Jazz Piano School

When I think about the things that hurt my progress the most through out my jazz piano pursuit there are 4 things that come to mind. And I dont mean, me sitting on the couch with my hand on my chin wondering. I mean like BAM! These 4 things DIRECTLY come to my mind because they're so blatantly obvious now that I can see them and know of them. In episode 2 of my new mini series I'm going to explain what these 4 things are. They're STILL, to this day, very heavily rearing their ugly head and the more you can be aware of them...the better off you'll be so you don't go through what I did for 15 years. Enjoy!

I get kind of bitter when I talk about it. I try not to but I really can't help it. Because this ONE thing was extremely close to robbing me of my jazz piano dream. And to this day, I feel my body tighten and clench when talking about it. This is Episode 1, of a 3 part mini series I'm releasing that's going to take a step back. It's going to hopefully help you rethink your own jazz piano education and journey, as I share all the downfalls, doubts, frustrations and pains I've gone through on mine. Enjoy!

The age old question. How do you practice improvisation? Practice lines and licks right? Not exactly. Believe it or not, most of the work and practice should be done outside the tune. Just like baseball players. They work on batting practice outside of games, so when the games do come, they can hit better. In this episode I'll show you my system I still use to this day to practice improvisation.

Rarely does the crucial information you need to make progress expose itself easily. I went through years of nebulous education learning without no clear path. In this podcast lesson, I break down the MOST important 3 steps you need to practice and work on in order to achieve a pro level solo piano sound.

Learning the different jazz piano educational paths and how to combine them is powerful knowledge that could make or break your ability to reach your goals. Most of the time students try and learn everything else and have no real clue what to focus on in order to get better. They also don't know WHY they aren't really improving. In this episode you'll learn all about this and leave with a deep understanding of jazz piano paths for improvement. Enjoy!

Learning the different jazz piano educational paths and how to combine them is powerful knowledge that could make or break your ability to reach your goals. Most of the time students try and learn everything else and have no real clue what to focus on in order to get better. They also don't know WHY they aren't really improving. In this episode you'll learn all about this and leave with a deep understanding of jazz piano paths for improvement.

In this episode we will be examining a scale from Yusef Lateef's "Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns" and putting it to use. Learn how to create unique lines over any chord.

In this episode I'll be continuing the talk of Playbooks. We will be releasing our brand new Playbooks on Black Friday, along with our amazing offer and discount. In today's episode I'll be going through bits and pieces of the voicings playbook. Enjoy!

Knowing what what to work on in order to systematically improve certain parts of your jazz piano performance is a HUGE advantage. But how do you know what to work on? What skills are you missing? What is your sound lacking? I'll go over how to get the blues sound you want and what to work on in this episode. Enjoy!

You can only sit at your piano, playing and practicing for yourself for so long. Eventually you're going to need some human connection and interaction. That's the beauty of music! It brings people together and connects humanity. But, if you never share, or open up, how can you ever connect? In this podcast I'll give you a quick update, and share some important news. Enjoy!

Have you ever heard the phrase "Let the melody be your guide" but wondered how to practically apply it to your playing? In this podcast, I show you how to use the melody as a springboard for melodic development in your solos. If you don't want to sound like a robot, this episode is for you.

Consistently make progress with your improvisation

I'm know how it goes, trust me. You hear someone's LH flying back and forth at lightening speed while the RH is playing some ridiculous line and you think to yourself, "There is no way I could do that". Am I right? This used to happen to me all the time. In To lead into our brand new specialty course called "How To Play Stride & Ragtime Like A Pro", set to be relased on June 29th, at 6am eastern, I have a great podcast to present to you to get you in the mood. Believe it or not this podcast will break things down so much that even a brand new pianist could take these methods and start to use them to play stride. If you put a little trust in me and check out what I teach, I promise you, there is hope for your stride future. Enjoy! To join the next live podcast recording go to: http://www.jazzpianoschool.com/livepodcast If you have questions or suggestions for a podcast lesson you would like us to do, please leave them in the comments down below.

A demonstration of five different renditions of "Fly Me To The Moon."

Upper Structure Triads: How To Play Them And Use Them

Practicing jazz can feel nebulous. What do we play? What do we do? There are so many different things to practice. What exercises do we use? I'll be first one to say this, I wasted a full decade practicing jazz the WRONG way. In this episode I'll teach you my 5 step system that will give you a practice plan to ensure you're ACTUALLY making progress everytime you sit down to practice. Enjoy!

The Cocktail Piano style is a term that is thrown around and everyone wants to learn it. Whenever we walk into a lounge, bar, or cocktail hour, as musicians, we always marvel and what the pianist is playing and DOING. What are they doing though and what IS the "Cocktail Piano" style? In this podcast I'll pull back the curtain on the top 4 styles that make up the style, how to feather, and the fills you need to create the cocktail sound. Enjoy!

Practicing improvisation can be nebulous to say the least. What do you practice? How do you practice? When we're able to take a step back, and plan out our improvisation practice session using this 3 step process you'll make much more progress in a shorter amount of time.

