Hi Haydenā-I am 44 years old, took piano lessons through my teenage years. Music has always been a part of my lifeāand donāt to give it up. I have a deep desire to learn jazz piano. Itās an enigma I need to crackāand keep on cracking. I love practicing as long as Iām progressing and can actually PLAY something.
Simply finding a way to learn jazz piano is difficultā-I mean, REALLY learn. There are dozens of ways presentedā-but the scary thing is most of them will be a waste of time and moneyā-which makes me sad.
Iām really hoping PianoGroove will give me the structure and balance between theory and music to be able to progress and enjoy the journey.
Toby
PSā-tonight I started making flash cards to learn the number positions of each major chord.
Welcome @toby2
Not one way to learn jazz for sure ! we just try to find our way the best we can but most of all having fun is anyway the big engine for improving
" I love practicing as long as Iām progressing and can actually PLAY something." You have found the right place! Hayden is very vocal that it is important to learn songs in conjunction with studying theory. For me, the theory would never ingrain itself in my mind unless I was able to apply it to a song and I would undoubtedly get bored and give up. I am two years into the program and working on 40 songs. I am loving it!
Itās very clear I I need to start with the course Jazz Piano Foundations. In the Foundations Practice Guide lesson, Hayden said to spend five or ten minutes on each of the modules (major, minor, etc.) depending on if I have 30 or 60 minutes to practice.
Do I understand correctly that theory (Jazz Piano Foundations) is what I should only do at this time. Meaning, do I NOT do parts of other courses (like Beginner Jazz Arrangements)? I know itās generally up to me what I doā-but is it the intention students master Jazz Piano Foundations before doing anything else?
There is a discussion on this exact question here:
To summarise:
The Theory
I recommend students to study multiple courses together, the Foundations Course and Extended Chords Course are a great place to start as much of the theory is inter-related.
You can alternate the practice plans on different days, for example spend 2 days on the Foundations Practice Plan and then 1 day on the Chord Extensions Practice Plan, and then repeat. As you become more comfortable with the foundational material you can tweak this to allocate more time to the Chord Extensions course.
Then repeat this process with the next courses on Rootless Voicings and Altered Harmony. Once you have completed those 4 courses you will be much more comfortable with jazz harmony. Itās worth mentioning that we can always revisit the practice series, even for the foundations course. We can always improve at some of the drills, such inversions of triads/7th chords, playing and visualising the basic 3-note 251s etcā¦ This stuff really is the foundation of jazz harmony and so time spent here is always time well spent.
The Jazz Standards
We should always be studying the jazz standards as this is where we learn to apply the theory in practice. Start with the tutorials in the Beginner Jazz Arrangements Course, and then once you have completed these you can study the jazz standard tutorials in any course.
Donāt worry when you come across theory or arranging techniques that donāt make sense initially, as you progress through the courses everything will make sense.
Above anything else enjoy learning the arrangements. They are difficult to begin with but with each new tune we learn, the easier it becomes to read and interpret lead sheets.
Learning The 12 Bar Blues
In addition to the jazz courses, itās also nice for new students to spend some time on the blues courses. The Chicago Blues Course is a good place to start and will develop your hand independence, groove, and timing.
The blues courses do incorporate a lot of the beginner jazz theory such as chord extensions, rootless voicngs, and altered harmony. By studying those jazz courses it will help you to play authentic blues piano and also styles such as samba, bossa nova, and funk. The jazz theory really is a core pillar to start exploring other improvised musical styles.
Ear Training, Transcription, & Improvisation
Transcription should be an integral componenet of our daily practice routine. Transcription is the process of listening to a record, and working on the notes, rhythms, licks, lines, fills, chord voicings, chord substitutions, bass lines, and full improvised solos. This may sound daunting at first but check out our How To Transcribe By Ear Course for more information on the how this works.
Spend a little time each day on the Ear Training & Transcription Exercises set by @Tuomo . Start with the beginner exercises and gradually work through the intermediate and advanced exercises. Once you feel more confident with this type of exercise, you can try the full transcription studies. Any questions with this stuff Tuomo is happy to assist in his area of the forum.
