone, then listen
to the recording. Imagine you’re listening to someone else playing,
and ask yourself ‘what don’t I like about this performance?’ There
will always be one thing that catches your attention above all else
- now develop a practice exercise to focus on that one thing (Yes!
You have permission to create your own exercises).
“How do I know if I have good technique?”
You should make sure that your piano stool (or seat) is at the right
height. You should have a horizontal line from your elbows, down
your forearms, to your hands - which is level with the piano keys.
Your forearms should not be diagonal to the floor - either reaching
up to the piano keys, or downwards.
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
Adjust your stool or seat so that your forearms are parallel with the
floor. It doesn’t matter how high or low the stool is (this will be
based on how tall you are) - you just want your forearms to be
Sit up straight - don’t slouch over.
Photograph or film yourself from the side to see if you look
You should know basic good posture when you see it.
“Do I need a piano teacher?”
It’s a great idea to meet with a piano teacher in person - especially
to help with your technique, and to spot any bad habits you could be
ingraining without know it.
You don’t have to sign up for years of piano lessons (if you don’t
want to). You can literally book 1 or 2 lessons with one teacher to
get their input. Then you could do the same with a different teacher.
Music theory can be learned online - but when it comes to piano
technique, it’s best to meet with a piano teacher in person.
MUSIC THEORY QUESTIONS
“Why should I take time to learn music
theory?”
Music theory is essential if you want to do anything creative with
music - if you want to compose your own music, if you want to
create your own arrangements of songs, if you want to be FREE from
reading sheet music.
Music theory is essential if you want to understand how music
works.
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The only thing you can do without learning music theory is play
songs from sheet music. To read sheet music, you don’t need to
understand anything.
I didn’t used to enjoy theory lessons (purely because I had the
wrong teacher). ‘Theory’ isn’t the right word for it - it makes it
sound unappealing. But it is absolutely fascinating. I think it needs to
be presented in the right way - picking up a ‘music theory for
dummies’ book can kill this very special topic.
I got interested in music theory when I realized I could use it for my
compositions - the more theory I learned, the more interesting my
music could be. Music theory gives you new tools which you can use
in your music creation.
You could rename ‘music theory’ to ‘composition tools’.
Of course, some of that theory is just fundamental and doesn’t seem
very rewarding (e.g. learning intervals, learning chord types, etc) but
once you’ve memorized those fundamentals, it’s all there to help you
with your creativity.
All of the great musicians have learned music theory - you’re never
going to create anything interesting without learning theory.
“What are ‘relative major & minor’ scales?”
For every major scale that exists, there is a ‘relative minor scale’
which also uses the same 7 notes - it just starts from a different
note.
The relative minor scale is always found by counting down a minor
3rd from the major scale’s root note.
So C major scale’s relative minor scale is A minor.
F major scale’s relative minor scale would be D minor.
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
Bb major scale’s relative minor scale is G minor - and so on.
Both scales are built of the same 7 notes - so they have the same
sharps and flats.
So every key signature represents both a major scale, and a minor
scale:
The key signature for Bb major (Bb and Eb) is used for songs that
are in Bb major, and songs that are in G minor.
“How do I figure out what key a song is in?”
First, here is the thorough method:
Look at the key signature (the display of sharps and flats at the
beginning of the sheet music - these sharps and flats stay in place
throughout the song).
Use the key signature to tell you the major scale first:
- Sharp keys: the last sharp in the key signature will always be the
major 7th of the major scale - so just count up a half-step (or
down a major 7th if you want to do it the hard way) to find the
major scale’s root note. E.g. F# - would be G major scale. C#
would be D major. And so on.
- Flat keys: the last flat in the key signature will always be the 4th of
the major scale - so just count down a 4th to find the major
scale’s root note. E.g. Bb - would be F major scale. Eb would be Bb
major. And so on.
So this tells you the major scale that the music MIGHT be in. But it
could also be in the relative minor scale…
So next, count down a minor 3rd from the major scale to figure out
the relative minor scale - which the song could also be in.
Now you’ll be left with 2 possible scales - e.g. ‘C major or A minor’,
‘F major or D minor’, ‘Eb major or C minor’, etc.
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Finally - look at the song’s first and last chords. Usually a song will
start and end on the I chord (‘the one chord’).
If the song starts and ends on the major I chord (C major) - then it
is in C major.
If the song starts and ends on the relative minor scale’s I chord (A
minor) - then it is in A minor.
The quick way to figure out a song is:
- Just look at the start and ending chord of the song. Usually this is
the I chord (‘the one chord’) of the song’s scale, so this is usually
accurate. You could give a quick glance at key signature afterwards to
double check.
“What does ‘modulation’ mean?”
Some songs will change key within the song. Classical music will
usually modulate at least once, I’d say every 16-32 bars you can
expect a modulation to take place. It will normally modulate to a
new key, a 5th above, or a 5th below.
Jazz music modulates much more often, every 3 chords or so.
Most pop music (and mainstream music that you hear on TV or on
the radio) stays within the same key throughout.
So bear in mind, there could be key changes within the song.
Depending on the style of music, this is either likely (jazz, classical),
or unlikely (pop, rock).
“Why does ‘diatonic’ mean?”
‘Diatonic’ refers to music that’s written within the major / relative
minor scales. I.e. it stays within the 7 notes of the key. All of its
melody notes, and all of its chords are built from the notes of the
major scale (or its relative minor scale).
Types of music that are NOT diatonic include:
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- Songs that use exotic scales (like the phrygian-dominant scale, or
the harmonic major scale, for example).
- Songs that feature modulations (key changes) - like most jazz
songs.
“Are there different types of minor scale?”
While there is only one major scale, there are 3 different types of
minor scale. All 3 minor scales share the same first 5 notes (C D Eb
F G), but they have different 6th and 7th patterns:
- Natural minor scale (minor 6th, minor 7th - Ab Bb)
- Harmonic minor scale (minor 6th, major 7th - Ab B)
- Melodic minor scale (major 6th, major 7th - A B)
Most mainstream ‘popular’ music sticks to the ‘natural minor’ scale.
