Jazz Piano

Jazz piano is one of the most vibrant, energetic, specialized types of music. Famous jazz artists you may want to listen to are Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret, Bill Evans, to name but a few. To learn jazz piano you need to take some time to listen to jazz CD's and maybe watch DVD's as well. To learn jazz piano, one needs to be very patient and dedicated to practicing the genre.

Jazz piano is characterized by a lot of improvisation. A jazz musician can be given a fake music sheet or chord chart and he can improvise on the spot over those chord progressions. It is recommended that a jazz musician know or have standard songs in their repertoire. Standard songs include songs like "Willow Weep for Me," "Summertime," and "Georgia on My Mind" to name but a few. Standard songs are songs that have been covered by many recording artists in the past, usually every year. For example one may consider the gospel song "Amazing Grace" a standard gospel song because a lot of artists have covered the song throughout the years.

Knowledge of scales and chords are essential tools needed to be a good jazz musician, let alone the technique needed to play this genre. As a jazz musician you will need to practice different types of scales, chords, arpeggios, staccato playing, legato playing, playing chords on the left hand while playing scales in the right hand at the same time.

To learn jazz you need to start with the basics: minor and major scales and minor and major chords. Once you master these then you can go forth to learning advanced chords(jazz chords) and scales. These chords include diminished, dominant, major nine, tritone chords, etc. Advanced scales will entail learning lydian, diminished, chromatic, melodic minor scales, for example.

You must remember that when it comes to playing the piano, it is not how you play but how you play is very essential as well. This is the reason why you need technique: how hard or soft do you play the notes, how you sit at the piano, breathing, how you position your hands and fingers on the piano, playing chords and scales, etc.

You will definitely need resources to play the piano, someone to hold you by the hand. The key to mastering jazz piano is to learn (get as much information as possible), patience and practice!practice!practice!

For more free information on how to play piano please visit: free piano lessons for beginners. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Mtimkulu

Learn Jazz Piano Voicings - The Key to Making Jazz Interesting For All Instrumentalists

Voicings are no doubt what have given all famous jazz pianists their identity. Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Brad Mehldau all use unique, interesting voicings when making music. However, even though the idea of playing jazz is to create something unique and spontaneous, jazz is also a language, and in order to be effective at playing jazz piano, one must understand the standard set of jazz voicings, because there sure as heck is one!

Before we cut to the chase, I want to first identify the difference between a VOICING and a CHORD. A CHORD refers to a set of given CHORD TONES to be used. So a C chord contains the chord tones C, E, and G. BUT, I might VOICE the chord with E under C and G above C. Or E under G under C. So to VOICE the chord is to actively place the chord tones wherever you like.

1) SHELL VOICINGS: The name "shell voicing" speaks for itself. It is the basic framework of the given chord. Shell voicings are useful because they give off the color and characteristic of the chord with the least amount of notes. SO, if I wanted to play a Cmaj7 shell voicing, I might play, from bottom to top, C, B, and E. Try it for yourself. Sit down at the piano, and hold down these notes. It will sound the strongest if you play the C under middle C, B under middle C, and E above middle C.

The concept is that you are playing the ROOT, 3rd, and 7th of the CHORD. However, I VOICED the chord with the ROOT, 7th, THEN 3rd. This concept works with ALL chords. So if I wanted to play a Cmin7 shell instead, I would probably voice it with C, Bb, and Eb.

2) FOUR NOTE VOICINGS: I use these voicings all the time, especially with my left hand when I am taking a solo! So, with a Cmaj7 chord, the chord tones are C, E, G, and B. However, the D ABOVE B also sounds GREAT. So, in this case we have two options. We can either voice the chord using C, E, G, and B, OR we can voice it using E, G, B, and D. If we use the second option, we will stay out of the way of a bass player if we have one, because most likely HE'LL be playing C.

The great thing about four note voicings is that we can invert them! What this means is, if I were to use the second option, I could play it the way it is, or play G, B, D, E, or B, D, E, G, etc. That's a LOT of options! And once again this works with all minor chords and flat seventh chords, too!

Frankly, you ALREADY know enough to get on the bandstand and play voicings that fit behind the soloists and yourself! But, I'll give you one more, which is the bread and butter of modern jazz.

3) FOURTH VOICINGS: Sometimes people call this a "Quartal" voicing. McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea use these voicings ALL the time! The idea behind this is you can take any old scale, say Cmajor which is C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, and play a chord where each note is a fourth away from the next one, but ONLY using notes from that scale.

A fourth away from C is F, a fourth from D is G, etc. So if I have a Cmaj7 chord, one fourth voicing I can play is E, A, and D. I am only using notes in the C major scale, and they're all a fourth apart! But, I can completely do this randomly, with any group of notes, just as long as they're IN THE SCALE, and are each a FOURTH apart! This is the secret to achieving that "hip and modern" sound!

At this point I have given you enough information for you to REALLY start exploring jazz piano voicings over tunes. BUT, mastering jazz piano voicings is a process that takes time, energy, love for the music, and most importantly, the proper guidance. If you visit my blog at http://marksmusicreview.blogspot.com, I will tell you about my journey, and hopefully help you along with yours! Also, if you would like to hear my music, visit my brand new MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/markdanielsjazz

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Z_Daniels

Discover Popular Jazz Piano Chords Online

A jazz piano chord is much the same as any other piano chord. This means that when you learn the basics of piano chords and theory, you’ll be able to play any type of music, be it gospel or jazz. Many people enjoy the jazz style of music and will benefit from learning those chords that are most often used in jazz music. Once you learn these chords, you’ll be able to play a wide variety of music because you will understand the backbone of notes and scales that are the key to playing music on any instrument.

Any pianist who wants to learn how to play jazz needs to have charts they can reference frequently. You’ll first learn the basic intervals and how chords are built. You’ll also learn how these chords are used differently in each song you play. Once you have mastered the basic intervals of jazz chords, you’ll then be able to move on to advanced chords such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, drop voicings, and blues chords.

An online piano course will teach you all the functions of chords including clusters, polytonal clusters, and substitutions. You’ll be provided with numerous charts that you can use for help during practice or when you need to quickly reference a certain jazz piano chord. When you learn to play these jazz chords, you’ll also learn how to play with more harmony, variety, and passion.

Learning online is a great option when you’re starting out on the piano. You can learn at your own pace without having to plan around the schedule of a piano teacher. Online lessons also challenge you at your own playing level. This means that when it’s time to learn those jazz chords, you master one before moving on to the next.

The piano is a wonderful instrument full of history and culture. If you are interested in learning to play the piano, look into taking some lessons to help you learn the basics of all chords, including the most popular jazz chords. No matter where you decide to play the piano, you’ll be ready to play any song once you have the theory basics solidly behind you. You may find that family and friends are asking you to play more often!

At Hear and Play, located at http://www.hearandplay.com, we offer you the programs you need to learn how to play jazz music on the piano. Our online courses are designed to move you along at your own playing level so that you can easily learn and master each jazz piano chord. Contact us today for more details.