Guitarist Jaden Kim presents radical numerization, a system that assigns numbers to every note relative to a key, treating relative minors as degree 6. The unified framework lets you practice major and minor together, vocalize complex chords like jazz dominant 7♭13♭9 as number sequences, and internalize music without an instrument.
All right, today I'm going to be talking about the one concept that changed my life. This one idea almost single handedly expanded my perception of music and made it so I was able to practice whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted, for as long as I wanted. And now I'm at the point where I can basically practice for hours every single day on autopilot. Hey, welcome in. If you're a guitarist seeking improvisational and compositional mastery, you are in the right place. Hope you join us. I'm jojo. I'm a 24 year old guitarist. I went to jazz school on a full scholarship for my trombone playing and now I have a huge passion for playing guitar, specifically in the realm of improvising and composing. So the concept that changed my life not only as a guitarist, but as a musician can be thought of as radical numerization. Essentially, it means seeing everything in music as it relates to a parent key or tonal center and numerically or as solfeit syllables. So for example, in the key of C, C would be one, D would be two, E would be three, so on and so forth. For minor keys, I always analyze them relative to 6, right? So A minor A would be 6, B would be 7, C would still be 1. I don't change the names for relative minors and majors. It's helpful because when I analyze a song in minor or major, I just have to learn one map. You don't have to do this convoluted name changing for different minor and major keys. This concept has been so powerful because one it made it so every time I practiced in major, I was also practicing in minor, and two because it made it so I could take my musical practice outside of the practice room. The real power of this approach comes from bringing your voice into the mix. I can now study even complex jazz chords with nothing but my voice. For example, a dominant 7 flat 13 flat 9 chord, also known as the 3 chord, would be something like 34 sharp 567-12-3217176 sharp 54 sharp 543 sharp 572176 sharp 54 sharp 543 There any concepts that change the game for you, Please feel free to share them in the comments. Essentially, once you start to conceptualize music in this way, every single day, every single song that you listen to in your life becomes a playground and an opportunity for you to hone your musical skills. By the way, if you're looking for some ways to get stuck started on this journey of being able to take your practice wherever you are, feel free to click the link in my bio. We've got a free PDF and mini course getting you started on how to visualize the fretboard and take this practice into your daily life. Peace y' all and subscribe if you're interested on having a helping hand for your improvisational and compositional journey. Keep singing. Bye.
