[palimpsests]

how would you use this approach in practical application?

i haven’t met many working musicians who had much difficulty learning the relationships between different keys, how they connect to the circle of fifths (fourths), and key signatures.

i get that it can seem overwhelming and non-intuitive, but it’s really not that complicated once you spend time playing and practicing music that illuminates these relationships (like playing ii-V-I progressions in every key, going around the circle of fifths). very little memorization involved; moreso muscle memory and an accumulation of applied theory in context.

most of the musicians i know are jazz players, where being able to play in any key is a critical aspect of mastering the genre. all the classical musicians i know are professional orchestral musicians, and they don’t seem to have any difficulty either.