Nothing fancy here - this is the default minor scale, when someone’s
talking about ‘the minor scale’ this is probably what they mean.
The ‘Harmonic Minor scale’ was used often in classical music of the
past - Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, etc. These composers would use the
Harmonic minor scale, which has a major 7th (B). The main
difference here is that you get a major V chord (G major), which
resolves to the minor I chord (C minor).
The ‘Melodic Minor scale’ is mostly used in jazz (although jazz uses
all 3 minor scales, each one reserved for a different situation). The
melodic minor scale has a classy sound to it - just run up its notes
with the pedal down to hear its sound. This is usually reserved for
endings - you could end a song in C minor on a C minor 6 chord, or
a C minor major 7 chord. However you wouldn’t normally write a
whole song in the melodic minor scale - it’s just a flavor that’s usually
saved for one chord (often the ending chord).
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“What are modes?”
Any scale can produce multiple ‘modes’ of itself. Each mode is a new
scale that’s built of the same notes as the original scale, but starts
from a different root note. E.g. take the notes of C major scale but
this time start those notes from D - and you get ‘D Dorian’. Or start
those notes from E - and you get ‘E Phrygian’ scale.
‘Mode’ and ‘scale’ mean similar things - the mode is supposed to be
derived from the scale, meaning that the scale comes first, then you
produce modes from that scale. Like a parent (scale) who has
children (modes). However, you could always debate which came
first - since the scale could be a mode of the mode.
Any scale can produce modes of itself - there’ll be a new mode for
every note the scale has - e.g. D Dorian is the ‘2nd mode’ of C major
scale. E Phrygian is the ‘3rd mode’ of C major scale, and so on.
So you could produce modes for any unusual scale - like the
harmonic minor scale, or the melodic minor scale, for example.
However, when you hear someone talk about ’the modes’ they’re
usually referring to the 7 modes from the major scale - which are
the most common modes by far.
“How do I learn the modes?” (Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, etc)
First, how NOT to learn the modes:
It’s commonly taught that you can remember each mode as all of the
white notes and remember the starting note.
E.g. F Lydian is all the white notes starting from F.
G Mixolydian is all the white notes starting from G.
Do not try to learn the modes this way. It seems simple, but you
never get to learn the modes on a deep level. Since all of the modes
are starting from different notes, you can’t compare them with each
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other. It’s like watching a 400m race where runners use a staggered
start - for the first 3 quarters you can’t tell who’s winning the race.
It’s only on the final straight when all of the runners get lined up and
you can easily spot who’s in 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, and so
on.
The same goes for the modes (and all scales). I recommend lining
them all up from C, and exploring them at the piano. Compose a
short composition in each mode.
You can also take a simple melody - like Kumbaya - and play it
through all of the modes, lined up from C.
Watch my modes tutorial here:
Click here to watch my Modes lesson (13 mins)
“What is chord inversion?”
Most chords are played in ‘root position’. This means the root is in
the bass, so a C major chord might be played C E G.
However it’s always possible to ‘invert’ a chord - which is when you
change the bass note (the lowest not of the chord).
You could play the chord’s 3rd in the bass - E G C - this is called ‘C
major 1st inversion’.
Or you could play the chord’s 5th in the bass - G C E - this is called
‘C major 2nd inversion’
And if you had a 7th chord, or a 9th chord - you could even create a
3rd inversion (the 7th in the bass), or 4th inversion (the 9th in the
bass) - although this is rarely used. First inversion is most common
by far.
Chord inversion isn’t usually a composer’s first choice - chords are
designed to be played in root position and most would consider root
position to sound strongest. Normally, a composer will use chord
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inversion in order to create a bass line that moves by step. E.g. they Click here to see my ‘Chord Symbol Reference Guide’ (free)
want the bass line to play C D E, but they might not want to play C
major D minor E minor - so they could play C major, D minor, C
major 1st inversion (C major with E in the bass).
Although an important topic, chord inversion is actually rarely used.
JAZZ THEORY QUESTIONS
99.99% of chords are played in root position. “How do you know what scales to play over
certain chords?”
“How do I figure out what a chord is, and what
inversion it’s in?” You always have a choice of multiple scales that would sound
‘consonant’ (good) over any chord.
Often you might be looking at some sheet music without chord
symbols, or watching someone play a chord without them telling you First you have to make sure that your scale contains the same chord
what they’re playing. tones (1 3 5 7) as the chord being played (if your chord has a major
3rd, then you need to play a major 3rd in your scale, and so on -
Here’s how you make sense of any chord:
otherwise it will clash… not in a good way).
- Write down all of the notes that are being played.
As long as your scale agrees on the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th - then you
- Start arranging the notes in 3rds (because almost all chords are can be flexible with the 9th, 11th, 13th:
stacks of 3rds). So if you see a C and an Ab, move the Ab below
You could play a flat 9, natural 9, sharp 9, natural 11, sharp 11, flat 13,
the C. If you see an F - put the F below the Ab. If you see an Eb -
natural 13 - and whichever you choose, your scale will sound
put it above the C. And so on (write this out on paper if you’re
consonant - because it agrees on the fundamental chord tones (1 3 5
new to this).
7).
- Once you’ve arranged all of the notes into a stack of 3rds, look at
The only exception would be if you’re playing a chord that also has a
what the lowest note in your stack is. That will be your chord’s
9th, or higher - in this case you’d also need to make sure your scale
root note (which may or may not be the same as the chord
agrees on any additional ‘extended’ notes too.
voicing’s lowest note, before you rearranged the notes).
With that said, an excellent ‘rule of thumb’ is as follows:
- Finally, identify the interval between each note (this will usually be
a combination of major 3rds and minor 3rds). This unique interval Play the chord tones of the chord in your scale (1 3 5 7)
pattern tells you which chord type is being played. Then add a whole-step to the 1 3 5, to produce your 2 4 6.
Now you know what type of chord the chord voicing was for. This technique produces complex scales, and works on virtually
Of course, to do this - you first have to know the common chord every situation in jazz.
types (major, minor, diminished, augmented, major 7, minor 7,V7, etc). Watch my complete jazz scales tutorial here:

