Introduce Yourself To The PianoGroove Community! 🌎

[Canadanne]

Welcome to pianogroove Thomas. I’m sure you will find what you are looking for here. I’m fairly new too and I have found this community both encouraging and inspiring so I would advise you to keep in contact with it. I enjoyed your playlist but I particularly enjoyed the Thomas Nau whatever#3.

[dr1]

Enjoyed the music, especially whatever #3. Welcome. I to have a classical background. Piano Groove is really helping with my transition into the jazz world.
Dr. Dean. Just a beginner here also.

[Hayden]

Hi Thomas, and welcome!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful album.

I listened to a few of your performances and they are beautifully played. There’s some of my favourite composers in there too.

What an eclectic mix of music from Chopin to Nils Frahm!

@thomas_nau

But I also wanted to be able to improvise, playing Jazz standards, accompany a singer and work on my own songs

Awesome, it sounds like you are in the right place!

For Improvisation:

Listening and Transcription are 2 essential components of learning to improvise. Here’s some information for you:

• Discover the recordings/artists/sounds you like in our listening area: Records & Albums - PianoGroove Community

• Understand the importance of transcription. Here’s an introduction course on transcription, and try some of Tuomo’s transcription exercises which were just launched today.

For accompanying singers, check out the following 2 courses:

• How To Accompany Singers: Jazz Piano Vocal Accompaniment Course | Learn To Accompany on Piano

• Learn To Sing & Play: Jazz Piano Vocal Accompaniment Course | PianoGroove.com

We are also launching a new Vocal Accompaniment section shortly which has vocal-play-a-long tracks for our students to practice the art of accompaniment. More to be announced shortly.

@thomas_nau

I tried to find a Jazz teacher but that did not work well, so I decided to sign up here and I have to say this is exactly what I was looking for! I love how the tutorials are structured and slowly making progress with the beginner lessons.

Great to hear you like the structure of the PianoGroove syllabus.

I recommend that students study multiple courses at once. All progress is saved to your dashboard so it’s easy to keep track of your learning journey.

The Beginner Jazz Lessons feed into most material on the site, so if you have interest in other genres - such as Bossa Nova - it’s a good idea to learn the basic jazz theory including chord extensions, rootless voicings, and altered harmony.

@thomas_nau

Although my technique is quite good, I am still very bad at just improvising or playing a (jazz) song in a nice way. Right now I have a bit more time to practice and I hope that one day I can play a little bit like Bill Evans

The key is a lot of listening and transcription Thomas.

If you scan through some of my replies in this thread you will get a lot of insight into how to go about.

Particularly with you coming from a classical background, listening is incredibly important to absorb the feel and articulation of jazz music. Of course spend the time to study the theoretical aspect of the PianoGroove syllabus, but always remember to spend a lot of time listening too - it is the ultimate source of inspiration.

@thomas_nau

Looking forward to spending more time with the tutorials and in the forum!

Brilliant. If you need any help or guidance don’t hesitate to ask here in the community.

Talk soon!

[scott1]

Welcome Thomas! You’ve made a good choice. PianoGroove seems to work well for nearly everyone here, whatever their background or level of playing. And those are quite varied. Thanks for sharing your music. With your technique and a bit of study and lot of listening, you’ll be up to speed in no time. Have fun.

[diana]

Hello, my name’s Diana and I am a self-taught learner. I started learning the piano back in the 90’s with the help of a book called “How to play popular piano”. Having learned the basic major, minor triads as well as 7th chords, and playing through all these boring cheesy tunes (“Twinkle, Twinkle”…) from the book, I managed to learn or rather memorize! one of Yanni’s songs “Until the Last Moment” - yes, that was my very first song that I mastered 100% only after completing the aforementioned book. Note: there didn’t use to be YouTube back in the 90’s…

You might think that’s brilliant… well, it’s not if you take into account that I understood NOTHING of what I was playing. I was just like a little monkey copying what’s written and playing all the corresponding notes.

