Jazz Piano School

We continue our Benny Green Transcription Series with a minor 2-5-1 into some very nice rhythmic motifs and harmonic development lines. This is the 2nd part of his solo on "Celia".

I absolutely love Benny Green's playing. His lines are very clear, solid, and connect with the harmonies perfectly. In this podcast series I'm going to walk you through a Benny Green solo and point out the building blocks for you to practice in order to build freedom within your improv.

If you're new to adding extensions into your voicings learning these upper structure triads is a great way to get you started. With these you'll start to create some amazing sounding jazz voicings with ease! Enjoy!

As we continue our voicing series we are adding extensions into our voicing fundamentals. This is progressing us a little further and teaching us how to create freedom to build any voicings we want. With these methods you are becoming the creator instead of simply copying voicings and not understanding how they're used. Enjoy!

During my career I was always copying voicings. I spent so many years just mimicking voicings instead of learning a solid foundation that will allow me freedom to build voicings myself. This fundamental voicing building system will give you the opportunity to build voicings for yourself for the rest of your life!

There are just some tools that every pianist has to know...this is one of them. These "McCoy Tyner" 4th voicing structures are a must know tool to have in your tool box. This is a simple episode that teaches you exactly what they are. Easy to add in your repertoire. Enjoy!

We're at the last episode of our reharm series. We're using our previous tools to reharm the bridge to rhythm changes. Let me tell you...this is a doozy. Because we have two bars each of our 3-6-2-5 our options expand by A LOT! This episode is for the brave. :)

We're continuing our reharm series of progressions this week with a 3-6-2-5. We get a little crazy with the reharms, but all beautiful and effective none the less. We build off concepts from episode 83 so you if you haven't watched that I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

Once you learn a couple of reharm tools it will completely open up your playing. Not only will you be able to comp differently but you will have more options for improvisation, arranging and solo piano freedom. Check out these reharms for a 2-5-1. I will cover different progressions in the upcoming podcasts.

Connecting harmonies during improvisation is very simple when executed properly. Watch as I breakdown some ways to work on connecting harmonies and show you how to put everything together.

This is part 2 of I Should Care Improvisation Analysis. We got a lot of great feedback on this type of podcast so we're going to release a couple more as well. Watch as I break down my thought process while creating a solo from scratch.

Watch as I build a solo from scratch talking about the importance of specific and harmonic changes you should add. I also add my thought process at approaching your connections through the harmonies.

Soloing over diminished chords can be tricky, but very pretty if you have some tools in your toolbox. Check out these two scales to help your improv over the diminished passing chord and dominant chords.

It's hard to know exactly what to do to improve our improvisation right? Most of the time we just spend time learning licks and transcribing but this doesn't really create the freedom we want. Learn how to systematically approach improvement at bebop!

There are always those tiny details that instantly improve the sound of someones playing. This episode is about the little secret movements players put into their playing to add flavor and spice!

Space doesn’t always have to be in your right hand, and it doesn’t always have to mean not playing. Check out these different ways to conceptualize space and add it into your playing for some tasty improvements.

Improvisation is like trying to fill the gaps in a resolution. We're trying to land on chord tones but there are so many ways to resolve, mixed with rhythms...we need to figure out what fits the gap! In this video I debunk improvisation so you don't have to copy and paste licks into your solo's.

Filling empty space in tunes can be challenging. There are a lot of different ways to do it. In this episode I go off on a small journey talking about reharms, but also give you 6 great ways to fill space in tunes. Enjoy!

Latin and Bossa tunes can be a great style to add to your repertoire. A lot of people think they are difficult to play but as I'll demonstrate in this episode there is not much difference in the way you'll approach these tunes.

This was a request from a JPS member who wanted me to play a little bit more in the episode to get some ideas. This episode covers solo piano blues styles advanced textures, and progressions to help spark some creativity. Enjoy!

We're releasing the brand new Solo Piano System on January 23rd at 9am. In this podcast I cover 9 steps taken directly from the course that will improve your solo piano and build a solid foundation for your solo piano future.

We're releasing the brand new Solo Piano System on January 23rd at 9am. This podcast will finally answer the question "How do I arrange my hands while playing standards to achieve a beautiful lush sound?" With these 7 steps you'll be able to arrange any standards of your choice. The solo piano system will go into much more depth and answer all the "But what if this happens" questions.

We start the new year with a massive amount of information explaining the JPS system that has already helped thousands of people. We combine that with a personal summary of where you are in your progress so you can focus on what needs to be done in 2017.

In this episode I wrap up 2016 for JPS and some goals I have for 2017. I also go over 7 tips that if done, will guarantee you make more efficient progress in 2017. Have fun and here's to a new year filled with success!

Learning the difference between double time and double time feel can be very tricky. Playing it can be even tricker. In this podcast I give examples on how to switch back and forth, what it actually means, and how to use it in your playing.

Learning voicings with structure and organization can be complicated. You'll learn one voicing from one resource then a completely different voicing from another resource. Follow my voicing pyramid to make sure you fill all your voicing holes and achieve complete freedom with all your voicings.

The Sus chord is a very, very important chord in jazz. It can be used for many purposes and can advance your playing drastically! In this episode I go over what a sus chord is and show you how it can be used effectively in different situations. Enjoy!

