Introduce Yourself To The PianoGroove Community! šŸŒŽ

General Discussion
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Greetings!
Joining the group from Los Angeles where I currently live and work as a motion designer and editor. I grew up in a musical household with my uncle, grandfather and grandmother all being jazz musicians. This influence did not manifest itself right away as I was drawn to rock, funk and soul in my early days of developing as a musician but the seeds of what would come were certainly planted early on.

I have been playing guitar off and on for 35 years and recently took a deep dive into playing the bass. Albums by Grant Green and Kenny Burrell were my way into jazz and from there I found a great appreciation for artists both old and modern. One fateful evening I was fortunate enough to see Brad Mehldau play to 30 people at the old Cafe Largo here in L.A. before he was a household name. Needless to say I was in awe of the performance that evening and my love for jazz piano was born!

I have had a few failed attempts at learning the piano which has left me with a bit of basic technique and some scattered theory knowledge. I suffer a bit from enjoying so many different types of music and chasing too many things at once which I am hoping to remedy with a more focused regimen and long terms goals. The practice planner here is very helpful with that and Iā€™ve tapped Tuomo for some private lessons for additional guidance.

In my youth (turning 50 this yearā€¦how did that happen?!) I would get frustrated when practicing but Iā€™ve developed a more zen approach as Iā€™ve gotten older. I now know that all things come with patience and perseverance which is helpful during more challenging practice sessions.

Excited to be here with you all and looking forward to the journey ahead!

Best,
Aaron

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493

Hey @Aaron_R - welcome to the PianoGroove community!

If you take a read through some of the replies in this thread you will find tonnes of guidance on how to approach the lessons and where to start.

Around the last day of each month you will receive an email with live events, workshops, and community challenges for the following month. This email is due to go out tomorrow so keep an eye out in your inbox.

You will also be receiving a series of automated emails which show you around the website features and functionality. If you have any questions just hit reply to those emails and it will land in my inbox.

Again a very warm welcome and talk soon!

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Thanks for the welcome Hayden!

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Great intro, @Aaron_R, and welcome to the community.

I can certainly identify with that! I would add that anyone learning a musical instrument should be at peace with the reality of repetition, repetition, repetition. Strange how it all unfolds: You work on scales day after day after day and thenā€¦Click! One day it all snaps into place. Patience and perseverance are key ingredients.

Cheers,
Peter

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Thanks @goforasong, great to be here! Wise words indeed. Wish I had learned that earlier in life but better late than never!

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Hi,

I am 77 years old electronic engineer. I started Lavry Engineering (audio converters company) 32 years ago and I love design work. Music for me (so far) serves as a counterbalance to the logical and methodical thinking required for my work. Music adds feelings, spontaneity and more.

I play the accordion for 71 years, and the piano was my second instrument, both as a hobby. I mostly play the piano now. They did not teach it in Physics but the older I get, the heavier the accordionā€¦

I play by ear and just for the fun of it. I am comfortable playing all sorts of music, but not so with jazz. I love the sound of rich, complex jazz chords and progressions, but it has been difficult to reconstruct by ear. I want to learn how to do it. I am also inclined to learn some specific favorite pieces.

So I looked around on the web, and found PianoGroove. The thing that impressed me first was the layout and presentation. I like seeing the keyboard and the notation while listening. I looked a little deeper and already learned a lot. I am impressed and pleased. I come from a musical family, but made music a hobby. There is a lot for me to learn. And at my age, the rule I live by is ā€œif you donā€™t use it, you loose itā€.

Regards

Dan Lavry

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498

Hi @dan5 :wave:

Welcome to the PianoGroove Community!

The accordion has always fascinated me.

Robert - our Jazz organ teacher - is an accomplished jazz accordionist and organist. His course on PianoGroove is just for Hammond Organ but if you check out his YouTube channel he has lots of videos of him playing jazz accordion with his band.

I can imagine :grin:

Thatā€™s wonderful - it sound like you are in the right place.

For learning rich voicings I would suggest starting with the following lessons and courses:

For learning specific favourite pieces, most courses are a mixture of theory lessons and then application of the theory to jazz standards. You can also find specific jazz standards in the jazz standard index page or by searching using the website search box.

I hope that helps Dan - any other questions please let me know.

Enjoy the lessons!

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Thanks, Hayden, for your great instruction lessons and program. I have been playing the piano for many years but still have lots to learn about playing solo jazz and playing in groups and accompanying singers. I have a B.A in History from Stanford, University, and an MBA from University of Northern Colorado. I live in Boulder, CO, I am married, and I am currently retired after having a career in many different fields, but mostly as a Technical Writer for high tech Companys, and several years as a history teacher. Once again thanks for all of your help, best always, David Whiteing

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A post was merged into an existing topic: ā€˜Blues In Jazzā€™ - Harmony & Improv Workshops In October

