Thanks, Peter! You're doing it yourself by focusing and letting go!

Thank you! I'm very glad the message was clear.

We all have the ability to speak in poetic meter in a singsong way, like saying a child's poem - that's the basic sense we use. The difficulties with becoming fluent musically are more to do with psychological blockages and preconceptions about learning music that we acquire from our culture. It's a paradigm shift that can be difficult for some people - I can't lie about that! But it requires no special innate abilities. As you know, the test examines whether people's learning aims and expectations will allow them to practise in the right way, it doesn't test musical ability at all.

Michael, I wouldn't have passed that test four years ago. But when I first emailed Phil, I asked him whether I'd need to abandon the traditional method I'd been following for two years, the Alfred's course, Hanon and Czerny. He answered yes and I embarked on his path, stopped trying to learn by practising from sheet music. However, I have harboured many misunderstandings and unreasonable expectations all along. Not to mention the blockages against being expressive. I have been fighting his instruction to "speak in poetic meter in a singsong way" more or less the whole time. It is, in fact the bedrock. (Fortunately, I was still able to get the 24 harmonic blocks into my fingers and brain, so as groove and the state of flow become available to me, it'll all be ready.) Phil's rhythm-first approach is so far from anything we see on KZfaq, there's just no corroboration other than what you eventually experience if you have enough patience and humility. And more patience and more humility the deeper you go. I think that's actually where the 'talent' lies.

I'm very happy to hear that!

Thank you so much! I will!

That's great! Glad it helped!

My velocity range is wider - I include many softer notes and generate varied sonorities that way. I add some light mastering using izotope although nothing too heavy or it sounds funny. Beyond that, I can't think of anything.

Pentatonic tonality is very important. It has a distinct flavour and follows certain simple tonal principles that are a good foundation.

​@PhilBestMusic Do we need to also think in terms of pentatonic blocks (the 2 open blocks without the third note) in music or just the 12 major and minor, 3 diminished and 2 whole tone harmonic blocks?

So if we take the 4 blocks C and Am (home) with G and Dm (away), the 2 "away" blocks (G and Dm) only lack thirds when they're strictly plugged into a pentatonic block. They're not different kinds of blocks, they're just normal harmonic blocks that have the 3rd missing because it's not there in the container pentatonic block. All this tonal information must be known PHYSICALLY or it's just confusing. A pentatonic block is a physical or spatial configuration in the 3D keyboard map. There must be no thinking. You onit the 3rds in G and Dm becuase you physically know the pentatonic block and the notes B and F are not available.

@PhilBestMusic Oh, so if I think of a pentatnonic block/tonality, I think of four harmonic blocks, and the other has no third and sounds neither major nor minor. Okay, I understand now. By the way, thank you for the explanation.

Just to be sure... From the pentatnic block made of the notes CDEGA, we can make 4 harmonic blocks, C Am G and Dm. But G and Dm lack their 3rds but. I actually do still sense them as having a major and minor tonality.

Those are theoretical concepts. My system doesn't cover many of the inventions of music theory (not even keys!). It's called a concise model for a reason! I sometimes use music theory to discuss musical ideas on here because not everyone is studying my system, which asks that you understand any chord you can think of in terms of a harmonic block. A chord - or harmonic shape - can contain any or all of the main 3 notes of the block and also auxiliary notes. Even if I play a single note, it's part of a harmonic block!

@PhilBestMusic Yes, I understand that slash chords are just theoretical concepts (music theory). But even though there are theoretical concepts, they sound different from a regular harmonic block or chord (example F/G sounds different from F block). I don't know how to interpret this in terms of musical fluency. I don't know if this block might be mixing with another harmonic block. When I encounter a slash chord, I think of a block with a bass note (either auxiliary note or part of a harmonic block), but I am not sure if this is right.

Stop mixing up harmonic blocks and chords - they are not the same! A chord is a shape! As I said before, even a single note must always be part of a harmonic block - and which one depends on your intention. The single note, G can be part of a G block or it might be part of a C block. It depends on the musical sense you intend - on how you "hear" it internally. Now, we can only sense ONE harmonic block at a time. Of course there can also be auxiliary notes present. So F/G CAN be just an F block with a G auxiliary note in the bass. But if you're hearing it differently, maybe you're sensing it as a G block - which is perfectly possible when the root is in the bass even without the 3rd and 5th (B and D) - then that means that the F, A and C would actually work as auxiliary notes. So depending on your intention within the musical context, the same chord can "sound" different or function differently. It gets even more interesting if you add another note to your chord and do GFACE. That chord could function as a G harmonic block, an F, an Am or as a C... It all depends on your intention. Spooky, I know! The key is just to practice your blocks, intending the harmonic sound of each one clearly, hearing it internally clearly, and having its location clear in the keyboard map. This must reach a level of being effortless and without any thinking at all. Only then should you add auxiliary notes or they can mess up your sense of the block. It's very natural but it just requires a lot more practice. You're just getting ahead of yourself and my guess is that your keyboard mapping is weak. You have to train SLOWLY and THOROUGHLY. Your theoretical knowledge of music is way ahead of your fluent grasp. This does cause blockage and confusion very easily.

​​@@maximuswilliam318 I can attest to the value of long practice on all 24 simple harmonic blocks. Once we really know them and have where they live in the keyboard mapped onto our body/ mind, I expect all the auxilliary notes (call them what you like, in music theory) will drop into that map. In the meantime, over-thinking is our enemy. This is a meditative practice. There's no room for 'working out'.

@@PhilBestMusic Now I understand are Harmonic Blocks are Harmony in the background that you can naturally perceive while chords are just notes played together to make a shape. Slash chords where the bass note is the root of Harmonic block and the chord is the auxiliary notes. I strongly agree that even a one note, there is a always harmonic block to it depending on your intention or the context of music. Thank you for letting me know the difference of Harmonic Blocks and Chord Shape. Also, I have to practice them and I look forward to it.