As you search for the best key for a melody, the ability to play by ear becomes essential.
It is also becomes an extremely valuable skill when you accompany singers or make music with others.
But there is a deeper reason for being able to play by ear as well as “by-eye”.
To be creative, we must engage our intuition.
You will find that certain ideas come to you when playing by ear that …
The 31-year-old Franz Schubert was already poorly when he moved into the apartment with his older brother Ferdinand (1794-1859) on 1 September 1828.
He was already ill and lived in a small room on the street side of the house, which had been built only the previous year.
Ferdinand, a teacher, writer and composer, had moved into the apartment, which was quite large for its time, together with his wife and several …
Franz Peter Schubert is thought to have been born here in the “Rauchkuchl” on 31 January 1797, the 12th child of a teacher and his wife.
Of his 14 brothers and sisters, only four survived to adult age.
The house was called “Zum rothen Krebsen” and belonged to Himmelpfortgrund, a village suburb of Vienna with 86 houses and over 3.000 inhabitants.
In 1800, there were around 70 people living in this house, which …
To my ears, B-flat Major is a peaceful Key with a sweet nature.
Mozart’s last piano concerto is written in this Key.
G Minor is, for me, a Key of the night.
Mozart composed forty-one symphonies, thirty-nine of them in various Major Keys. The other two were both in G Minor.
Mozart obviously had an affinity for this Key, as did Beethoven for C Minor.
It is natural to fall in love with some Keys, …