Jazz Piano School

By do some solo's sound boring and some sound awesome? Rhythms. Rhythms in jazz are the feel good mojo that spices up your solo. They are at the heart of our soul. In order to make our solos pop and have the feel good feeling to them we need to add rhythms to our solo that have contrast. If we are playing all eighth notes and quarter notes on downbeats, our solo's will sound bland and dry. In this episode I give you many different ways to practice your rhythms in order to spice up your solo.

When you're first learning jazz it's hard to get that jazz sound that gives tensions and sounds like we're not playing like a baby. It might sound to you like you're playing is sooo beginnerish still. Well here's how to change it. By learning the altered scale we will immediately give our playing lots of tension and color by using the extensions in this scale. Enjoy!

We as jazz musicians have a lot of freedom to change progressions and harmonies in a tune. How exactly do we do it though? In this podcast I'll teach you a foundational concept that will lead to many more reharm opportunities while soloing, comping, and playing solo piano. Enjoy!

As I've said before jazz is like speaking a language. We know that person in our life that won't stop talking. They just talk and talk and talk. It's never fun to listen to them. The people who take their time and say something meaningful are the ones to listen to. We want to be those people on the piano. It's extremely easy for us as pianists to play and play and play because we have a percussive instrument. We can just bang away on the piano and not reazlie we're not leaving space. In this podcast I'll teach you how to focus your mind so you can develop your solos and say something meaningful.

Solo piano can be very frustrating. You have 88 keys and ten fingers. What the heck do you play? It's easier than you might think. Your LH and RH have different roles that should work together to produce a great sounding tune. When you understand the roles each hand plays you'll be better equipped to play solo piano and make progress. I will dissect the specific LH components in this episode. Enjoy!

Most people gravitate towards jazz because of the rich colors and sounds that come from the music. We all want to be able to play those amazing sounding chords on the piano. How do we do it though? I'll tell you right now. Extensions. Extensions are the colors that allow you to spice up your playing and start to paint the music however you'd like. Extensions are the beginning of the road to freedom in music. Just as a painter paints with his colors, a jazz musician paints with extensions. Let's get into it!

Learning how to walk bass lines is a skill all jazz pianists want to accomplish. And who wouldn't? We have a nice bass register on the piano but we never learn how to do anything with it. Anytime we see an bass player walking all over a tune like he owns we just stare in awe. In this episode I'm going to get you started on the right path to walking bass lines that will impress a bass player! Let's do it!

We recently learned our rootless voicings. In this episode I'm going to show you how to turn these rootless voicings into two hand comping textures to use with groups or while playing solo piano. These sounds are the heart of jazz comping. Anyone who uses these will be creating jazz sounds used through out the years. We're finally getting to the good stuff of jazz piano voicings and comping.

Ear training is highly sought after in jazz because much of the music involves using our ear to hear progressions, licks, movements and much more. The better ear you have, the better player you will be. So how exactly do we go about improving our ear and helping it to hear movements and notes better. In this podcast that's exactly what I will tell you.

So structure 2 is simply an inversion of rootless voicings structure 1. We now start on the 7th degree of our minor chord instead of the 3rd. Once you studied structure 1, structure #2 should come just as easily.

Alright, you've waited long enough for some pro jazz voicings! Well here they are. Rootless voicings will be your key to advanced jazz voicings with both one and two hands in the future. These are your transport system to playing amazing sounding jazz chords. Study these hards because they will only help open more doors to come. There are two different structure and in this episode I will be going over structure 1.

So you may be wondering how can you start putting these diatonic chords to use now. Well there are a number of different ways you can do it. The first benefit we now have is we can transpose music easily, and effectively. When I analyze a tune and understand what the progression is, meaning I know if the chords are serving as a II-7 chord of a V7 chord, I can now take that progression and easily move it into another key using those same roman numerals. Learning progressions is the other big benefit we have. If someone calls out a quick progression or you see me type a set of numbers such as ( 2-4-6-2-3-5-1), you can go to the piano and work on that progression. Composition is another biggie that comes from diatonic harmony. You can put numbers together yourself in any order you'd like and see what comes out. This is the foundation for all our future harmony and theory to come!