I love demystifying the jazz education process. The moment when a student finally understand is magic. Everything clicks and the light bulb goes off. I never really got a step by step instruction, so this is why I dedicated myself to teaching in this manner. In this podcast episode, I break down exactly how bebop lines are created in the moment so you can have an accurate understanding of what is happening to create such gorgeous sounding lines. Enjoy!

I go further in depth into blues reharms to teach you how to expand upon the fundamentals I taught in the last episode.

Playing the blues is always fun. Playing the blues with reharms is even MORE fun! In this live stream podcast, I'll teach you 4 reharms you can use in the blues and HOW to use them. These 4 reharms are extremely powerful and will completely transform your playing.

This was the very first, live stream podcast I recorded with a live audience. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to do it again! If you're looking to become a part of the live audience and get your questions answered by me after I record, go to https://jazzpianoschool.com/livepodcast to get on the email list so you receive the links. Enjoy!

I had an epiphany at the end of 2021. It was time to change some things. For the better! I want to connect with you. I want to help you MORE! In different ways. Here's how.

"Plopping and Dropping" left hand voicings can only get you so far. Developing architectural left hand chord lines creates a beautiful backdrop for your right hand to improvise over. In today's podcast we will break down some key techniques to creating your own left hand chord lines!

Block chords are one of jazz piano's unsolved mysteries. This style made famous by George Shearing and Nat King Cole was once ubiquitously used by jazz pianists of the 20th century who came after them. In part two of this jazz piano tutorial, we will cover two more advanced strategies to integrate this style of playing into your repertoire.

Most the time we feel like we're inadequate players. That's rough, and I know because I've been there. But the truth is, the tools we currently possess are usually more than enough to make and play beautiful jazz piano music. You just need 3, very simple, yet powerful things. In this episode I'll share with you what those 3 things are and how they will instantly bring your playing to life, no matter WHAT level you are! Enjoy!

Block chords are one of jazz piano's unsolved mysteries. This style made famous by George Shearing and Nat King Cole was once ubiquitously used by jazz pianists of the 20th century who came after them. In this jazz piano tutorial, learn how to use this technique in your improvising, comping, and more!

Setting restraints forces us to play things we never would have thought of on our own. By limiting our choices, we actually drastically increase the amount of creativity in our lines. Restraints help us to bypass muscle memory and create new pathways through the harmonies. Check out these 3 strategies to implement restraints into your practice routine and jumpstart your creativity!

In honor of Thelonious Monk's 103rd birthday this October, we will be taking a deep dive into his musical style in this podcast lesson! Follow along as we explore two Monk compositions and examine what makes them tick. By the end of this lesson, you will have a new appreciation for Monk's style and discover new ways to incorporate it into your own personal creativity!

It's hard to break out of habits. A lot of times we play on autopilot but guess what, in order to make progress we need to STOP. We need to pay close attention to what we're playing and analyze it. Then after we're AWARE of what we're doing, we need to play the opposite texture. This episode will show you an easy process you can use to instantly break out of your improv norms.

In honor of our 200th Lick of the Week, we are bringing you Cory Henry's famous Lingus solo! The solo from Snarky Puppy's "Lingus" off of the album We Like it Here (2014) has gone down in history as one of the best. Want to know what makes this solo so great? Check out this solo analysis in this week's podcast to find out!

Jazz Piano School 3.0 including upgraded features, content, design annd more is being released on Monday, September 28th at 6am EST during our Open Enrollment period for new students. We've been closed for 11 months now and this release party is sure to be a doozy! Until then, dig into this week's podcast on filling space with these 3 easy strategies. I dive deep here in to specifics. The when, the how, the why. This should be a great podcast lesson for you that is a must listen for every student. Enjoy!

This week we are bringing you a sneak peek into our exclusive member content! This podcast lesson is an excerpt from our "JPS Pratice Workouts," and discusses how to develop your own repertoire list. Developing your own repertoire list is essential to becoming a complete jazz pianist. Follow along for the inside scoop on how to get started!

Jazz Piano School 3.0 Launch and OPEN Enrollment Date is here!!! Mark you calendars folks! Monday, September 28th at 6am eastern! Check your inbox for more details. Lots of people dive into all sorts of voicings. Myself included. What are 3 note voicings? What do they do? Why are they important? When should you learn them? How do you integrate them and use them? I'll answer all these questions in this podcast to give you all the necessary information you need.

Have you been looking for a way to take your Bebop jazz playing to the next level? In this edition of Bebop Secrets, we will discuss how to use Enclosures in your jazz improvisation. Great pianists from Bud Powell to Oscar Peterson utilize Enclosures in their playing, and you can too with the help of these exercises!

In the classical piano world, it's all about how you play the notes. Players like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett applied classical voicing techniques to jazz piano to create beautiful sounding melodies. You can do the same with these exercises! There are no practice materials for this week's podcast. Leave us a comment or question in the section below!