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Recommended video: ‘Jazz Scales Explained’ (9 mins)
“There’s so many chord voicings in jazz - how
do you choose which ones to play?”
As a beginner I used to play any chord voicing that came to mind,
and then I’d add the melody note on top.
But then I found a better way - which is to choose a chord voicing
that already has the melody note as its top note.
That means if I see ‘C minor 7’ as the chord symbol, and the melody
note is the 9th (D), then I’ll choose a minor 7 chord voicing that
already has the 9th as its top note - like this one:
Chord voicing above = C / Eb G Bb D
This way, you end up playing the bass note (C), the chord voicing (Eb
G Bb D), and the melody note (D) altogether - just by using one
cleverly chosen chord voicing.
Let’s take another example: If the chord symbol says ‘C minor 7’ and
the melody note is the 5th (G), then this time I’d choose a minor 7
chord voicing that has the 5th as its top note - like this one:
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Chord voicing above = C / Bb D Eb G
I call this technique ‘melody matching’ - because you’re matching
your chord voicing with the chord type and the melody note that’s
already in the sheet music. By using this method, you avoid all sorts
of chord voicing / melody note clashes that can occur when you
start trying out a chord voicing with an un-tested melody note on
top. The melody note is heard as an extra note in your chord voicing,
and the chances are it’s going to create some sort of problem - e.g.
doubles a note that’s already played, creates a dissonant interval with
the next note in the voicing, adds an unusually large interval on top
of your voicing, and so on.
So it works best to use ‘melody matching’- choose chord voicings
that already contain the melody note as their top note.
For this to work, you’ll need to learn quite a few chord voicings:
- You’ll need 7 voicings for the major 7 chord (each with a different
note as its top note).
- You’ll need 7 voicings for the minor 7 chord (each with a different
note as its top note).
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- You’ll need about 10 voicings for the V7 chord (because there’s
more likely top notes that could be played over V7 chords - b9 #9
#11 b13, etc).
To find out more about my Melody-Matching voicing method, you
can watch the following lesson taken from my ‘Chord Voicing
Intensive’ premium course:
Click here to watch ‘Jazz Piano Chord Voicing Method’ (6 mins)
“What are ‘chord extensions’?”
In jazz, the ‘extended harmony’ refers to the 9th, 11th, and 13th.
These are the complex sounding ‘chord extensions’ that are
characteristic to jazz (very rarely heard in any other style of music).
Chord extensions can be added to any chord type - major 7 chords,
minor 7 chords,V7 chords, and so on.
“How do I find the correct chord extension
above a chord?”
All chord extensions are built from the major scale - no matter what
the chord below is. So even if you have a C minor 7 chord, the 9th,
11th, and 13th will all be based off C major scale.
So to add chord extensions to any chord - imagine a major scale
starting from the root of the chord (e.g. F7 = F major scale. Ab min 7
= Ab minor scale, and so on).
“How do I find a b9, #9, #11, b13?”
Any chord extension can be altered - which means sharpened or
flattened. ‘Altered extensions’ are most common over V7 chords -
which are the middle chord of a ii-V-I, and this is where the gnarly
alterations and exotic scales take place, in the V chord of the ii-V-I.
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
If you want to add a b9, or a #11, or a b13 to a chord - start by
finding the NATURAL chord extension (by running up the notes of
the major scale, starting from the chord’s root). Then, once you’ve
found the natural chord extension, sharpen it or flatten it -
whichever you’re trying to do.
This is useful when the chord symbol specifies an altered chord
extension note - e.g. ‘C7#11’, ‘F7b13’, or ‘D7b9’. But it’s also useful
when you decide to add your own altered chord extensions to a
chord (usually a V7 chord), which you can always do - even when the
chord symbol doesn’t specify any extensions.
“Most chords in my real book are 7th chords.
When can I add chord extensions?”
For easy reading, it’s conventional for real books to write chords as
7th chords. That goes even when the original song recordings
featured 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths.
This is done so that musicians can sight read a song easily, at a glance,
without getting slowed down by ‘b9 #11 b13’ added to every chord.
As a jazz pianist, you can add chord extensions to any chord you like
- it’s completely up to you. You don’t have to wait for the lead sheet
to tell you to play a 13th, or any other extension.
Recommended video: ‘When To Use Chord Extensions’ (9 mins)
“What’s the difference between the 6th and a
13th?”
When it comes to chord extensions (the 9th, 11th, and 13th added
above a chord) - both numbers mean the same note.
Above a C chord - ‘6’ and ‘13’ both mean A.
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However there are numbering conventions in jazz (although not
followed by all arrangers).
- ‘6’ is used when the chord is a major or minor chord (which
means it’s the I chord of the scale).
- ‘13’ is used when the chord is a V7 chord.
So if you play C E G A - you’d write C6.
For the chord C Eb G A - you’d write Cm6 (‘C minor 6’).
For a C7 chord, you’d write C13 (which means C7, plus a 13th on
top).
“What’s the difference between the 4th and a
11th?”
The same applies here - 4 and 11 both refer to the same scale
degree (over a C chord both would be an F). But depending on what
TYPE of chord it is, there are different conventions:
- ‘4’ is used when the chord is a major 7 chord (although this will
almost always be a #4 - which would be F#).
- ‘11’ is used when the chord is a V7 chord, or minor 11 chord
(over a V7 chord it will almost always be a #11 - F#).
So if you play C E G B F# - you’d call it C maj 7 #4.
For the chord C Eb G Bb D F - you’d write Cm11 (‘C minor 11’).
For the chord C E G Bb F#, you’d write C7#11 (which means C7,
plus a #11 on top).
To view all common jazz chords lined up from C, look at my Ultimate
Chord Symbol Guide:
Click here to see my ‘Chord Symbol Reference Guide’ (free)
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
“What is tritone substitution?”
The ‘tritone’ is an alternative name given to the interval of a flat 5th,
