Playing by ear

["Keith Freeman" <keith.freeman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> PS. Complex jazz frustrates me.  I hear a note and think it's 
> definitely a 3rd scale degree at that moment, but 10 seconds later the
> piece has modulated through so many key areas I can't even remember
> what country I'm in.

I know what you mean, Patrick! But even following that is not unattainable, if you've 
already acquired an ear for scale degrees. The next step is to recognize the most 
common modulations. Coker's book Hearin' The Changes helped me a lot there, also 
sitting down at the keyboard and playing different ones and saying to myself 'this is 
what a modulation to the IV sounds like', then actually using those modulations in my 
own compositions. Also training myself to hear the main melody notes in relation to the 
roots: 'this is the major third of the current chord', 'this is the minor seventh of the 
current chord', that sort of thing.

- -Keith