Improving your improvisation skills can be difficult and frustrating. How do we do it? What do we practice? At a certain point you have to get away from notes to continue making progress. Try practicing these 12 strategies and concepts to jumpstart your improv and creativity.

Hearing and figuring out progressions isn't just about using your ear...although thats a big part. :) Use these tips to put the puzzle together to figure out changes within progression that will be valuable in many different types of situations.

Figuring out movements that sound good over the chords to a 2-5-1 can be challenging when you're first starting out. These strong and popular movements are guaranteed to help you navigate your improv better through major and minor 2-5-1s.

I think we can all agree that Oscar Peterson is a beast. He was my main inspiration growing up so I've learned and studies his style...a lot! In this podcast I go over 11 specific characteristics in his playing that make him sound the way he does. This one is a doozy! Enjoy!

Rootless voicing are a great building block to start learning true jazz sounds but how do we expand upon them? In this episode I show you how to take rootless voicing further by altering the natural extensions they contain.

I absolutely love playing the blues and I'm sure a lot of you do as well. There are certain progressions and movements I've picked up that I absolutely love and almost always use while playing the blues. These reharm progressions are guaranteed to to spice up your blues and open your creative box for improvement.

In this episode we take our voicings from last week and start to use them to create different environments, atmospheres, and sounds. When we shift or focus from our RH improv to the support our LH provides, you will start to see drastic improvement in your playing.

As you become more advanced, your LH becomes equally if not more important than your RH improv for certain sounds and atmospheres you can create. With this voicing approach you’ll have more than enough information to break outside the box with your LH voicing and make improvement.

Stride is an extremely fun style of jazz piano to play! Simple to explain, but technically difficult. Learn how to tackle this fun and impressive beast with these podcast tips! Have fun!

This is a fantastic episode that will benefit a lot of people out there. I specifically go over what is the most important aspect when connecting your improv together through odd changes and even more common progressions. Enjoy!

Memorizing & learning tunes throughly is tough! Trust me I've been there. After using this 6 Step Learning Tunes process I never forgot another tune again. It's due all the practice of the fundamental elements of the tune. Enjoy!

We open the flood gates to harmonization with this podcast as I show you that one note can fit and be used in any type of chord you wish in a tune. There are a substantial amount of options so take your time and realize that this is more or less like composing. Find changes that please you the most! This is about self expression. If you like it, then use it!

Harmonizing melodies can be very tricky. What chords do we pick for each melody note and when do we place them. In this harmonization beginner's podcast, I go over how to use diatonic chords as well as some substitutes to spice up a simple melody like twinkle twinkle. Enjoy!

Learning how to play at fast tempos can be quite frustrating. Why can't we play faster?! We see or listen to the monsters do it effortlessly yet when we try it comes out as a moshposh of jumbled up mess. Well here are 7 tips to follow to increase the speed at which you can improvise! Enjoy!

In this episode I expand on our bebop playing by showing you how to apply our approaches to specific improvisation exercises that will help you improve. After you the improv exercises we will apply our approaches to a tune, in this case, Autumn Leaves. Enjoy!

Learning bebop can be quite easy when you relate it to building legos! Simply connect the lego's and bam, you got bebop. Am I making sense? Of course not, but kinda. Learn the simple approaches to improve or start piecing together your bebop improv.

Ballads can be extremely difficult. More so than fast tunes because they are SO slow! You are much more vulnerable to stand out with your mistakes and insecure playing. Luckily, this podcast will help you gain confidence to play ballads with a group, comp for singers or other instruments playing the melody, and improvise like a pro yourself. Enjoy!

Here is the part 2 of the comping series. This one is a doozy! Trust me. There is a lot of great information stacked in here. Take your time and split it up if you need to into different watching or listening sessions. You'll love it!

As I was reviewing through all the JPS podcasts I realized there were none on comping! Wow! Well we're about to change that. In this two part series I'm going to go over everything comping ranging from beginner to advanced techniques, where to place your hands and what voicings to use. Enjoy!

This is a great topic that someone requested on the podcast page the other day. Learning to improvise is one thing. Learning to comp with your LH while your RH improvises is a completely different story. So in this podcast I go over 5 key points that will help you practice your LH comping with your RH improvisation. I know you'll love it! Enjoy!

This is a topic within jazz piano education that I get asked about A LOT! For good reason too. Fortunately, most of the work I get actually come with playing with singers. I've excelled at this through out my career from playing in a church for a long time. In church, I've had to accompany singers in all sorts of styles, genres and situations. Let me tell you, the path is not easy. I'm confident these basics will get you started on the right path. Enjoy!

Well guess what? I fell off again! But who doesn't right? The good thing is you simply pick yourself back up and keep going at it from where ever you last left off. This goes for anything in life. Never give up! Especially jazz piano. If you stop practicing for 1 week, 2 months or even a year, just accept it and start again from where you left off. The hardest part is to start up again, take it from me! Haha In this episode I share some random thoughts that have been on my mind and share a teaser for the next podcast episode to be released. Thank you all for your support!

So excited to be back podcasting! I had so many problems with the podcast on iTunes. A couple episodes were not showing up. Then I had to take the podcast off and it was a mess! Anyway I'm back. I've launched the Jazz Piano School Beginner Course! So excited for this. Already have a lot of signups. In this podcast I go over my thoughts on the new Jazz Piano School Beginner Course. Why it's different than other online jazz piano courses. I also talk about my thoughts for JPS in 2015 and how it can help you!