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!

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Adding a Jazz Flavor to Your Piano Playing

If you know your piano chords well, try this next step. Say the song you are playing asks for a C7 chord. That is called a dominant seventh. Here's what you do. With your left hand, play just the root and seventh of the chord, so that would be C with your pinky and Bb with your thumb.

Now for the right hand. Go up one half step from the C7 and play a minor chord. This would bring you to C#minor. The notes in a C#minor chord are C#-E-G#. By playing the C and Bb in the left hand, and the C#, E and G# in your right hand, you will be adding a flatted 9th and sharp 5th to the chord. Those chord alterations are very common in jazz and will add a beautiful sound to your chord - lots of flavor for sure!

Here is another way to jazz up a chord. When the required chord is a C, again, play the C and Bb in the left hand. Now with the right hand, go down one whole step from the C and you get Bb. Build a Bb major chord on the Bb. So in the right hand, you will now be playing Bb-D-F. What are those notes in the key of C? They are the 7th, 9th and 11th. Very dissonant but beautiful.

When you put one chord in the right hand and another in the left to achieve these tensions, these are called upper structure chords. Use them wisely. They won't always work for every chord in every song. It's a matter of taste so listen carefully and have fun with it!

Debbie Gruber is the author of many instructional piano CDs, books and DVDs. She operates a private teaching studio in Burlington, MA and holds a Master of Music degree. She is the Creator of http://www.EasyPianoStyles.com and she teaches at many Adult Education Centers in Massachusetts. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Gruber

Learn to Play Jazz Piano

Imagine sitting down at a piano, fingers calmly hovering over the keys. You begin to play, not just any old tune: a jazz tune, a swing full of rhythm, full of improvisation, full of life. It would not be possible without your dedication, your devotion, your training.

Learning jazz piano is not an easy task. To become a jazz musician you must be able to improvise. You must be able to play by ear, take off in a solo, and play with the group. It is a demanding art form to say the least.

Jazz piano is taught to all ages. It is taught at all levels of difficulty. You should have no trouble finding lessons for your level of skill. If you cannot find lessons locally, look online.

There is a ton of Jazz piano music lessons online. There are systematic tutorials, DVDs, CDs, eBooks, videos and more. Some free, the rest ranging from a couple of dollars to hundreds or more.

If you are brand new to Jazz piano there are many beginner lessons available online for free. These free online tutorials are a way for you to break the ice, get down the basics, and begin on your journey to becoming a jazz pianist. You can build confidence, practice the basics, and start the important core work of improvisation all from the comfort of home.

When you begin your training, you should focus on the technical side of jazz first. Apply this to common jazz songs. As you get better, stronger, and more confident with the technical side, move forward with your own improv. Bring out your creativity and explore your senses.

The most important piece of advice is to embrace your jazz piano lessons, never give up. Keep focused. Have fun with it. If you find yourself getting frustrated, if you find yourself not enjoying your lessons, step back. Figure out what is bothering you. Find a way to make it fun, create excitement, and take the work out of it.

Read Aaron's article about jazz instrumental music. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_McLain

Jazz Piano Lessons - Jazzing it Up Online

So you want to learn how to play jazz on the piano. This is really fun and exciting music to play, and there are courses available that can get you playing jazz in no time at all. You will need special instructions in order to learn how to play it, and by far the best place to find jazz piano lessons is online. Take a look at this article to find out why you need a course that includes jazz as part of its course outline, and why regular piano lessons are not good enough.

Jazz is fun

The difference between playing jazz and other forms of music is that you as a performer can interpret the song in your own individual way, and you can play the song a different way every time. There is a certain beat that can be found in jazz that you cannot find anywhere else, and this kind of beat is totally fun and alive. No wonder you have an interest in playing jazz!

The jazz mood

Jazz is so interesting because when you play it the songs will sound different every time based on your mood or the mood of the audience you are performing it to. Your performance of jazz will be directly influenced by your mood when you are playing. If you get together with a few people you will find that jazz takes on a life of its own, and the mood of every individual performer will help decide how a particular piece is performed.

Improvisation

With jazz you are given more freedom to improvise and create. You are able to change the harmonies, the timing and the melodies according to your own personal style and abilities. There is a lot of creativity involved when you play jazz, but the best thing about it is you can change the tone every time you play the same song.

Jazz piano lessons

In order to play jazz properly you will need to have a basic understanding of the piano and reading music. It is also important to learn how to play some music by ear to help you improvise. There are courses available that can instruct you on everything you need to know to become an incredible jazz player.

Jazz piano lessons can be found on the Internet at very affordable prices. Finding a teacher at a music school will be extremely costly, and it is difficult to find one that can teach jazz properly. Most of these instructors are highly qualified to teach classical and traditional music. Your best bet is to go online and find a great course so that you can play the jazz you've always wanted to play.

My name is Bryan and I have been playing the piano for over ten years. I personally know what it takes to become a good piano player. If you want to learn how to play the piano, visit http://www.lifesmusic.com

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Jazz Piano Lessons - A Whole New Approach

Jazz. Just the word alone sounds musical. If you're looking for jazz piano lessons and a new way to play jazz piano, read on!

For the most part, jazz piano lessons begin with the study of chords. And that's a good thing! But chords alone will not help you make music. Sure, chords are important. But so is the other half of learning piano improvisation and that has everything to do with TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION!

This is where the usual jazz piano lesson routine falls apart. You're taught chords yes. But what do you do with these chords? You create music with them.

Now, most jazz students have as their goal, the ability to comp. They want to be part of a trio or duo or some other combination of musical group. The most common of these is the jazz trio. Here we have keyboards, bass, and drums. And this makes a very nice combo. But if you're interested in playing solo, you have a different problem.

The solo jazz pianist has to not only know how to play chords, but how to read from a lead sheet. A lead sheet gives you the chord symbols and the melody line and that is all you need to create your own arrangements.

There are many fine books out there for the aspiring jazz pianist to learn the art of soloing. But one thing most of these books don't teach you is how to improvise and compose YOUR OWN MUSIC!

It's no surprise that there's a shortage on this kind of instruction. It's not in high demand. As I mentioned before, most jazz pianists in training want to learn how to play in a group setting. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to learn how to compose your own music?

If you understand and can play 4 and 8-bar phrases, you're already aware of the importance of repetition and contrast in music. Repetition and contrast are the cornerstones of composition.

Listen, if you're already taking jazz piano lessons and want to learn the art of composition on your own, study and learn how to play in 4 and 8-bar phrases. It will serve you well in the long run.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit http://www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!

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