or a sharp 4th (C - F# or C - Gb). It’s called a ‘tritone’ because it’s
three whole-tones: C - D - E - F#.
‘Tritone substitution’ is a popular reharmonization technique used by
jazz musicians to spice up a tune. As you play through a jazz song, any
time you see a V7 chord in the music (e.g. ‘C7’), you can transpose
the chord a tritone up (or a tritone down - both directions bring
you to the same note) - and you would play a Gb7 in this case (a.k.a.
‘F#7’).
So say you had a ii-V-I in C major (D min 7 - G7 - C maj 7), you’d
apply tritone substitution to which chord?
That’s right - G7. And you’d play what chord instead?
That’s right - Db7.
D min 7 - Db7 - C maj 7.
Tritone substitution creates a modern twist to the song. Both V7
chords contain the 2 most important notes - they have the same
major 3rd and minor 7th, which are what make the chord function as
a V7 chord. However all of the other notes in the chord get altered
(sharpened or flattened) which adds much more sophistication.
You might have to tweak the notes in the original songs melody to fit
with the new V7 chord. I recommend using the ‘chord tone + whole-
step’ method to generate your new scale (just for the V7 chord).
So for Db7 you’d play notes from Db lydian-dominant scale: Db Eb F
G Ab Bb Cb
If the original melody plays a D - change it to a Db.
If the original melody plays an A - change it to an Ab, and so on.
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Make sure all melody notes fit with this scale - while the Db7 chord
is played.
Click here to watch ‘Tritone Substitution Explained’ (17 mins)
“What is a turnaround?”
At the end of most jazz songs, you’ll get a ‘turnaround’ - this is a
series of chords (usually 2 or 3 chords) in the final bars of the song,
which are displayed in brackets.
If you are going to repeat the song - play these chords (they’ll turn
you around and bring you back to the start).
If you are about to end the song - do not play these chords.
Tip: You can add your own intro to any jazz song just by playing the
turnaround chords, which will lead into the main melody. This usually
sounds better than starting a song straight in with the melody -
which can catch the listener unprepared.
For a complete explanation of real books and notation markings, you
can watch my ‘Jazz Fundamentals’ course (available as part of the Jazz
Tutorial Membership).
Click here to watch the complete ‘Jazz Fundamentals’ course
IMPROVISATION QUESTIONS
“My biggest challenge is coming up with a line
to play on a chord, simultaneously remembering
the following chord, then coming up with the
continuation of the phrase. My brain can't
seem to handle it - any suggestions for a step
by step way to improve this skill?”
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley 14 of 27
Most music students don’t realize how many times a professional
jazz musician has played a song, before he or she performs the song
in public. When you hear a professional jazz musician play live, or on
a recording - it’s likely that they’ve played that tune several hundred
times, if not a thousand times.
Before you attempt to improvise over a tune, the first step is to
learn the song’s chords - so that you can play them from memory.
This means playing the song 30 or 40 times for most people. There’s
no point in starting to improvise until you’ve memorized the chords.
Your left hand should be automatically moving to the next chord, so
that you can focus on your right hand.
Once a professional jazz musician has memorized the chords, they
will practice improvising over the song’s chords many times. Probably
hundreds of times (I mean, what do you think they practice when
they’re at home?)
And by the time they start performing the song publicly, they have
already come up with dozens of strong melodic lines which they
know work well for each part of the song.
So the final improvisation that they perform is not 100% improvised.
It’s not something they just played for the first time. It’s likely a
combination of past ideas for the most part (all of which were
improvised at one point, when they were first discovered). All of
these melodic ideas get mixed together, and occasionally something
new might be played on the spot.
So that’s the reality of improvisation. The bottom line: you have to
play a song hundreds of times, and practice improvising over it many
times in private, before you perform it publicly.
“How should I start practicing improvisation?”
www.JazzTutorial.com
The most fundamental improvisation technique, it to use a
combination of ‘chord tone soloing’, and the ‘half-step below
approach’:
- Chord tone soloing - play from the 1 3 5 7 of each chord (and
9th if you want to add one more note):
- ‘The Half-step Below Approach Pattern’ - next, you can
precede any of the chord tones you play (1 3 5 7) by playing the
note that’s a half-step below. So C can be preceded by a B - which
resolves nicely to C. Eb could be preceded by D, and so on:
In many cases the ‘approach notes’ that are a half-step below each
chord tone will be outside the normal scale you’d play from. This is
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
fine within this context, since it’s a very brief tension (lasting one
eighth note) and it immediately resolves.
You can play a world of possibilities just using these 2 techniques
combined.
The majority of jazz solos are made of this technique - the
combination of chord tone soloing and approach patterns (the half-
step below is just one approach pattern, but it’s simple and effective).
If you listen to wartime jazz artists like Benny Goodman and Glenn
Miller, their solos are almost entirely built of this technique - chord
tones and approach patterns.
“Any other improv. practice tips?”
- Practice slowly - preferably to a metronome.
- Practice over the ii-V-I (spend plenty of time playing a ii-V-I in C
major and searching for new melodic ideas).
- Write your best ideas down - then take those lines through the
12 keys to ingrain their sound and feel.
- Sing your lines as you play - your improvisation should mimic
singing. Give your lines breaks, just as you would take a break. Use
shapes that are singable.
You can watch my complete ’Improvisation Step by Step’ course,
when you become a Jazz Tutorial Member. Sign up for as little as 30
days and get access to ALL jazz courses:
Click here for details and to become a member
15 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com

