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Category: New jazz piano lesson updates
Lots of information here about updates for new jazz lessons.
Playing without the dots
Why you should memorise tunes Sheet music is just information, it’s not the music itself. The more you read what’s in front of you the less head room you’ll have for creativity. Playing without the dots opens up your ears! Which tunes should I learn? This, of course, is very much up to you.… Read more »
Learning to play jazz
Play jazz: practice and theory Have you ever been asked the question “What do you do?” When I used to reply “I’m a singing coach” the usual annoying response was “Do you know anyone famous?” Now that I teach jazz piano, an equally infuriating reaction is “Learning to play jazz? How can you teach improvisation?… Read more »
Finding the sweet notes
In video lesson 24 of Learn Jazz Piano I focus on how songwriters employ ‘sweet notes’ to add that spine tingling effect to their melody. I then relate this to jazz improvisation and show you how to employ this technique of finding the sweet notes in your solos. Using these well-chosen notes is a good way… Read more »
How to play a jazz solo
The advanced section of my online jazz piano course is called ‘How to play a jazz solo.’ There now follows a summary of these lessons with a link to my jazz course. Lesson 21: Connecting handsIn this lesson I take you through techniques to incorporate your left hand. These include the following: StrideWalking bass linesShearing… Read more »
Checklist for jazz piano solos
Here is your checklist of jazz piano solos with 12 essential tips. (This is an extract from my fourth eBook: Learn jazz Piano: How To Solo.) 1) Chords belong to families. A chord rarely exists in its own right and is far more likely to have a relationship within a family. It has usually… Read more »
How to solo
If you’ve ever written a letter of complaint you’ll know that there is one basic ground rule to ensure a positive outcome: be concise and stick to the point. In other words, don’t ramble. If you’re returning a broken radio, your main point is that it’s not fit for purpose. To supplement this with an… Read more »
essential jazz standards part 3
Here’s my final list of suggestions for your jazz repertoire. These are all essential jazz standards that you should become familiar with. Although I’ve listed 14 tunes, I suggest you at least learn What Is This Thing Called Love, Softly As In A Morning Sunrise and Yesterdays. For more of a challenge, take a look… Read more »
Learning jazz standards, part 2. (Full list in book 3)
The best way when learning jazz standards is to identify the map, in other words, spot the key centres. Autumn Leaves only has two, but All The Things You Are moves through no less than five keys! Here are 10 more jazz tunes you need to be familiar with. Although they are all popular, the… Read more »
Essential Jazz repertoire, part 1.
As you build up your collection of essential jazz repertoire it’s likely that the bulk of your growing collection will consist of what is known as jazz standards. Although this term covers a wide range of material, it usually refers to well known songs played by jazz musicians but originally written for Broadway musicals by… Read more »
Learn Jazz standards part 3: Tunes in 3/4 time
Learn Jazz standards part 3:Tunes in 3/4 time I’m guessing that as you learn jazz standards most of your repertoire is in 4/4 time. However, 3/4 is just as important and fun to play. This time I’ve also given you the structure (form) of each tune. If you just want to start learning jazz standards and… Read more »