that’s a great ear training exercise. the first step always is to know the key so let’s say F major. You know the scale so now it is actually pretty easy because the entire melody is made up of notes only contained in that scale. Some parts of the melody can be hit and miss but as you practice the hits will overtake the misses!
This is true for improvisation as well… think of it this way, when McCartney was writing hey Jude he was improvising while trying to establish his melody, and what tools did he have available? The notes of the F major scale.
Hi Johnny, that’s true advice, i found by trial and error, when playing by ear on the sax, if i know the key the tune is in, then i spend a lot of time practicing the key scale before hand, so it narrows down what keys to jump up or down in.
but when it comes to the piano, i don’t use scales, as the layout of the piano keys is easier than the sax keys layout in order to move around in.
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