REPERTOIRE QUESTIONS
“How do you learn new songs?”
In short, just ply through the song again and again and again.
If you struggle to play both hands together, practice one hand at a
time. Then bring both hands together.
Isolate any tricky sections and loop those - 15 or more times, until
they becomes automatic. (Don’t just keep playing the song from the
beginning and hope that those tricky sections will one day improve -
you have to isolate the tricky parts and practice them over and over
again).
“How do you memorize songs? I find it hard to remember so
many chords without the music”
I think most people who ask me ‘how do I remember songs?’
underestimate how many times anyone needs to play a song before
they remember it.
It will take me at least 40 times of playing a song before I can
remember it - often more. Embrace the fact that you’re going to
have to play each song a lot of times (which should be fun). Don’t
expect yourself to remember a song if you’ve only played it 20 times
- that’s not realistic.
“How do you remember a song’s chords?”
Try to make sense of the song’s chords as a series - rather than a
bunch of unrelated chords. So instead of remembering ‘Gmin7’ - ‘C7’
- ‘Fmaj7’, I would think ‘2-5-1 in F major’. That’s 3 chords memorized
with very little effort.
So spot the 2-5-1s - which most jazz songs are made up of.
Remember each 2-5-1 and the key that it’s in.
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
Sometimes you won’t get a complete 2-5-1 - it might just be a 2-5,
or a 5-1. Sometimes it will be a minor 2-5-1.
Do your best to make sense of the chord progressions. Write on the
sheet music if it helps: ‘2-5-1 in Bb major’, etc.
For more help with harmonic analysis of jazz songs, you can watch
my ‘Jazz Fundamentals’ course (comes with the Jazz Tutorial
Membership).
Click here to learn more & get course access
“How many songs should I have in my
repertoire?”
I suggest starting with 3 songs.
My motto is ‘always have 3 songs ready’ - you only need a 3 song set
that you can play on the spot, anytime you’re somewhere that has a
piano.
You should play these 3 songs at least once a week, to keep them
fresh, so that you know you can play them without the sheet music.
For these 3 songs, I recommend deciding how you want to play
them, and sticking to it - every time. Don’t leave anything open to
decide on the spot. You might be feeling nervous, so you just need to
have the notes, voicings, ending, and set order, all figured out.
Beyond this, you can continue adding new songs - one song a week
perhaps.
Tip: Just as important as memorizing the notes and chords to the
songs in your repertoire, is being able to remember all the songs you
can play - if and when you’re ever put on the spot to play. That’s why
I also suggest that you write down all the songs you know on a small
piece of paper and carry it in your wallet - just like I do:
16 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com
 - Georgia On My Mind

