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ToneGym
Dec 19, 14:29 in ToneGym Official
ToneGym Hero: Nikolay Kutkovoy
A pianist, improviser, and electronic music explorer, Nikolay moves between classical roots and minimalist grooves with ease.

From Moscow band sessions to daily ToneGym training, he’s shaping sound with curiosity and precision, @Nikolay Kutkovoy is this month’s ToneGym Hero!

Meet Nikolay 👉https://www.tonegym.co/blog/item?id=nikolay-kutkovoy
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Kathy Anderson
Dec 19, 15:08
.@ Nikolay Kutkovoy thank you for sharing your musical journey with us. I find it so interesting when I see people coming back to music and it is a huge part of their life. All the best - look forward to seeing where you go with your music!!
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Sebastian Gonzalez
Dec 19, 17:20
Hey dude,

Some solo piano albums also hold a special place in my heart. Thanks for sharing your story! Here are some of my favorites if you'd like to listen to them:

Solo: Live (2002) – Oscar Peterson
Forever Blue – Chuck Leavell
Just Piano – FKJ
The Köln Concert (1975) – Keith Jarret
Congrats @Michael Möllerfeld for winning the Diamond Ears Award!
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lele Hot
Dec 15
GOOD JOB ✨💯
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Colin Aiken
Dec 16
Outstanding achievement!
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Michael Möllerfeld
Dec 19, 16:41
Thanks a lot…
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T T
Dec 19, 09:19 in ToneGym Cafe
How am I supposed to know the correct chord in Chordelius? Since C6 is exactly the same as the 1st inversion of Am7! No base tone is given.
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Sebastian Gonzalez
Dec 19, 15:40
Hey TT, inversions aren't really trained in Chordelius. You're right, they both share the same notes, the fact that you can recognize the quality of the chord, either C6 or Am7, is far more valuable than hitting the right name for it. Nonetheless, they do sound a little different if you identify each note from the bottom-up. Takes a bit of practice, but try playing it down on a keyboard, you're closer to differentiating them than you think. 👍
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ToneGym
Dec 19, 02:07 in ToneGym Official
Same Melody Syndrome
Writing 10 versions of the same melody… then going back to the first one.
👉 Guilty / Never

🎶 You tweak the melody, change the rhythm, try a new note… do this ten times, and somehow the first version was the best all along.

Be honest: guilty, or does this never happen to you? 😅
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DAVID DOERNER
Dec 19, 09:36
I believe doing such things actually cements what may be right about the original. I compare it to strategies to learn pieces of music, things that I am struggling with, etc.
Congrats @Andrey Karpov for winning the Silver Ears Award!
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Hugh M
Dec 18
Very good!
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Bravo!
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Ian Nyachoti
Dec 18, 20:12
Yay!
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Ohuj Us
Dec 17 in ToneGym Cafe
siema kurwy
Congrats @Kevin Triplett for completing the 'Music Theory Basics' program!
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Colin Aiken
Dec 17
Well done!
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Good for you!!
Congrats @Tom Kar for winning the Golden Ears Award!
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Colin Aiken
Dec 16
Fantastic!
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Congratulations!! Great job!!
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Nice work Tom!
I need help with Route VI, what should i be looking for, is it the root notes or how the chords resolve ect...? Any feedback is appreciated. Cheers
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I take something of a mechanical, deductive approach, which is arguably not ideal compared to listening for tension, resolution, and chord quality (though those things can absolutely still be part of it), and is pretty time-consuming, but it's how my brain works. Take it or leave it as suits you.

First, I find a note in each chord. Whatever note you can pick out. This gives me a sequence of notes. I match this on my electric piano that's right next to my computer. I now have a sequence of intervals.
 
For instance, let's say I match the notes B, C#, D. The interval pattern is +M2, +m2. Let's say the choices are ii-V-I, ii-I-V, and ii-IV-I. Which of those have that interval pattern?
 
I then refer to a cheat-sheet I have of the notes in the chords in the key of C. Again, it doesn't matter whether the progression is actually in C, as I'm just looking for interval patterns.
 
Does ii-V have an interval of +M2? Yes, taking the key of C as an example, Dm (DFA) to G (GBD) has two of them, A to B and F to G. What about ii-I? Dm to C (CEG) has two as well, D to E and F to G. And ii-IV? No, Dm to F (FAC) has no such intervals.
 
OK, so now we've eliminated one of the possibilities. To narrow it further, let's look at the second interval in the pattern. So, if we've gone from Dm to G (ii-V), we've landed on either the B or the G according to our interval pattern (relative to the key of C -- of course, our absolute notes are different). Does the I chord (to complete the ii-V-I pattern) have a note that is a m2 up from either B or G? Yes, the root of the C chord is up a m2 from the B in the G chord. So, that's a match.
 
But is the other pattern a match, too? If we go from Dm to C (ii-I), we've landed on either the E or the G (again, relative to the key of C). Does the V chord (to complete the ii-I-V pattern) have a note that is a m2 up from either E or G? No, it has the notes GBD, none of which fit the bill.
 
Voila! We now know that ii-V-I is the only match among the choices.
 
We've traced through the notes A, B, and C as matching the interval pattern, but of course the actual notes we matched are B, C#, D. We can now surmise that the progression is actually in the key of D (with chords Em, A, D), but the game doesn't require us to identify the absolute chords, just their relative harmonic functions, so that's just a bonus.

I'll add that sometimes just recognizing and matching the chord quality -- major, minor, diminished -- is quite sufficient to narrow down to the right answer. And if it doesn't narrow it all the way down, it can at least eliminate some of the possibilities to speed up the above process.
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Cherry Blow (author)
Dec 16
Thank you that was very helpful never thought of referring to my keyboard it's pretty clever actually
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@Cherry Blow Yep, use the tools available to you, as long as they don't take away from the point of the exercise and its practical usage. In practice, using your instrument to help you figure out a chord progression is the most natural thing in the world, so using it in that context does not take away from the point of the exercise, in my view. (By contrast with, say, Solfefgiator or Interval Barks, where if you used an instrument to give you the pitches you are supposed to sing, it would ENTIRELY take away the point of the exercise.)
Congrats @T vC for winning the Silver Ears Award!
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NGUYEN TIEN
Dec 15
good🍏
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Colin Aiken
Dec 16
Bravo!
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👍