Introduction

Do I have to learn all of this?

No. This book is not meant to be a method to be studied from beginning to end. It is just a collection of musical concepts. It is up to you to decide which exercises you find interesting and useful enough to practice.

Is this all I have to learn?

No. This book is only helpful if used in combination with other material. Important other activities for your practice schedule include:

• transcribing, learning music by ear
• ear training, solfège
• learning tunes
• learning harmony on the piano, if that is not your first instrument
• composing and arranging music
• playing with other musicians
• mental training

This book doesn’t teach you any particular style. Its aim is to help you to open up your playing and to discover new approaches. To learn to apply the gained skills in a musical way will require you to listen to your favorite artists and figure out how they are approaching music.

Everything in C?

For convenience, nearly everything in this book is written in the key of C. However, you should always practice everything in all keys!

Range

Most of the exercises are written out to fit within two octaves, but you can extend or shorten them to the range of your instrument.

Play

The exercises as written are just a means to get a grasp on the material, but it doesn’t end there. As soon as you can play the exercises as written, you should always play with the material, find your own variations, combine them with other ideas and apply them when you improvise over changes.