Introduce Yourself To The PianoGroove Community! 🌎

[Kristeta]

Hi!

Just reading through your introductions, I am already learning a lot. And at the same time, very excited and impressed as to what 2020 is going to bring me now that I finally found Piano Groove ! which I agree to what others continue to say -that this is an excellent website for Jazz Piano lessons and other more fantastic styles.

How I Got Interested in Jazz Music

I love listening to Esperanza Spalding and other jazz singers though I started really getting more and more interested with jazz when I first heard Norah Jones’ songs … Bought probably most of her albums, accompanied myself with guitar singing to her songs for fun - jamming with friends and also later on, bought her books with piano sheets - to play some of my favourites. I knew at once, I wanted to learn a certain kind of jazz but always, …

the questions were

1. where to find a really good piano instructor
2. which kind of jazz I would lean to
3. how I 'd be able to express myself more in that style -since there are many kinds of jazz

So this thought and goal was always in the back of my head and I thought - ill refresh that goal once the perfect opportunity happens…

That opportunity finally happened in Dec 2019 when I found Hayden’s site. The instructional videos are excellent and the songs/lessons are very interesting and fun to learn! plus of course the instructors are amazing!

Musical Background and Professional Background

My very first instrument was a mandolin - maybe back when I was 7 or 8 years old. My father (deceased) was a trumpet and harmonica player, guitarist, singer (apart from being a journalist and writer) so he and my mom made sure to give me and my siblings an instrument to learn at a young age.

My university degree was in music . I only started learning the piano when i was 18 . Apart from singing, I love playing and learning instruments so I also learned the violin, guitar, uke, drums apart from keys and mandolin… Though I’m mainly and currently alternately focusing on keys, then guitar then drums… definitely… not easy and very time consuming

I teach general music, voice and instruments to primary and secondary students and have a full time music teaching job [currently based in Manila after teaching in the middle east for 15 yrs :D] - I played in a few bands too …

I am more classically trained (in keys) reason probably why some of my improvs and compositions have that kind of style… I collaborate with other instrumental players online too and really find it enjoyable/ inspiring to learn from other musicians …

below is (audio only) one of the collabs (out of fun) I’ve done with a drummer who added his drum parts and guitar parts to a simple piano improv i recorded… (piano part was still raw at the time i recorded it …)

Piano Improv 15

… I really want to explore jazz piano and focus on it this time (all for personal reasons ) - no matter what it takes haha… willing to start over when learning new and exciting techniques/concepts about jazz…

Still working my way around the site - Im really looking forward to see what other members are up to - what they have been practicin’- how they make time for their practice routine and what inspires them to play Wishing us all the best jazz piano playing and learning experience we could ever have! Take care and Happy 2020!

Thanks very much for your time reading this

[scott1]

Welcome Brian. As others have said, with your background you should make quick progress through the initial lessons and also find quite a challenge as you progress. It’s an open and friendly environment here, and there’s always help around when you need it–especially from Hayden and the other teachers. I’m impressed with your technical/mechanical skills with piano restoration and tuning. You’ve much more patience than I have . Have fun.

[Pierrot]

Welcome @Kristeta !

Thanks already sharing your music …

Hope hearing your piano playing @Brins, @mariya, and @jonathan1 Cool to see such a lot of new members coming Welcome you all, such different people and such different background … great richness for Pianogroove !

[Kristeta]

Thanks very much Pierre - Really looking forward to getting to know Jazz peeps in the community Take care

[dave1]

Hi Pierre -adding a polyphonic instrument to my schedule will be a lot of work but I am enjoying the journey. I have been doing some private piano study with a local teacher, which is great, but I think having a structure like the Pianogroove material available whenever I have time will make a great difference.

Cheers, Dave

[jacobs]

Hi everyone!

My name is Andreas. I am from Indonesia and currently residing in South Korea. I always think that jazz is such a rich music and this is one of the main reason why i got interested in jazz. I am self-taught pianist since i was in junior high. Mostly pop song. I also play lots of worship song. I like to put some of jazz elements (that i understand) into other genre. I found this really fun for me. I expect to grow more through this community especially in jazz!

I am currently doing the extended chords and voicing course and gosh i already learned more than I expect. I always thought that my knowledge in voicing is well enough but this course has proved me wrong!

Lets grow together and support each other to be a better musician! Thanks!

[jacobs]

I forgot to mention this important point:

I am so surprised that we only need to pay $50/month for such high quality lessons. Thank you so much Hayden and all the teachers to make this possible! From the forums discussions, I can tell as well how caring and attentive you guys are to all the students. Such a superb environment to learn!

Cheers!

[LoriNelson]

its a fantastic value and we have a good community of supportive and encouraging fellow PianoGroovers! welcome.

[scott1]

Welcome to the group. You’re right. PianoGroove is indeed very good value for the money. Both the instructors and the members of the community are open and quite supportive. You’ll enjoy your time spent here.

[celia]

I totally agree with the other comments. PianoGroove is wonderful. It gave me a new lease on music! There is so much to learn!!!

[Hayden]

Welcome Andreas!

It sounds like you are already on the right path with our course on Chord Extensions. I do recommend that students study multiple courses at once, particularly in the “Beginner” section of the jazz lessons as many of the course topics are interrelated.

For example, you could study “Jazz Piano Foundations”, “Extended Chords” and “Rootless Harmony” all together. All progress is saved to our dashboard and we can utilise the lesson bookmarking to make practice notes and logs.