I don't use modes. Who needs modes? What good are modes anyway? Modes are the building blocks of improv. Modes are the notes that correspond with a chord. Not using modes is like misspelling words.

We have to be able to understand how to put the puzzle pieces together in jazz. How can you expect to do this without understanding where they go? Well, you can't! This is why Diatonic Harmony is so important. Diatonic Harmony is the road map to explain how chords and progressions fit together. Without learning this you will be completely lost as we continue to progress. Diatonic Harmony is the relationship of chords to a scale and certain key. Pretty easy once you get into it! Leave your questions in the comments section and I'll be happy to help.

To make our solo's sound good we need to be able to connect the chord changes smoothly in our right hand. This means hitting chord tones on down beats without having to think about it. The ability to play these chord tones on down beats as the chords are changing will allow our solos to reflect the harmonies perfectly. We want to practice this very slowly at first until we build up our spontaneous flow. This is not something you will be able to go fast with. If you do you will hinder your learning of this skill set.

Jazz information has always gone about jazz piano improvisation as if it is some trip to outer space. Well you have to explore yourself in order to find out how to improvise. I couldn't disagree more. Jazz improvisation in the beginning is definitely a step by step process. In this episode we move on to step number 2, connecting the chord tones with notes from the major scale.

I don't know about you, but I still get nervous when I play with new singers! Am I playing okay for them? Do they like it? Do they hate it? You never really know. Over the years I've played A LOT for vocalists and I've picked up some very helpful tips that will ensure they hire you back for gigs everytime. Follow these tips and I'm positive they will love you're playing!

When learning how to improvise you want to make sure you have the necessary foundation to support your solo. These initial steps will make sure you get started on the right path to playing killin jazz piano solos and sounding your best.

Learning how to arrange jazz standards for both hands can be tough. Where do I put my left hand? Where do I put my right? There are specific techniques you can use to help arrange the standards in fake books so that you sound great every time. In this episode I teach you two systematic techniques that will build you a solid foundation for more lessons to come. Enjoy!

It's tough creating variety with the blues, but with these reharms and scales you'll be able to spice up your playing in no time.

This interview with Eric Reed was such a great pleasure. To be able to talk to one of the leading jazz pianists in the world and history was surreal for me. I had studied with him at the New School University and Eric was kind of enough to come on the show for an interview. He makes such intelligent points about the music and is able to articulate his thoughts with great clarity. Do not miss this episode and listen all the way through. Some of the best info is at the end! Enjoy!

Playing solo can be extremely difficult. It's hard to move past that beginning stage of just chords in the LH and melody in the RH. This podcast will give you a couple of simple tips that you can be begin to incorporate that will help you sound great in no time! Enjoy!

The blues is a corner stone of jazz. You will find the blues in many traditional jazz tunes and it will also help improve your improvising as well. Listen to this episode to learn how the blues works and how you can start playing it! Enjoy!

You'd be surprised how much information gets left out about gigs. This information could make or break your success at the gig or with the band leader. Do you want more gigs or don't you?

Playing jazz piano standards is actually quite easy. People tend to over think it and then end up not even trying. It only takes a couple of learned principles and you can play any jazz standard you want! Enjoy!

Swing creates that wonderful jazz feeling we all know and love. Here's how to create it and get it right! Enjoy!

Finally some jazz chords to start learning! 7th chords are the main type of harmony that create jazz. Any time you are listening to jazz you can be sure you are hearing some form of 7th chords. These chords are going to be the building blocks to learning all sorts of jazz standards! Practice them hard!

Adding some very simple rhythms can really spice up your playing. Check out how you can immediately upgrade your playing with some up beats! Easy Easy stuff.