“How should I link my playing of songs to my

Tip: Write down all the songs you know and carry it in your wallet.
learning?”
Every time you learn a new technique, go and apply it to your songs.
That’s the best way I know of to ingrain new techniques. So rather
than learning something and saying ‘I’ll use that later’ - go straight to
the piano and apply it to the songs in your repertoire.
Whether it’s a a new type of chord voicing, a new reharmonization, a
new piano style - go and apply it to your songs, which will ingrain it
for future use.

“Could you recommend 3-5 jazz pieces that a

guy like me (who kinda plays, but not really
good) can practice?”
Songs with a flexible tempo are always easier to play (like Ballads).
You can always slow down in a musical way if you need more time to
get to the next chord.
Whereas songs with a fixed tempo (especially fast songs) can be
quite stressful to play.
For a beginner, I’d recommend any of the following songs:
- Misty
PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS
“How can I stay calm enough to record a piano
song? I feel like my hands are a bit shaky
when I'm nervous and that distracts me.”
I experience the same problem, and so do many top musicians - no
matter how many times they’ve performed.
My advice is to start out playing easy songs until the nerves wear off.
You can only feel nervous for so long, in my experience.

- Cry Me A River That’s why I recommend starting your performance with a song
that’s easy to play.
- All The Things You Are
“How can I avoid playing wrong notes when I
- Summertime play to others?”
- The Taxi Driver theme Practice more. If you’re playing wrong notes in your private practice,
- Easy Living then you’ll play wrong notes when you play publicly.

Copyright (C) Julian Bradley 17 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com

One good trick I use is to challenge myself to play a song 3 times in notifications), you can join the Jazz Tutorial email newsletter (it’s
a row, note perfectly. free):
If I play it twice note perfectly, but mess up on the third time - then I Click here to sign up for jazz piano email tips
have to start again from zero.
Don’t let yourself walk away from the piano until you’ve played the
“How do I unsubscribe from the email
piece 3 times in a row, without any wrong notes.
newsletter?”
This is a clever way to get yourself to practice something 15 times
Every email I send has an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom. Click this
by making it an enjoyable challenge.
link to unsubscribe at anytime.
(This ‘3 times in a row’ challenge can be used for anything you want
to practice - including playing the 2-5-I through all 12 keys (note
perfectly), learning repertoire, scales, arpeggios, and so on). “Where can I watch Julian’s ear training video
series?”
Julian’s 4-part video series has helped over 50,000 musicians to learn
JULIAN’S ONLINE WORK how to practice ear training using his ‘fixed key learning’ method.
Topics include:
DOWNLOAD PROBLEMS - Interval Recognition - the 6 intervals you need to know to play
“I requested a free resource (sheet music) but music by ear
never received it” - Common Shapes - discover the #1 melodic pattern that most
If you didn’t receive your sheet music in an email from me (check songs use
spam and promotions first), you can access most of my video sheet - 5 transcribing case studies - put your ear to the test on real songs
music on this page:
Click here to watch Julian's free ear training video series
Click here to go to the resource page

JULIAN’S WEBSITES
Email NEWSLETTER “Where do I go online to see all Julian’s
“How do I sign up for email tips?” teaching?”
To receive jazz piano email tips from me (including chord voicings, I have 3 main websites:
practice tips, reharmonization, jazz theory tips, and new video

Copyright (C) Julian Bradley 18 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com

JazzTutorial.com: Home to all of my jazz piano teaching and video
courses.
TheMusicalEar.com: Home to all of my ear training material: a free 4-
part video series, how-to articles, and my complete Musical Ear
course. My ear training lessons focus on diatonic music (which is
suitable for learning ear training), not jazz (although all concepts are
useful for jazz too).
JazzHeroBooks.com: Home to all Julian Bradley eBooks. Popular
books include: ‘Jazz Theory Explained’ (100 page theory book), ‘Best
Chords In The World’ (chord progressions & chord voicings sheet
music), ‘3 Emotional Jazz Pieces’ (Julian Bradley piano compositions).
COURSE & EBOOK QUESTIONS
“What is an Ebook?”
An eBook is a digital version of a book (a PDF file). This can be
downloaded to your computer and read on a computer screen, or
printed to paper. No special software needed - opens on Mac or PC
(and iPad). Desktop computer recommended - don’t download to a
phone.
“Do you sell a physical book?”
Unfortunately no (not yet). Worldwide printing and shipping has not
been feasible to date. This might change in the future.
However I have gone to town with adding digital only features to my
eBooks - like clickable links to my YouTube videos).
“What format are your courses in?”
All of my courses consist of pre-recorded video lessons (just like
YouTube, but in a step by step series). My courses are not streamed
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
live - you can watch the lessons at anytime, and pause / replay them
as many times as you need.
When you purchase a course, you’ll be able to login to the members
area on the website where you can watch all of your videos.
“What is the Jazz Tutorial Membership?”
The Jazz Tutorial Membership is a paid monthly subscription, which
gives you access to all of his jazz piano courses, for as long as you
stay subscribed.
You can sign up for as little as one month, and cancel at anytime.
Click here to find out more
“How do you fund your video making?”
All YouTube videos and free public content are funded primarily by
the sale of Julian’s premium courses and ebooks - all of which are
aligned with Julian’s free content, but offer an organized, focused, step
by step system (rather than YouTube videos which jump around
between random topics). Julian’s courses represent a college style
education in the topics he teaches, made accessible to musicians who
never had formal training.
“What are your most popular programs?”
My 3 most popular products are:
Ebooks: ‘The Best Of Julian Bradley Collection’ is my most
popular eBook package. It comes with all of my most popular
eBooks from the last decade, in one bundle (discounted when you
buy all books together). Includes ‘Jazz Theory Explained’, ‘Best
Chords In The World’, ‘Exploration of Harmony’, ‘3 Emotional Jazz
Pieces’ and more.
19 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com
Suitable for piano players with 5+ years playing. Must read music. No - The Musical Ear is kept separate from Jazz Tutorial Membership
courses. This is because both subjects are big subjects - it would be
Click here to see ‘The Best Of J.B. Collection’
completely overwhelming to tackle both subjects together.
The Musical Ear teaches ear training (as well as the essential music
Ear Training: The Musical Ear course is my popular ear training theory that you need to understand to play by ear).
course. This is not a jazz piano course - it focuses on diatonic music
The Jazz Tutorial courses teach jazz piano.
and music theory, with some additional ‘out-of-key techniques’.
Especially popular with musicians who never had formal training. The
Musical Ear teaches music theory and ear training together (both
“I would like to study both - ear training and
subjects are always linked).
jazz piano. Which order do you recommend?”
Suitable for musicians with 5+ years playing. Reading music is NOT
If you’d like to study both courses, then I’d recommend the ear
necessary (my only program that doesn’t require reading music):
training first, and jazz piano second.
Click here to find out about The Musical Ear course
This is how I learned - I focused on playing music by ear for 2 years,
and then I transitioned to learning jazz piano - which took me an
additional 2 years to complete the bulk of my learning.
The Jazz Tutorial Membership Courses: This is where I teach jazz
piano from the ground-up. I’ve literally filmed all of the lessons I
would teach if you were to meet with me for private lessons over a
“Will your courses help with music college,
3 year period. All lessons are step by step.
and other music courses / grades?”
Suitable for piano players with 5+ years experience. Reading music is
Directly: No.
recommended.
Indirectly:Yes.
Get access to all of my Jazz Tutorial courses when you become a Jazz
Tutorial Member. Sign up for as little as 30 days, cancel anytime: I did not create my courses to accompany any formal training classe
or grade exam - so there’s no direct link between what I teach, and
Click here to browse all jazz piano courses!
what any college might teach.
However, in a holistic sense - yes, everything I teach (music theory)
“Is The Musical Ear course included in Jazz will help you in all of your music classes, wherever else you might
Tutorial Membership?” study.