Developing our listening skills is very important so that we can analyse and learn directly from our favourite recordings. Check out this interview with our New Orleans Blues teacher Jon which sums up the joy of transcription:
By spending a little time each day on these exercises you will become more comfortable at replicating what you hear on your favourite records which is an important aspect of learning jazz piano and all other improvised piano styles.
I hope this helps Toby and here to help should you have any further questions.
Hi Iām Gary Boudreaux, a bored 26 year old. Iām actually a software engineer for a living but play guitar as a hobby since I was 15.
I mostly play progressive metal/rock and some more of the modern Jazz Fusion stuff. I have a basic understanding of how chord voicings work, how scales work, and functional and modal harmony.
I bought an Oxygen 88 keyboard from a friend and been meaning to learn how to play piano. I canāt remember how I found this website but I did some of the free tutorials and concluded that this had the best teaching format for me and I love the sound of Jazz Piano.
So far Iāve started the basic foundation practice regime (1 hour a day), practicing Miles Davisās tune up (if my hands can stretch that farā¦) as well as learning some musical pieces from various video games.
My goal really is composition/Improvisation. I love writing/coming up with music. A pipe dream of mine is composing music for various media (indie games, film, etc). Iām doing piano groove mostly to learn piano to a proficient level and to deeper my understanding of jazz composition, theory and harmonization.
Anyways , Iād like to thank you for these well constructed lessons, Jumping from Youtube tutorial to Youtube tutorial was not really helping. This website so far has been the best Iāve seen.
Thanks Again!
In addition to the tutorial on āTune Upā - also dive straight into these beginner arrangements:
The tutorial on āTune Upā explains the basics of reading and interpreting lead sheets, but we do also touch upon some more advanced theory and so donāt worry if some of the techniques donāt make sense right now.
In the Beginner Arrangements Course we stick exclusively to roots, 3rds, and 7ths, and so these arrangements are perfect if you are just starting out with jazz piano.
As mentioned in my reply to Toby above, you can also work on multiple courses at the same time. The following 2 courses fit together nicely and so Iād recommend working on these in tandem:
Im Ryan. 35 yo Carpenter thatās played guitar since a teen (mostly self-taught and a bedroom player), who enjoys playing everything but jazz, and mostly in an acoustic finger style. Iāve wanted to play piano for years, especially stride like my grandfather. I was gifted a digital keyboard by my father (a Hammond b-3 guy) this year for my birthday and after the Covid restrictions decided to finally dive in, and in the process stumbled across Haydenās tutorial for Autumn Leaves. The rest is history. I am in love with music all over again and studying jazz thanks to a random encounter with a YouTube video. Thank you!
hey all,
Iām Niaz 28. I heard my first Jazz record 10 years ago (Ahmad Jamal live at the Pershing) and have been enthralled by Jazz since. Iāve made a few attempts here and there to learn but never really stuck.
I really like the structure of Pianogroove and hopefully Iāll be able to stick it out! Maybe you guys will keep me honestā¦! My aim is to be able to truly express myself with music but I suppose thatās the aim of all musicā¦!?
I love Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson and Hank Jones in particular. I also play guitar and sing so looking forward to the vocal course.
Welcome aboard. You have definitely found the right place to learn jazz piano as Hayden and his team have done a wonderful job in creating this site and materials. Enjoy the journey!
Check out this Beginner Q&A session where I answer lots of questions for new jazz students:
Great stuff! Itās brilliant that you have identified the styles and musicians you like.
We have transcription exercises here in the forum on many famous musicians, check out the threads on Bill Evans, Hank Jones, & Oscar Peterson which also include a suggested discography and biography information:
An important part of our jazz education and development is to emulate our favourite players and recordings. The exercises in the above threads will help you to get started.
If you are new to transcription, you might also like to try the ear training exercises to get your ears up to speed:
We also have these lessons on the styles of Bill Evans & Oscar Peterson:
For vocal piano studies, check out the following 2 courses. The 2nd course might be more appealing to you as it includes vocal drills and exercises to develop your own voice:
And finally, our piano/voice teacher Lyndol is hosting a live seminar on Saturday, you can add the event to your calendar here and also submit a question for Lyndol to cover during the session:
I hope this helps Niaz, if you have any further questions just let us know.