Finally I talk about how to actually play charts. I know someone of you are like "FINALLY!". In this episode I talk about reading chord changes, how to decipher how many beats per chord change and what slash chords are. There is a lot more to playing pieces, but this is the first place to start in which you will actually be able to hear the harmonies of the piece. I guarantee it will make you feel pretty good to be able to hear the tune!

Avishai Cohen gives another masterclass at the reno jazz festival. He doesn't repeat anything he said in the first class, so pay attention. He has a lot of valuable insight to learn jazz. Enjoy!

Avishai Cohen is a leading trumpet player in the jazz scene. This masterclass was recorded at the Reno Jazz Festival. He has a lot of great insight into advancing as a student, and what to practice. Enjoy!

It can be hard to achieve goals in life. No matter what you are attempting to accomplish. There are certain things you need to know in order to keep going. That certain this is the "Why" for why you want to accomplish your goal. As long as you know that you can do anything, like play jazz piano! This podcast will help you gain confidence and believe you can connect with this music in ways you never dreamed of.

Voiceleading triad inversions will skyrocket your playing in seconds. Once you learn how to implement this technique into your playing you will be able to play any pop / rock / triad type of chart, yes any. Work hard at this method because as I always say, these beginning steps will be a gateway into more complicated jazz voicings to come. And they are coming very soon!

In this episode I talk about what an inversion is. Inversions are great for making all of your voicings and tunes sound better. They help the chord changes flow better and make your playing sound smooth! Practice your inversions and you'll immediately sound better!

Why are major and minor triads useful? They are the stepping stones to all complicated and beautiful jazz voicings. If you know your major and minor triads well you will be able to progress to more advanced voicings with ease. Listen to this podcast to learn how to find your major and minor triads and how they relate to pop tunes.

My good friend and also Dr. Samuel Griffith shares his insight about jazz. He has traveled and played in many different cities with many different artists. When it comes to jazz pedagogy and playing he is the man to talk to. I was learning so much even as I was interviewing him. I strongly suggest you get a pen and paper to take notes because this interview is filled with nuggets you can use in your playing! Enjoy!

Ballads can be tricky to play over because they are going so slllowwwlllyyy. What do you do to spice things up? Listen to the way Wynton Marsalis phrases his lines in this ballad recording I took when I was in college at the New School University. It's an amazing texture to have available to use. Instead of holding out long lines with his horn, he actually plays very simply short lines and ends them with a short articulation. It's as if he is talking through his trumpet and putting periods at the end of all of his lines. I hope you enjoy this. If you have questions please feel free to comment and I will do my best to answer. Enjoy!

Major scales are extremely important to learn and heres why! They help with your movement around the piano. They will help increase your harmony and theory knowledge. You will be able to grasp improvisation concepts much easier. You need them for practically all future steps in this podcast! Now if that last reason isn't good enough to learn them then I don't know what is. Goodluck and happy practicing!

Eric Harland gives a masterclass at Next Gen Jazz Festival in Monterey, 2014. He offers some great insight and knowledge! Enjoy!

This is a great podcast for beginners, to get started on 5 very easy steps today! With these steps you'll have a plan to begin your learning. The best part is they're very easy so you can begin today if you'd like. I know starting is the hardest part so I really wanted to give everyone simple, simple steps to get started so you didn't feel overwhelmed. The first step is by far the easiest and fun! The next steps get slightly more challenging, and by challenging I mean the amount of effort it takes to get off the couch and walk to the kitchen. So goodluck, and as always post questions if you have any!

After a months of nit picking details on the website, I've finally moved into launching the podcast. This will a completely new education facet into learning jazz not to mention extremely accessible. I have always listened to podcast while driving to teach, and I thought it would be great if there was a jazz piano podcast. I have a lot in mind for the podcast, including live interviews and demonstrations with my previous teachers, live rehearsal and gig recordings, tips on all topics and much more. If there is anything you would like to specifically hear or have questions, please ask them in in the comments section or email me at [email protected]. Enjoy!