I think option 3 is a good idea if the teachers are related to specific genres. One of the reasons for me to sign up for your course was the outlook of being able to learn some basic bossa nova as well (still far away from that , though ). So it would be great, if all bossa nova lessons would be findable under the header of bossa nova.
Maybe you could tag the lessons with two tags or sort them into 2 categories? So that I would be able to find the bossa nova lesson in the section of bossa nova, but also under the tag of the teachers’ name.
I do not have a preference for categorization but would like, like Moritz, to see cross-referencing to be able to easily relate individual masterclass videos to other, more basic videos. That would, I think, enrich the learning process.
That ties into another idea from a student, which would be to create a page which lists all lessons on a particular jazz standard. The tune Autumn Leaves for example, has been covered in many different sections, and so a tag system would allow us to create this additional level of categorisation, and organisation.
I will be implementing your suggestion
That’s brilliant, I’d recommend taking Jovino’s groove around all 12 keys.
It’s simpler than the examples in my Bossa course, which is why it’s great to have a specialist like Jovino who knows how to break down the groove into it’s simplest form.
We are making sure that his upcoming course is catered to the beginner level so I’m sure you will enjoy it.
Rootless voicings and rootless 251s are important for the Latin style of playing. I’d recommend practice these every time you sit at the piano.
They do take a lot of work, so don’t be put off by slow progress there, remember to play though jazz standards with them in your right hand, then your left hand… this is like a mini-etude, and just as important as simply drilling through them key after key. After all, you want to be able to see them on a score, and then find the voicing quickly and easily.
I’ll email you as soon as the Latin lessons are ready.
We do have the “Related Lessons” module on each lesson page which offers 3 related videos.
The Masterclasses are fine where they are right now, but I anticipate that within a month or 2, we will need to get them more integrated into the syllabus and structure of the overall website.
Tuomo’s masterclass gives a ‘bigger picture’ of how the same voicings can be used over different harmonies… some cool insights into harmonic relationships.
Here’s a new tutorial on solo piano tricks to harmonise step-wise melody lines. I use this stuff all the time in my playing and so I hope you find my insights useful…
You can download all of my notation and lesson slides here:
The lesson length ran away with me a little, it was supposed to be 5 minutes but I needed more time to convey all the options in my head
Teacher Specific 5-Min Masterclass Courses
You may have noticed that I have split out the 5-min masterclass lessons into individual teachers. This will help keep the 5-min content organised as we scale up production.
This lesson is housed in my course Hayden’s 5-Minute Masterclasses:
I hope all of our USA students had a happy thanksgiving. Cheers!
Great lesson Hayden! I am working on In a Sentimental Mood…so this was perfect. Question…is there an option to run the video at a slower speed as we do in the other tutorials? I did not see that option…perhaps I am missing something?
New 5-min masterclass by Jovino on improvising with triads:
ps. some of you may have noticed the improved audio and keyboard on Jovino’s recent tutorials.
Our video editor - Hugh - is a brilliant with audio engineering and we have been working on improving the lesson audio and also other aspects of our lessons such as enharmonic notes.
We now generate 2 keyboards, 1 containing all sharp black notes, and 1 containing all flat black notes. We overlay them, and then we can always show the correct enharmonic notes.
Here’s 4 new 5-Minute Masterclass lessons taught by Tuomo and Jovino.
1) “Ear Training & Transcription” by Tuomo:
Transcribing is the only ear training you need, as you will simultaneously develop your ear AND learn the language.
If you feel like transcribing from records is too difficult, in this lesson we’re going to give you tools that will make transcribing easier.
2) “How To Practice Time” by Tuomo:
In this 5 minute masterclass we’re going talk about time, and how to improve you own time feel and detect your bad tendencies.
One of Tuomo’s main teachers, a great pianist and educator Olaf Polziehn taught him about the importance of time, and gave numerous tips how to practice it. In this lesson Tuomo shares some of these ideas.
3) “Intervals As Orbital Vectors” by Jovino:
Welcome to this 5-Minute Masterclass on “intervals as orbital vectors”. This sounds like a complicated subject, but in fact, this is a concept which will help you simplify your view of the piano.
4) The Lydian Approach Of Harmony
Welcome to this masterclass on the Lydian Concept Of Harmony. The Lydian Concept was conceived by George Russel and he has influenced a lot of different musicians.
The roots of the Lyndian Concept can be traced back to Pythagoras who was a musician, mathematician, and philosopher. Thousands of years ago, Pythagoras was able to define the basic modes of music.
A really nice selection of topics here that we can all enjoy studying and learning from.
Here’s 4 new 5-Min Masterclass tutorials by our Brazilian Piano Expert - @Jovino
2 of the lessons cover chord voicings and harmonic concepts, and the other 2 lessons introduce some fresh and interesting perspectives on rhythm and building rhythmic awareness.
Elegant & Efficient Chord Voicings
In this 5 minute masterclass Jovino explores the key principles for creating elegant, efficient, & ergonomic chord voicings:
Power Chords
These types of voicings are also known as ‘chord tone triads’. Synonymous with the sound of McCoy Tyner, these voicings do not contain the 3rd and we can arrange these notes into stacked 4ths to get that harmonically-ambiguous and angular-sound of 1970s Jazz:
Pitch As Rhythm
When studying music, we often distinguish 3 core components which are rhythm, melody, and harmony. Whilst it is effective to break isolate these elements during study, there is also some interesting relationships in between these 3 essential elements of music:
Non-Linear Rhythmic Patterns
Rhythm is most often explained as durations between the notes. A nice analogy here would be morse code. There is nothing wrong with this approach to rhythm, but this is just one approac – perhaps the ‘flattest’ and most linear approach. In this lesson Jovino provides a new perspective
I’ve been working on 2 new 5-minute masterclasses this week, they are 7 minutes and 18 minutes respectively so I went a little over the 5 minute aim
Anyhow here’s the tutorials, the first is on Sus chords, and the 2nd is on Upper Structure triads:
We have covered these topics in detail in the following courses, but I wanted to try and condense the information into shorter tutorials. They should be a nice taster into the subjects, and if students want to learn more, check out the courses below:
Thanks Hayden. These are great. Although I have taken the full courses, these have some wonderful examples and provide a great overview of the topics. I am so happy that you are working on some new jazz tutorials. I know you have been very busy working on other areas of the school, but I miss your tutorials. As others have probably experienced during these trying times, I find days that it is difficult to focus on my music which has always brought me so much joy. It is nice to look forward to a new tutorial and I am crossing my fingers for another ballad.
Your instructional methods are by far the most useful that I’ve found online. (I started here and then checked out a few other sites.) Elsewhere there’s a lot of hype, at times incorrectly spelled chords, some useful observations, and sometimes hurrying through a concept and then showing off the teacher’s skills.
Somewhere I read Barry Harris’s comment for teachers (paraphrased): “Don’t show 'em what you’ve got; show 'em how you got there.” That’s where I think your concept for PianoGroove excels.
There are so many wonderful teachers and music schools online and it’s great to be part of the online learning revolution.
The vision with PianoGroove is to provide lessons and instruction from the masters and specialists in every genre of improvised piano music. I have identified our next 2 teachers and I will be progressing with that as soon as travel restrictions are lifted.
In the meantime the confinement/lockdown is a great opportunity for me to catch up with my own lessons and teaching on PianoGroove more to follow this week. Cheers!
, though ). So it would be great, if all bossa nova lessons would be findable under the header of bossa nova.