Here are some other useful links for you:

PDF Practice Planners

We have PDF practice planners which guide our students through practice routines for the first 4 theory courses on the website. Check them out here:

https://community.pianogroove.com/c/practice-inspiration/practice-plans

Syllabus Index Page

It might be nice to browse through our Syllabus information which groups together courses and helps to dissect the overall lesson library into smaller chunks:

https://www.pianogroove.com/syllabuses/

In particular check out the “Learning Path” of each syllabus which shows a ‘birds-eye-view’ of the topics and theory areas covered.

Improvisation & Transcription Exercises

If you’d like to improve your abilities as an improviser, check out this video, and also our improvisation and transcription exercises in the forum:

https://community.pianogroove.com/c/improvisation-exercises

These exercises have been designed for all levels of students and they will help you to learn directly from your favourite recordings in the future.

If you have any questions with the website or lessons just let us know.

Enjoy!

[Pierrot]

Welcome Andreas . Hope hearing you soon !

[Iordanis_Grigoriou]

Greetings!

My name is Iordanis, originally from Cyprus, currently living in Germany.

Working from home for the last couple of months actually increased my free time considerably, so I decided to make another attempt in learning to play jazz piano (the original attempt was a couple of years ago and it more or less failed for various reasons).

My playing goals would be to be able to play some of my favorite songs, e.g. Monk’s 'Round Midnight and Coltrane’s Lonnie’s Lament, and also be able to improvise.

Even though I have some past experience playing music, I want to start from scratch and do it properly this time around. My plan is to start with the 2 courses from the Beginner Jazz Syllabus, establish a practice routine and take it from there.

It feels great to be joining you all in this journey!
-Iordanis

[scott1]

Welcome Iordanis.

This is the perfect place to reach your goals. Hayden and company have created such great lessons for all levels. Unlike some sites where they show you a few things and then show off their own skills, PianoGroove offers well-thought-out lessons with very clear and detailed explanations. You’ll have fun and learn quite a bit here. Cheers.

[simon3]

Hi!

I’m Simon. I live in northern Sweden.
I have always been playing music to some degree. Mostly drums, but I’ve been playing some guitar and I have been working as a sound engineer both as a main job and as a side gig. I’ve also been making electronic music for more than 20 years.

I’m one of those people who never learned the basics and never took lessons. I’ve mostly been playing with different bands, jamming and creating own songs.

I’ve been in love with piano, and more specific jazz piano since I was very young and heard swedish pianist Jan Johanssons monumental record Jazz på Svenska where he plays really beautiful, low-key jazz versions of old swedish folk songs. It still is one of my favourite records.
I also am a big fan of electro mechanical sounds. I have a hohner pianet T and a Crumar Seven at home. I’ve been fooling around with them, and a lot of other instruments, but recently I’ve been interested in learning to play from the ground up.

I found this website while searching for piano tutorials on youtube. I played along with the Blue in Green-tutorial and was super pleased with the quality. The thing is I never really learned theory as I said, so while I was able to learn songs by watching tutorials I really felt the need to learn from the ground up. I could play along because I’m used to have an instrument in my hands and I’ve been listening to lots and lots of music but I didn’t understand why a certain chord was named the way it was and I couldn’t read out a chord and color it or play it in different ways.

Now I’ve been going through the ground course. I’m working on the major scales and it is going pretty good! I’ve got them all down to the point where I remember them without looking them up, and I have the circle of fifths memorized. Now I’m working with getting my hands used to correct fingering. Also I’m taking time each day to mentally go through the major scales and memorizing the intervals.

I think this course is really great and I’m very impressed by the layout and the lessons.

Just wanted to say hi

[scott1]

Hi Simon,

You just verified what I’ve said earlier. This course has something for everyone, regardless of skill level. Yours, in terms of music, is obviously quite strong–except for the understanding of what’s going on beneath the hood. Your comments remind me of what Chet Atkins, the great Nashville guitarist, said of Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits. After working with him for awhile, he said Knopfler was a master of the guitar, but he had no idea what he was doing.

Have fun and check in from time to time to let us know how you’re getting on.

[brett1]

Hello,
I have always had a jazz"y" interest with the desire of getting more into it someday. I played drums years ago and am currently learning piano/synth. Influences and interests include: Thelonius Monk, Herbie Hancock, most things drum n bass, house, synth wave, and things that are smooth yet edgy.

[Hayden]

Welcome to the PianoGroove Brett!

Based on your interests mentioned, you might like to check out these 2 lessons:

How To Play Like Thelonious Monk | Style, Harmony & Improvisation

How To Play Like Herbie Hancock | Upper Structure Triads & Voice Leading

Listening and transcribing directly from our favourite recordings is the ultimate source of inspiration for us, but these lessons will also give you some valuable insights into the style of nuances of these players.

If you have any other specific interests let me know and I will send over more lesson recommendations.

Enjoy the lessons!
Hayden

[LoriNelson]

Welcome. You should have one advantage: an awareness of time and rhythm ! . (I am just now realizing how critical that foundation is, thus spending more time w metronome). Enjoy these lessons, they have certainly helped me greatly.

[Charles_Hill]

I’m back! I had to stop my membership of piano groove in July last year owing to an increase of teaching commitments (I teach English as a foreign language in France) and then in August I was struck down by something very similar to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It became so bad that one day I simply didn’t have enough feeling or strength in my fingers to press down the keys on the piano. I was distraught and the tears flowed as I imagined I would never play again. Fortunately, we have a very good health system in France and so after quite a long wait to see a specialist, a cure was found. In simple layman’s vocabulary, I had a compression or blockage in both elbows which was preventing the nerves from travelling down to my hands and fingers. I had two operations, December last year and March this year, where the surgeon has enlarged (or unblocked) the canal in my elbows so my nerves can travel freely again. I am playing again and should make a full recovery although my left hand is still a little weak. It’s a great pleasure to log into Piano Groove again and read all of your comments. Best wishes to everyone and enjoy the music!!