Do you ever feel tired of using the same techniques in your piano playing over and over? This week's podcast lesson can help you shake things up by thinking of the piano as an orchestra. Great players such as Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, and Roland Hanna all had this technique in common: they played the piano like an arranger would write for an orchestra! Check out these techniques, and you might find some to incorporate into your own playing.

You can't get very far without actually practicing. That's why in this podcast episode, we take a "Practice Workout" directly from inside our members area and give it to you on practicing blues riffs! It's a great one and I know you'll love it!

When playing a bossa nova, what is the best way to accompany a solo instrument in a latin jazz style? Look no further, this video will give you a clear step-by-step tutorial on how to do it right! Follow along as we explore the music of A. C. Jobim in this week's podcast.

We pianists often imitate the voice or horn when improvising, but in this lesson we explore the capabilities unique to the piano. Playing lines with 1, 2, and all the way up to 6 notes at a time! Once you start exploring this area of improvisation, a whole new world of concepts will open up to you.

Are you wondering how to capture the real sound of Bebop in your jazz playing? Tune into this week's podcast as we reveal how to use approach notes to sound like the best bebop pianists. This simple exercise will add a new dimension to your improvising!

Go to https://jazzpianoschool.com/podcast200 for a collection of ALL of our previous podcast materials bundled into one, easy, pdf. On our celebratory, 200th podcast, special guest, Emmet Cohen joins us to do an analysis lesson video of his own arrangement on "Like Someone In Love". At a young age, Emmet Cohen is already carving out a place for himself among the jazz piano greats and leaving a special legacy behind. His current project, "Masters Legacy Series", a celebratory set of recordings and interviews honoring ledgendary jazz musicians, is getting amazing reviews while contributing to jazz education and jazz history. His accomplishments and awards could fill up a whole page but he was recently the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Wards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. For more information on Emmet Cohen, go to, https://emmetcohen.com. In this podcast, Emmet is going to be giving a lesson analysis on his own gorgeous arrangment of, "Like Someone In Love" which you can see by clicking on this link here. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CB3ZRanFs7f/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link He answers our questions and provides and amazing amount of knowledge and helpful jazz piano education in this video. Let's check it out! If you have questions or suggestions for a podcast lesson you would like us to do, please leave them in the comments down below.

Simple 15-20 minute routine to get 4th chords under your fingers! In this podcast, we walk you through a simple practice routine to get the powerful diatonic 4th chords ingrained into your musical concept. With consistent practice of these exercises, your fingers will naturally start falling into beautiful shapes based on 4ths. If you have questions or suggestions for a podcast lesson you would like us to do, please leave them in the comments down below.

What is the Power of the "And?" In this podcast, we show you one of the best kept secrets of swing: the "and." With these 3 exercises, you can take your swing feel to the next level. Follow along to harness the Power of the "And!" If you have questions or suggestions for a podcast lesson you would like us to do, please leave them in the comments down below.

Lots of people dive into all sorts of voicings. Myself included. What are 3 note voicings? What do they do? Why are they important? When should you learn them? How do you integrate them and use them? I'll answer all these questions in this podcast to give you all the necessary information you need.

This week I, Brenden Lowe, owner and founder of Jazz Piano School make a statement about how we as a company stand for #BLM. We also are gathering blues tributes from as many people as possible in honor of George Floyd, BLM, jazz, the blues, and the resilience, fortitude, oppression, suffering, courage and bravery the African American people went through to deliver the great music of jazz. If you have questions or suggestions for a podcast lesson you would like us to do, please leave them in the comments down below.

This week we continue our analysis of Bud Powells solo over Anthropology. We also learn about WHY taking small, bite sized, improv lego building blocks from transcriptions and solos is MUCH more beneficial than just learning the enter solo from the get go. After we analyzed the individual parts, THEN we can learn the entire solo. But if we fail to understand what is happening, then the only thing that happens is we copy what someone else has done when we're improvising instead of spontaneously improvising from our own soul. Which would you rather do?

You know what can really take things to the next level? A good old-fashioned shout chorus! The best pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, and Nat King Cole utilized shout choruses in their trios. Sometimes they took sections and ripped them straight from their favorite jazz big band arrangments! Check out some of our favorite shout choruses in this week's podcast.

Bud Powell was clearly and innovator of his time and greatly contributed to the language of jazz we all use today. In this podcast episode I'm going to analyze Bud Powell's solo over "Anthropology" but at the same time teach you HOW to deconstruct improvisation solos into what I call "Lego Building Blocks". This strategy will not only help you be able to use the ideas quicker, but will allow you to combine them with others in order to create your own solos more effectively. I absolutely love helping students with this because I use to learn licks and lines and simply plop them right into my solo. And guess what? It was CLEAR that what I had just played was NOT spontaneously improvised by myself. It sounded fake! So this "Lego Building Block" strategy is sure to help you with that problem.

If you've been looking for a way to spice up your chord progressions, try this fun harmonization exercise! This podcast will show you how to take the simplest melodies and give them a more interesting underlying chord structure. Your harmonizations won't be the same after this!