Copyright (C) Julian Bradley 20 of 27 www.JazzTutorial.com

“How do your courses compare to studying music
at college?”
Based on my university experience, my courses go beyond the level
taught at most universities when it comes to jazz theory and ear
training. (I studied music at 3 different universities, in the U.K. and
U.S., both at undergrad and masters level).
That said, my courses are laser focused on one aspect of music. I
don’t teach music history, or orchestration, or performance skills,
and certain other topics that a music college will cover. But within
the fields that I teach (ear training and jazz piano / theory) my
courses go beyond an undergrad music degree.
“What skill level should I be at to take your
courses?”
The prerequisites are the same for most of my courses:
- 5+ years piano playing experience
- Basic understanding of theory recommended (major / minor
chords, major / minor scales)
- Reading music is required for all courses - except for The Musical
Ear course.
“What if I try your courses and they’re too
advanced?”
No worries. If for any reason any of my courses turn out not to be
right for you - just email us and we’ll fully refund your purchase. All
of my ebooks and courses come with my money back guarantee (in
most cases this is a 90 day money back guarantee).
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley 21 of 27
“Do you recommend studying music at college?”
Personally, I had an incredible time studying music at college. I loved
every minute of it. I have no regrets. Even if I hadn’t been able to
make a living from music after graduation, I would still have no
regrets of studying music to such a high level.
But it’s also important to note that I really made the most of my
time at college. I was constantly loaning out 2 or 3 different books
from the music library (obscure books that are very hard to find), I
was constantly reading, I was making full use of my time with
teachers, I never missed a lesson, I played in the college big band, I
even composed songs for the college’s jazz band (not for credit), and
much more.
My goal was not to get ‘good grades’. I was passionate about music
and wanted to learn everything there was to know about music
(especially music theory).
If that’s the sort of student you’ll be - then I would recommend
studying music at college, especially if it’s the one thing you are
interested in pursuing.
“I still have more questions about the Jazz
Tutorial courses…”
For even more Jazz Tutorial Membership Q+A, please scroll to the
bottom of the members sign-up page:
EAR TRAINING QUESTIONS
“Will learning to play by ear ruin my
enjoyment of music?”
www.JazzTutorial.com
No - playing by ear does not ruin your enjoyment of music. In fact
it’s the opposite: learning to ply by music ear INCREASES your
enjoyment of music. Here’s why:
You’ll always get a visceral goosebump type of reaction to the music
you love - that’s never going to stop. But in addition, you’ll be able to
experience the music on so many more layers that you never knew
existed.
When most people listen to music, it’s like they’re watching a foreign
film without any subtitles or translations - because they don’t know
what they’re listening to. They experience the film on a shallow level,
with very little understanding or awareness of what’s going on.
But as soon as you learn the language of the film - suddenly you can
look deeply into the plot, the characters, and all of the subtle details
that a foreigner would never pick up on. You can experience the film
on many more levels, and you can think about it for years.
You also have a much stronger memory of it - because you notice so
many different details.
So no - learning to play by ear does not ruin your enjoyment of
music. In fact, it INCREASES your enjoyment of music.
Plus, nobody who learned to play by ear has ever complained that
they can’t enjoy music anymore.
“What’s are ‘perfect pitch’ and ‘relative
pitch’?”
There are two ways to play music by ear:
- Perfect pitch: although uncommon, some people are essentially
‘born with’ the ability to recognize the musical pitches by ear.
They can hear an F# and tell you it’s an F#, or they can hear a Bb
and tell you it’s a Bb. And with a bit of music theory training, they
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
can piece together multiple notes and tell you what chords are
being played too. Perfect pitch is quite rare (although quite
common among the highest level of musicians). People are
essentially born with perfect pitch (although it seems to be a
result of being exposed to music lessons at an early age, before
age 5). It doesn’t seem as though perfect pitch can be learned
later in life - although a handful of famous musicians claim to have
done so. (I’ve certainly tried to learn perfect pitch, and I was never
successful).
- Relative pitch: relative pitch can be learned by anyone. When a
person with relative pitch hears a series of notes, they won’t be
able to tell you what the literal notes are, so they won’t know
whether it’s an F#, Bb or C that’s being played. However, they can
still make complete sense of everything going on in the music,
excluding the literal note names. So they could still play back the
song in any given key - C minor, C# minor, D minor, Eb minor, and
so on. Relative pitch consists of a range of clever techniques the
musician can use - interval recognition, knowledge of chords,
common shapes that are frequently used - and above all, an
understanding of music theory, which tells you what to expect
from any song.
“Which is better - perfect pitch or relative
pitch?”
Essentially, both are as useful as each other. You just need one -
perfect pitch or relative pitch - whichever one it is. There have been
famous musicians who had perfect pitch, and there have been famous
musicians who had relative pitch.
The term ‘perfect’ is misleading - it implies that perfect pitch is
superior to relative pitch.
However, I could make a strong argument that learning relative pitch
has a huge benefit over being born with perfect pitch - at least if you
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learn it the way that I teach it, which is by listening to all music as “Does ear training involve improving my ear’s
though it’s in the same key. ability to hear?”
I have a crystal clear understanding of music theory, because I’ve No - ‘ear training’ is actually ‘brain training’. It has little to do with
been listening to all music as though it’s in the same key for over a the mechanics of your ear drum and hearing ability.
decade (I use the key of C minor). I have a memory bank of
Playing music by ear is mostly a cerebral activity. It can be used for
hundreds of songs that I’ve transcribed, and every song is lined up
music you hear played, or it can be used for imagined music that you
neatly within the same key. This allows me to spot the common
hear in your head (that’s why Beethoven could continue to compose
melodic shapes and chord progressions across hundreds of songs
after he lost his hearing - he could still transcribe the music in his
very easily. Someone with perfect pitch can’t ever do this - they have
imagination).
to listen to each song in the key that it’s in, and the constant
changing of keys will be confusing, from a music theory standpoint.
“Can anyone learn to play music by ear?”
‘FIXED KEY Learning’ QUESTIONS
Yes - if practiced properly, anyone can develop relative pitch, at any
“What is Fixed Key Learning?”
age (as long as you can hear and you have a functioning brain - you
should be fine). ‘Fixed Key Learning’ is the teaching method that runs through all of
my ear training material. I teach musicians to listen to all music as
If you’ve been already been playing music for a while, then your brain
though it’s in the same key (you can choose any key, but I use C
is familiar with the sounds (the 7 notes of the key, the 7 chords, the
minor / Eb major). By transcribing all music in the same key, you
common intervals used, and even some common musical shapes).
quickly learn to spot the common melodic shapes and chord
Now it’s just a case of putting names to what you’re hearing, and
progressions which most songs use, without the distraction of
learning how music works.
changing keys for every song (changing keys is the #1 barrier most
“Why is ear training important?” musicians face when it comes to ear training and music theory).
Your progress in music is proportional to how well trained your ear Imagine transcribing 20 songs in the same key. Already you’ll be able
is (for both relative pitch and perfect pitch). The higher up in the to spot certain common chord progressions, or melodic shapes,
music ranks you go, the more people you’ll find with excellent ears. between the songs.
The best composers all had excellent ear training. The best music
Then, continue this to 50 songs, or 100 songs - you’ll get a clearer
teachers have excellent ears. And so on.
and clearer understanding of how music works, using this ‘Fixed Key’
Each time your ear improves, so does everything else - your learning technique.
compositions get better, your improvisation gets better, your
“Does that mean I have to play everything in
understanding of music theory gets better, and so on. Everything in
one key?”
music is linked to your ear.

