Jazz Piano Lessons
A lot of jazz solos are just plain HARD to lift, can be even harder to play, and without direction you can spend as much time figuring out what solos are appropriate to transcribe as you spend actually transcribing! Here are 50 Easy Jazz Solo recommendations from Chicago/Phoenix guitarist Jeff Libman. Jeff came up with this list of. Best Relaxing Jazz Piano – Jazz Piano Hits & Soft BalladsFind the album here: http://bit.l. Traditional American folk song in the prison-blues style. Now in a rock arrangement for tenor sax, piano, guitar, bass and drums. Moonlight Bay - Jazz version: sheet music: Song by Percy Wenrich (1912), in a jazz arrangement, for alto sax, tenor sax, piano, guitar, bass and drums: Moonlight Bay - Pop version: sheet music. Easy Jazz Blues Piano Course; Easy Jazz Song Arangements Course; Jazz Chords Course; Beginner Jazz Technique Course; Beginner Jazz Piano Theory Course; 4 Step Standards Course; Click here to learn about our membership special. Easy Jazz Piano Improvisation Course. Smooth Jazz for your weekend - mellow, casual, and inspiring. Get some work done, and have some fun! Subscribe to Dr.
Each of the below Jazz Piano Lessons introduces a particular concept found in Jazz. As well as explaining the underlying idea, I give examples of how the theory applies in practice. The lessons are further subdivided into modules covering specific aspects of Jazz. While they assume a minimal level of music theory and technical knowledge, they presume you know literally NOTHING about Jazz. As such, they start from a beginner level and gradually build up towards more advanced topics. These Jazz Piano Lessons cover everything you need to know to appreciate and play Jazz. By the end of these tutorials you should have a solid understanding of Jazz, and (with enough practice) be able to competently improvise and 'comp over any Jazz song.
Please also note that this website is a perennial work-in-progress. I will continue to add more Jazz Piano Lessons in the future to cover more topics and concepts. Enjoy!
Before diving into each Jazz concept in detail, I recommend watching the overview videos and downloading the PDF on the right to get a broad and contextualised understanding of the ideas we will soon be exploring.
The Basics |
|---|
| Overview |
| Scales |
| Modes |
| Chords & Intervals |
| Keys |
| Harmony |
| Swing vs Straight |
| Beginner Jazz Tips |
| Jazz for Beginners |
| Practicing Jazz |
| Sheet Music |
Jazz Chords |
|---|
| Intro to Jazz |
| Extensions & Alterations |
| Available Tensions |
| Shell Chords |
| Chord Substitution |
| Passing Chords |
| Secondary Chords |
| Borrowed Chords |
| Suspended Chords |
| Phrygian Chords |
| Slash Chords |
| Harmonic Rhythm |
| Polychords |
| Modulation |
Jazz Scales |
|---|
| Chord-Scale System |
| Scales over Chords |
| Melodic Minor Modes |
| Bebop Scales |
| Wholetone Scale |
| Diminished Scale |
| Pentatonic Scale |
| Augmented Scale |
| Minor Scales |
| Selecting Scales |
| Tritone Sub. & Scales |
| Counting Scales |
| Synthetic Scales |
Jazz Improvisation |
|---|
| Creating Tension |
| Playing Inside |
| Guide Tones |
| Embellishing the Melody |
| Avoid Notes |
| Dissonant Intervals |
| Passing Notes |
| Side-Slipping |
| Cycled Patterns |
| Symmetrical Scales |
| Cliches & Quoting |
| Displacing the Melody |
| Improvisation Tips |
| Chord Mapping |
| Improvisational Approaches |
| Sheets of Sound |
| Superimposition |
| Mistakes |
| Build an Improvisation |
| ii-V7-I Licks & Exercises |
| Analyse a Jazz Solo |
| Chordal Improvisation |
| Improvisation Exercises |
| Improvisation Stages |
| Rhythm & Articulation |
| Octave Displacement |
Jazz Chord Voicings |
|---|
| Rootless Voicings |
| Monk Voicings |
| Powell Voicings |
| Three Note Voicings |
| Open Voicings |
| So What Chord |
| Barron Chord |
| Hancock Chord |
| Quartal Voicings |
| Upper Structures |
| Locked Hands |
| Advanced Locked Hands |
| Combining Chord Voicings |
| Chord Voicing Rules |
| How to Comp |
| Walking Bass-lines |
| Minimum Requirements |
| Jam Sessions |
| Tone Clusters |
| How to Play Jazz Piano |
| Comp for a Vocalist |
| When to Use Voicings |
| Stride Piano |
Jazz Chord Progressions |
|---|
| Common Chord Progressions |
| Circle of Fifths |
| Minor II-V-I |
| Rhythm Changes |
| Coltrane Changes |
| Harmonic Functionality |
| Bird Changes |
| Line Cliches |
| Constant Structures |
| Polytonality |
| Lead Sheets |
| Contrafacts |
| Voice Leading |
| Harmonic Analysis |
| Contiguous ii-V's |
| Disguised Chords |
Jazz Reharmonization |
|---|
| Make a song 'Jazzy' |
| Reharmonization |
| Changing the meter |
| Tonal to Modal |
| Composition |
| ii-V Substitution |
| Gospel Reharmonization |
| Changing Genre |
Modern Jazz Theory |
|---|
| Jazz Theory Overview |
| Tonal vs Modal |
| Lydian Chromatic Concept |
| Modal Jazz |
| Pandiatonicism |
| Free Jazz |
| Post-bop |
| Circular Songs |
| Suppressing the Chords |
| Time, No Changes |
| Pedal Point Harmony |
| Atonality |
| Musical Systems |
| Balance |
| Modern Jazz Summary |
Jazz Genres |
|---|
| Early vs Modern Jazz Piano |
| Blues Piano |
| Swing Music |
| Bebop |
| Cool Jazz |
| Hard Bop |
| Afro-Cuban Jazz |
| Bossa Nova |
| Modal Jazz |
| Free Jazz |
| Post-bop |
| Fusion |
| Smooth Jazz |
| Gospel-Jazz |
| Jazz Blues |
| How to Listen to Jazz |
Upon finishing the above modules, you should be capable of analysing, appreciating, and (with a bit of practice) playing any Jazz song you come across. You should be able to (again, with a bit of practice) reharmonise and apply jazzy chord voicings to any song to create a smooth and professional performance (whether solo or group). You should (hopefully) be comfortable with the underlying Jazz Theory, know a few Jazz Standards, and be able to recognise each of the major Jazz Genres.
In a sense, this has so far been the easy part. The hard part is now up to you. Understanding Jazz is one thing, but to play it flawlessly takes hours, days, weeks, months, years and even decades of arduous, repetitive and monotonous practice (at a nice slow speed with a metronome!). So...over to you. Good Luck!
Easy Jazz Piano
If you've found these lessons helpful and enjoyable, please consider donating. Oh, and if there's a particular concept that you would like explained that is not covered here, please feel free to ask.