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Hi, My name is Frank and Iā€™m from New York. Iā€™m a guitar player and have been playing over 50 yrs. I still gig regularly. I do a Jazz brunch at a popular music venue north of the city one Sunday every month and have for over 5 yrs. We do other gigs as well. Still consider myself a hack LOL. Sight reading sucks but I have a good ear. Came from rock and blues and have played with some great musicians over the years who I learned a lot from. Love of Jazz started when I saw Jim Hall play with Ron Carter in a Small Club (the Guitar)in New York when I was about 18. Yeah Iā€™m old.
Anyway, Last December I decided to start playing my upright piano that I bought for my kids years ago. Then I bought a Kawai ES 520, signed up at a regular online teaching site, practiced everyday. Realized, that even though the site was fine I was looking for more Jazz oriented teaching. Did a trial run at another Jazz teaching site. Itā€™s Okay. Then on YouTube I saw PianoGroove while searching Christmas standards. Loved the format, lead sheet and presentation, Theory explained etc.
I have plenty of time to practice. And will practice at least 2 hrs a day. Would like structured teaching which I believe is fundamental on this site. Thatā€™s why Iā€™m here.
Even after all this time playing music I still get excited learning something new and thereā€™s nothing like playing a gig with like minded people or by yourself for that matter.
How should I start?
Thanks,
Frank

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@mstew8799
Welcome Frank! With your years of experience, you should sail through the foundations course. and start getting the piano well in hand. Like you, Iā€™ve fiddled around with other online courses, but PianoGroove is by far the most user-friendly one. That is, it explains even the simplest concepts throughly. Have fun, and please share some of your playing with us. :musical_keyboard:

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Welcome Frank! I agree with Scottā€¦with your background you should easily go through the foundations course. IMO, PianoGroove is by far the best online site for learning jazz. You are able to have fun learning concepts by applying them to songs.

Enjoy your journey!!!

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Thanks Scott and Celia for responding. Pianogroove is head and shoulders above other online piano sites Iā€™ve tried even though one teacher from London was very good and knowledgeable. Didnā€™t like the format (videos transcription etc). I like to follow the bouncing ball as they say when Iā€™m taking lessons and do what the instructor says. The courses here seem step by step and thorough.

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Hello, all,

Iā€™m excited to join the PianoGroove Community! Iā€™m 53 and work as a data scientist at an IT consulting firm. Iā€™ve grew up in rural Missouri and have lived in St. Louis, Seattle, and the Netherlands. I recently moved from St. Louis (where Scott Joplin played) to Minnesota (where Bob Dylan and Prince originated), which yes, is cold, but is also very beautiful.

My Musical Background

I took piano lessons for ten years as a kid, starting when I was 6. I was in the jazz band in high school and in several jazz combos in college. I had a piano trio during grad school. We did a lot of corporate, restaurant background gigs, which was still (mostly) fun.

My Favorite Musicians

  • Blues, esp. NOLA style: Jon Cleary, Dr. John, etc. This is my current passion. I saw Jon Cleary Friday night at a local club (the Dakota) and joined this site immediately after.
  • Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner
  • Benny Green (Check out Ray Brown Trio, ā€œLive at Scullersā€)

Favorite Instruments

  • Piano
  • Guitar, esp. the Delta blues cats.

My Current Musical Goals & Aspirations

  • Learn NOLA style
  • Build up my repertoire in a way that is less reliant on reading lead sheets
  • Improv in a more creative way
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Hey @mark.pedigo :wave:

Welcome to the community area!

In addition to the recommendations that I sent you via email, here are some other things that might be of interest:

Blues Lesson & Seminar Updates

When new blues-themed lessons and seminars are added to the website I usually post an update in this forum thread:

You will see that the most recent post was for Jon Clearyā€™s last seminar which was hosted in February, and I posted an update once the chapters and light-up keyboard had been added to the seminar page.

Iā€™d recommend to click the ā€˜bellā€™ icon on the right hand side of the blues thread, and change your ā€˜following settingā€™ to ā€œwatchingā€. This means that whenever a new post is added to that thread you will receive an email notification.

Please click on the screenshot below to see how to enable this setting:

change 'watching' status
change 'watching' status2782Ɨ1448 422 KB

That way you wonā€™t miss any updates or new lesson/seminar releases taught by our blues teachers.

Monthly Listening Zoom Workshop

Our jazz teacher @Tuomo hosts a monthly listening workshop here in the forum. These are interactive sessions are designed to encourage students to listen to more jazz and to learn more about the musicians that we admire.

Esch class includes a suggested discography and biography discussion on the featured musician. After the Zoom session, the recordings of the class are published here:

https://community.pianogroove.com/c/workshops/listening-workshop/52

and here are some previous recordings which cover the musicians that you mention:

On those pages you will find the Zoom session recording, and also related PDFs on discography, transcriptions, and other resources related to the musicians.

You can also find transcription studies on these musicians here:

These are half completed transcriptions created by Tuomo which will help you to bridge the gap between listening to a recording that you like, and transcribing the melodies, harmonies, and improvisations.

Improv Themed Seminars

In addition to the cocktail piano improvisation course that I sent to you, we also have a dedicated seminar which dives into a little more detail on the importance of transcribing from our favourite recordings:

I hope that helps Mark and enjoy the lessons!