I am Dan and like you, I am here to learn jazz and improvisation in general from this site. As a pandemic escape, viewing Haydenās wonderful youtube tutorial lessons brought me here because I was so impressed and wanted more. I would say this would be my first formal music study as I never had it in my younger years. All I had before is playing guitar and that desire to finally play piano after so many attempts. So cheers to you all !
Youāve come to the right place. PianoGroove and our community is made up of people of all levels, ages, and skill sets. There is something for anyone regardless of previous experience. Work through the foundation courses first, obviously. Youāll find many helpful suggestions along the way in the forums here. Youāll also find Hayden and the other instructors chiming in from time to time to point you to things you need. And always feel free to ask or share anything you want.
A warm welcome to you all! Wow - so happy to have read your introductions - Cannot wait to hear about your jazz piano journey . This is a lovely community! Please keep us posted.
Hope you are all well and safe. Take care
Hi, my name is Crystal Upchurch. Iām 31 years old and have been playing since I was three. Iāve always been musically inclined but I went to the school of hard-knocks. My parents never fostered my musical gift so I have had to teach myself a lot of what I know. Iāve always had perfect pitch so I could figure out notes and songs by just hearing them.
I didnāt take lessons until I was 16 years old and I only took them for four years up until the age of 20. Music was still my passion so for a while I had to go back to teaching myself how to correctly play. I started playing for churches in 2010 and have been doing it ever since. Iām currently the Minister of Music at a church in Franklinton, NC. Iāve been there since March 2018. I LOVE the church Iām at currently. I desire to go to school for Music Production and Music Education. Basically, I want to make this into my professional career. Iāve bought DVD courses from musicians I saw on YouTube but I still desired to learn more.
I wanted to become a well-rounded musician who can play in pretty much ANY capacity. I stumbled across Pianogroove back in May 2020. I started the lessons in June 2020. Iām really happy with the progress Iāve made thus far. I bought my first keyboard in 2006. It was a Casio 61-key. In 2009 I upgraded to a Yamaha P-635 portable digital grand. It lasted for 11 years before dying this year. I just recently bought another keyboard in November. Iām influenced by: West Coast musicians, classical musicians, jazz pianists, and others.
My inspiration is Twinkie Clark (organist), Duke Ellington, Jeff Lorber, Bernie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Javad Day (west coast musician), Stanton Lewis (another west coast musician), and David Jackson (also a west coast musician). I LOVE their unique styles of playing. They are beasts at at this. Learning with this website is DEFINITELY transforming my playing and taking me in the direction of becoming a āBEASTā at this!
Hi all, My name is Stephen and am here to step my playing up to a new level. Iāve played piano since I was 11 years old. I took two years of lessons. The lessons stopped because we moved to a very small town (population 350) and there was no one there that gave piano lessons. I still continued to play by learning songs by ear I liked that were on the radio. The songs became less challenging. I started learning more difficult songs that featured piano, such as what Ray Manzarek (not sure how his last name is spelled) and Billy Joel played. When I started college, I was introduced to jazz. I really began to love it. 70s fusion was all I listened to for a while. Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, etcā¦ I also began listening to contemporary jazz such as Brad Mehldau. My playing kind of peaked and now I am wanting to play jazz. So, thatās why Iām here.
Welcome @Crystal and thanks for sharing all of this.
It must be super rewarding to play piano in a church setting.
One of our other students @Canadanne is the director of music in a church. Perhaps you could both share ideas and repertoire etcā¦
Thatās a fine group of musicians for inspiration Crystal.
Listening and transcription is a very important part of our development. Now that you have a list of your favourite players, itās the perfect time to start analysing their solo and arrangements. We have ear-training and transcription exercises here in the forum:
These exercises are designed to accompany the video lessons on the site. Dedicate a little time each day to these exercises and you will see great improvements in your overall musicianship.
If you have any questions with anything you are working on donāt hesitate to let us know.
we just try to find our way the best we can 
but most of all having fun is anyway the big engine for improving
Wow - so happy to have read your introductions - Cannot wait to hear about your jazz piano journey . This is a lovely community! Please keep us posted. 