Fast forward to current times: I’ve started learning jazz theory and completed a couple of online jazz piano courses. I am only starting to understand all the chord/jazz theory. Then I came across PianoGroove - and I was taken aback by the fact that it provides so much free/sample material. I mastered “Misty” WITH COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING of what is going on in the song in terms of progressions, extensions, voicings, etc. - Hayden, you’re a great teacher. My previous jazz piano course on another site was at times too challenging for me to follow with understanding. Your course fills all the gaps in my knowledge and transforms puzzling questions into “YAY! I GET IT!”

BTW, I can still play “Until the Last Moment” after all these years, but it’s only muscle memory. To fully understand it, I’d need to re-learn this song by analyzing it.

I’ve had a quick look at some of the content on PianoGroove and I’m blown away by the detailed information. I have so many questions to ask but I hope I can find most of the answers already on this forum. BTW, my minor complaint about this forum is that it’s a little counter-intuitive to browse all the topics. I find the layout confusing… how do I display ALL of the categories and then see all the topics chronologically in that category? I don’t even see the “Submit” button here… oh, I hope it’s this yellow “reply” button…

Thank you, looking forward to learning some real piano!

[LoriNelson]

welcome, after you have been with the PianoGroove program and forum you will find it more intuitive and easy to navigate;
I also suffer from falling back on muscle memory, almost like my brain and hands are not in the same place (which does NO good if you briefly get lost) so I have tried to return to some beginner tunes and explore both the ballad and left hand voicings and really get to know the bones of a tune. often I take that same song lesson all over again months later and suddenly see it in a new way; have fun

[LoriNelson]

welcome Thomas, sounds like you have skills already and now some more specific tools to expand on… I know you will have fun;

[Hayden]

Welcome Diana!

I’m glad you are enjoying the PianoGroove teaching style.

Any theory questions you have, you can get quick replies from our teaching team and students here in the forum.

Here’s some tips to browse the categories and topics in the forum:

1) The Secondary Navigation

These 5 buttons link to some of the key forum areas:

• Forum Home Page
• Practice Tips & Inspiration
• Common Theory Q&As
• New Lessons News & Announcements
• Listening - Share & Discover Recordings

2) Categories & Latest Toggle Button

There is a toggle button in the top left which allows you to switch between “Category Home” and “Latest Posts Home”

3) Individual Category Sections

From Category Home, simply click on the category titles or images, and this will take you directly to the category pages. You will also notice that there are sometimes subcategories, such as in the “Practice Inspiration” Section

The forum is constantly evolving so you will see new sections appearing, but the above should give you a good overview of how to navigate the different forum categories.

I’ll also make an explainer video of the above, I think that would be nice for new students joining us.

Thanks and talk soon!

[andrew3]

Hi all! I’ve been an off-and-on, somewhat diligent classical, jazz, and latin piano student for about 14 years currently living in Chicago, which has a thriving jazz scene at the moment. As a piano player, I’ve never been too keen on learning tunes; I prefer to just sit down and create a beat or improvise in a sort of meditational way, without thinking much about what exactly I’m doing. I’ve realized that while I feel good playing in the moment, I become frustrated without a roadmap of where to go next or exactly it is that I’m doing and why things sound good and bad. I’ve also realized that it’s crucial to learn songs as a way to play. Therefore, I’m looking to greatly expand my ability to improvise through the learning of jazz theory, voicings, and standards, and use it as a vehicle for creation and composition, with the ultimate endgoal of being part of a group that writes music or as a solo creator of interesting and sometimes complex tunes, or both!

I’m also very interested in learning different rhythmic styles, and am looking forward to the brazilian and latin sections of the website!

Andrew

[Hayden]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the PianoGroove community!

With your experience of classical, jazz, and latin studies, I’m sure you will be able to dive straight into any of the material on the site.

@andrew3

I became frustrated without a roadmap of where to go next or exactly it is that I’m doing and why things sound good and bad. I’ve also realized that it’s crucial to learn songs as a way to play.