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Iā€™m Zeki and am very excited to be a new member of PG for a month. Iā€™ll be 61 this year, studied science and lit in school, and have worked (and still work) as an Editor for most of my career (and an English teacher briefly). I love to listen to music and to sing and have some classical piano background with a wonderful beloved teacher who taught me about the importance of listening and of technique to try to make a singing tone at the keyboard. We studied some lovely intermediate repertoire (favorites are Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven). Years have gone by, and I feel a longing to really devote more time to an exploration of piano nowā€”not for the end result but for the journey itself, wherever it leads. Iā€™ve never taken theory of any sort, or studied any jazz, so this is very much a revelation to me already, and the world of jazz already feels like home. I want to really try to focus on developing musicalityā€”through strong foundationsā€”and by working multiple modes of learning/re-learning. Listening to what the scales/chords sound like, ear training (I have never done any), rhythm work, singing while I play, and of course trying to learn the landscape of the jazz language at the keys through the theory/drills/applications to standards. Rather than viewing the keys by note and by rote (which led me to a sense of discouragement, I think, or of a sense I was not able to understand the musicā€”that it was just beyond my grasp despite my longing in years past), this time I am striving to be deliberate/intentional in whatever I doā€”to be rhythmic in the drills, to sing the melody when I work out the voices, etc., to think of intervals and relationships and sounds. To laugh at my own mistakes and try again until I get it. Repetition and going slowly are two of watchwords. Perhaps with the passage of years comes also an understanding that what matters is courage and belief and joy and a sense of appreciation to have the chance to learn within this wonderful community. I have already sampled superb classes from the archives by @Tuomo, @Jovino, @Lyndol, and @Hayden and I am blown away by each of your talents and generosity and the quality and comprehensiveness of supportint materials and technology here. I also really enjoy reading the posts of others and the great material being shared. I wish all much joy on your individual journeys and the collective PG site itself. Since classical has been my idiom, it is wonderful too to re-visit some old music with a greater understanding of what I am seeing there that I had not seen before. I also have a suspicion that Chopin would have been one cool jazz pianist, too. Ciao. Zeki

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Thanks for your post, Zeki. I am sure that you will find inspiration to grow as a musician on this site.
I am looking forward to seeing you in one of our upcoming live seminars!
Welcome and see you soon,
Jovino

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Thank youā€”I look forward to it, Jovino. ā€”Zeki

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Hi my Name is Luzio, I live in Guatemala. I grew up with a piano in the 70ā€™s but I could never find a good teacher. I stopped playing piano while I travelled but a few years ago I finally judged the yamaha p125 as an affordable digital practice piano that has a tolerable enough sound. Sometimes I still get tired of it but I can plug in the ravenscroft app to get rid of some of the digital loop sound on the yamaha.

I tried many youtube videos for the last 2-3 years and Ive definately improved my understanding but I could never develop a practice routine. I tried one other video internet course and although the teacher is a very good player and had many tips he lacked the structure needed to teach someone at my level and left me frankly uninspired for 6 months, but I found piano groove a few weeks ago through the fills and runs on misty youtube video, and I was familiar with Haydens voice and Jovinos too. I noticed the price was good so I jumped in! I still cannot play a standard all the way through, but after two weeks of piano groove lessons everyday I am getting really close! haha ā€¦ even my wife says so. The structure and style of teaching through playing standards is just right for me right now, so I have to say, Thank you!

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Hey @luzioluna :wave:

Welcome to the PianoGroove community!

Here are some courses and resources that I recommend to start with:

1) Jazz Standards & Repertoire (40% of practice time)

Check out the following 3 courses on the tunes ā€œMistyā€, ā€œGeorgiaā€, and ā€œThe Nearness Of Youā€. These courses all start with the most basic voicings, and we gradually add more sophisticated voicings styles and arranging techniques:

  1. ā€œMistyā€ - Cocktail Improv Course

  2. ā€œGeorgiaā€ - Bluesy Stride Course

  3. ā€œNearness Of Youā€ - Fills & Runs Course

These are my newest jazz standard courses and they will help you to understand the many ways that we can interpret a jazz standard. This will help you to think and play creatively and spontaneously, instead of reciting a set arrangement of a jazz standard.

There is a lot of information in these courses and they incorporate more advanced theory which will allow you to see the upcoming theory areas and most importantly how they are applied in context of arranging tunes.

2) Theory Recommendations (40% of practice time)

Check out this seminar which will help you to understand the main theory milestones ahead of you as a beginner jazz student:

This seminar may also be useful to help you map out and structure your practice time:

3) Listening, Ear Training, & Transcription (20% of practice time)

In addition to studying the theory and jazz standards, itā€™s important that you are working on your listening and transcription skills everyday and in time this will allow you to learn directly from your favourite recordings.

Check out the featured video in our Ear Training Section for more information, and aim to complete an ear training exercise each day:

ā†’ 150 Ear Training Exercises

The following seminar will help you to understand the benefits of transcription, and where to start if this is something new to you:

Spend a few weeks to review the information above and just let me know if you have any questions along the way.

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