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No - this is just for your ear training practice. You can continue
playing your repertoire in other keys (just as I did). You can continue
playing in your band, or singing in your choir (just as I did). But when
it comes to transcribing songs by ear - I want you to transcribe each
song in the same key.
“What about playing in other keys - isn’t that
important too?”
Once you’ve learned to play music by ear by restricting your
transcribing practice to one key, it’s a relatively simple task to take
what you’ve learned and transpose it out into other keys. It took me
11 weeks to get comfortable playing in the other keys, I spent one
week per key.
At the end of the day, there’s really just one key in music - it’s just an
interval pattern, a collection of notes and chord types - and this
pattern can be built starting from any note: D minor, Eb minor, E
minor, etc. You should be putting equal thought into counting out
intervals carefully, whatever key you’re playing in - C major, F# major,
Ab major - the brain work should be very similar whatever key
you’re playing in.
“Great method - but why do you teach in C
minor? It seems like a strange key to choose”
Fixed Key Learning works with any key. I know musicians who prefer
D minor, others who use E minor, and so on.
But I’ve come to believe (from experience) that there are some
additional benefits to using C minor (especially over using C major
which is all the white notes).
When I first made the The Musical Ear course in 2015, I originally
taught the lessons in the key of C major / A minor to teach. For 2
years following this, I found myself listening to all music in C major /
A minor. It worked well, as expected. However, I noticed that the
Copyright (C) Julian Bradley
experience of transcribing in C major wasn’t as strong as when I had
learned to play by ear in C minor.
C major scale is all white notes - and as a piano player, when I
visualize C major’s notes, it feels like a slippery surface of white
notes, with nothing to hold on to. There’s no landmarks to mark the
half-step locations - it feels like all notes are equally spaced apart,
when in fact they’re not.
This is why I decided that I prefer C minor for ear training - because
there’s some black notes in the key which give it a 3D effect when
you visualize the notes in your mind. The half-step locations are even
highlighted by a black note moving to a white note (D - Eb, and G -
Ab). The same goes for the chords - as a piano player I can feel
myself playing the chords of C minor much more clearly than I can
playing the chords of C major scale - the 3D effect gives your brain
much more to hold on to.
This is especially important with ear training - since it’s mostly
practiced away from your instrument, when you’re listening to music.
I also like C minor, because when it comes to transcribing non-
diatonic music which is in other scales (like the harmonic minor
scale, or the modes) - it’s neat to line up all scales from C and
transcribe all music in a C scale.
Most scales which get used in music are closely related to the minor
scale (like the Dorian scale, Phrygian scale, Harmonic Minor scale).
This means that 90% of what you learn in C minor gets carried over
to these additional scales - and we only tweak one note per scale.
C major seems like it would be easier - but it’s not. If we were
reading sheet music then sure - it’s easier to read notes that don’t
have sharps or flats. But when it comes to ear training (and all music
theory), we’re focused on counting intervals, chord patterns, and
finding specific scale degrees. You should never think to yourself
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‘okay, just play all the white notes’. So you should be putting in the
same amount of thought to play in C major scale, as you would for
any other key.
So I’ve put a lot of thought into my choice of key, and I even re-
filmed my entire Musical Ear course in 2017 to be taught in C minor
going forward.
I highly recommend using the key of C minor / Eb major as your key
for transcribing music in - especially if you’re a piano player, and
especially if you don’t have a very strong preference for a different
key.
“How would you transcribe a major song in C
minor?”
I would transcribe a major song in the relative major scale of C
minor - which is Eb major (Eb F G Ab Bb C D).
Every key represents a major scale, and a minor scale. These 2 scales
are called ‘relative’ major / minor scales. They’re built from the same
notes, they just start from different notes.
To find the relative major scale of any minor scale, just count up a
minor 3rd.
To find the relative minor scale of any major scale, just count down a
minor 3rd.
For example, the relative major scale of F minor would be Ab major.
Both scales use the same 7 notes, and represent the same key.
The relative minor scale of D major would be B minor. Both scales
use the same 7 notes, and represent the same key.
And the same goes for all 12 keys - the key always represents a
major scale, and a minor scale.
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So if I hear a major melody like Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday, or
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - then I’ll transcribe it in Eb major scale.
To give you a deeper answer, most songs are not major, and they’re
not minor. Instead, they sway back and forth between sounding
relative major, and relative minor. Listen to a pop song on the radio -
you’ll hear 2 or 3 chords that sound minor. Then 2 or 3 chords that
sound major. And back and forth - constantly throughout the song.
No longer is music written entirely in the major scale, or in the
minor scale (in the Classical music days it was, but nowadays we get
this swaying effect). So when you’re transcribing a song by ear, you
don’t even have to identify whether the song is major or minor -
99% of songs will just be ‘diatonic’ - and that’s enough.
This subject is covered at length in The Musical Ear course:
Click here for full details
“Can I just use the transpose button on my
keyboard, so that I can play in other keys
while making the notes sound the same?”
No - this will not work. The goal of Fixed Key Learning is not to
memorize the pitches of C minor. The reason for Fixed Key Learning
is to line up all songs in the same key, so that we can spot the
common melodic shapes, and the common chord progressions that
get used in song after song after song. We’re doing this so that we
can SEE the music theory clearly - it doesn’t matter which pitches
get produced, because we’re not trying to memorize pitches by ear.
“I play a transposing instrument - will this
interfere with playing in one key?”
No - I was taking piano and trumpet lessons when I learned to play
by ear (trumpet is a transposing instrument. It’s ‘in Bb’ which means
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when I play a C on the trumpet, a Bb is produced). If you play a
transposing instrument (like saxophone, clarinet, trombone, etc), this
will not interfere with the Fixed Key Learning method, because we’re
not trying to memorize pitches by ear. All we’re doing is lining up our
THINKING into one key - so that we think in the same key every
time we listen to music.
“How long should I restrict my transcribing to
one key?”
I recommend listening to all music in the same key forever. Why
stop? I will always listen to music in C minor / Eb major. I will
continue to transcribe all songs in this key. The moment you start
changing keys, the moment music starts seeming more complicated
than it is.
Remember, Fixed Key Learning is just for your listening / transcribing
practice. You are free to play songs that are in other keys - it’s not
going to interfere with your ear training practice.
“Surely it’s no use if you’re called up to the
bandstand to play a song on the spot that’s a
different key”
In my experience, this has never happened. Anything being played in
public has usually been rehearsed many times beforehand (even if it’s
made to look like it’s impromptu).
It’s still better to have mastered playing music by ear in one key, than
never to have learned it at all (which is usually the alternative). It’s
better to master one key, than to remain equally unaware in all 12
keys.
There’s really no problem with being a master of one key. You can
learn to transpose to other keys later, which is relatively simple to
do.
“Where should I start with ear training?”
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I recommend watching my free ear training video series. I’ll send you
4 videos by email, and I’ll even send you a collection of ear training
test videos where you can practice transcribing songs using my Fixed
Key method.
Watch my free ear training video series here
QUESTIONS ABOUT JULIAN
“When did you start music lessons?”
I started piano lessons at age 7, and trumpet lessons at age 9.
I was an average music student for the first 10 years. It wasn’t until I
changed schools at 16 that I encountered a very inspiring music
teacher - Ian McCrae - who sparked my fascination for music theory,
and ear training, which later lead me to learning jazz.
“Are you self-taught?”
No, I’m not self-taught. I have been lucky to have had several world-
class teachers.
That said, most of my learning has come from self-directed study -
I’ve read a lot of music theory books, I’ve composed hundreds of
pieces of music (not all good) which has taught me a lot about how
music works, and with my ear training practice I’ve transcribed
hundreds of songs. This self-learning has taught me 90% of everything
I know.
“Do you play any other instruments?”
I took trumpet lessons for 10 years - which was valuable for the
orchestral playing experience it gave me - but piano is my main
instrument.
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“Where do you live?”
I’m from the UK originally (I lived there until I was 26). Now I live in
California - where my wife is from originally. We met during my study
abroad year, when I studied at UC Santa Cruz. All of my videos are
filmed in southern California. We live an hour east of Los Angeles.
“Do you design your own artwork?”
Yes - alongside my music studies, I’ve always been equally interested
in art. My undergrad degree was for music and art combined. When I
created my first jazz piano ebook, I needed a cover - and I wanted to
design my own cover art work. I painted the ‘Jazz Hero Figure’, which
has since been used for all of my ebook covers.
turned out to be FAR more rewarding than I think composing (or
anything else) would have been.
It’s incredibly inspiring for me to hear from so many musicians
watching my videos, to receive daily emails and comments - saying
that my teaching efforts are helping. So that’s how I choose to spend
my time.
My goal is to provide you with the same world-class music education
that I was lucky to have. I want to deliver the inspiring music theory
topics, in the same relaxed atmosphere that I enjoyed learning (at my
high-school and colleges), and if possible, to shave it down and
remove the fluff so that you can learn quickly.

“Do you do this full-time?”

Yes - I’ve been making Jazz Tutorial videos full-time since 2012. We
have a small team, including video editors, customer service
assistants, graphic designers, a website developer, and audio editors.

“Do you gig? When can I see you perform?”

Unfortunately no, I don’t play gigs at the moment due to lack of time
(since having 2 children). The video making I do is VERY time
consuming, and that’s what I’ve chosen to prioritize.
But I never considered myself to be ‘a performer’. I studied music to
become a composer - my original goal was to move to Los Angeles
to compose for film. I pursued this for 2 years, but it soon became
clear that my teaching work on YouTube was becoming much more
popular - and the world was telling me to pursue teaching, which has

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