We have put together a series of practice plans which help students to learn the foundational jazz theory in all 12 keys. I think it would be worthwhile to check out these posts:

• Jazz Piano Foundations Practice Plan
• Chord Extensions Practice Plan
• Rootless Voicings Practice Plan

You will likely be familiar with most of the material, but it may also highlight some gaps which you overlooked.

@andrew3

Therefore, I’m looking to greatly expand my ability to improvise through the learning of jazz theory, voicings, and standards, and use it as a vehicle for creation and composition, with the ultimate endgoal of being part of a group that writes music or as a solo creator of interesting and sometimes complex tunes, or both!

The more tunes we play, the more harmony we are exposed to, and so my recommendation is simply to study the tunes that interest you.

Also check out this video where I highlight the importance of regular listening and transcribing. That thread also contains links to listening/transcription exercises which are published weekly for our students to participate in.

The goal of these exercises is to improve our listening skills, empowering us to become self-sufficient learners so that we can listen to our favourite recordings, albums , and musicians to pick out material directly from recordings.

That way, we are taking ‘our sound’ in the direction that we want to take it - based on the sounds that we like - which is a very liberating point to get to as a musician.

@andrew3

I’m also very interested in learning different rhythmic styles, and am looking forward to the brazilian and latin sections of the website!

I think you will enjoy Jovino’s Brazilian section of the website .

There is a beginner-focused Bossa Nova course taught by myself in there, but Jovino’s insights and experience are unparalleled in this field of improvised music, and so in terms of rhythm and groove, I think that his courses will give you the information you are looking for.

Finally, it is worth noting that many of the concepts covered in Jovino’s Bossa Nova courses incorporate theory covered in the jazz courses such as:

Our Rootless Voicings Course:

Rootless Voicings Piano Course | PianoGroove.com

Our Altered Harmony Course:

Chord Alterations Jazz Piano | Altered Jazz Chords & Altered Harmony

Our Chord Substitution Course:

Chord Substitution Jazz Piano Course | How To Reharmonise Chords

And so I would also recommend looking through those courses to familiarise yourself with the theory and the terminology.

There is a new Brazilian course to be published shortly on “Triad Approach To Improvisation” which was taught to Jovino by his mentor Hermeto Pascoal. I will be announcing this in the forum area shortly so keep your eyes out for that.

I hope this helps to give you some direction, and if you have any specific questions please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Cheers!
Hayden

[LoriNelson]

Welcome Andrew, One thing about PianoGroove is that you can still be you and keep your learning style and preferences and still gain ground and grow, In the Latin Brazilian section you will have plenty to stretch your brain on. Have fun.
Nothing wrong with learning a tune… that’s what your family and friends enjoy when they listen to you play.

[Pierrot]

Wellcome Diana and Andrew !

[Canadanne]

Welcome Andrew. This is a great place to be!

[grant]

Hi All

Just joined, looks like there is a lot going. I’m frankly a bit confused where to start so I’ll say hello and take it from there.

I’m returning to jazz piano after my 2 young kids took all my practice time. I’ve had a few lessons 5 years ago so I’ve got the basics.

Previous to this I have a more interesting musical background which keeps me looking to make the most of my skills. I signed with Creation records when they were at the height of their success with Oasis. I’m now 44, a family man working for myself in TV commercials and Music video. No regrets that it ultimately didn’t work out back then. Plenty good rock n roll stories that I’ll take with me…

Of course, my older self prefers the complexity of jazz to the pop music we made at the time, but there’s many a similarity in terms of writing & creativity.

I look forward to working with you all

Cheers
Grant

[Hayden]

Hi Grant

Firstly welcome to the PianoGroove Community!

I’d recommend reading through the comments in this “Introduce Yourself” thread.

I’m sure you will find many of the comments and recommendations helpful and applicable to your goals and aspirations.

Here’s some additional information for you:

1) The Beginner Jazz Syllabus:

Whether you want to learn jazz, blues, or bossa/samba, the information covered in this syllabus is essential. You may just need to quickly flick through some of the foundational material, but I’d recommend you watch the lessons none the less:

Beginner Jazz Courses: Roadmap & Syllabus

Here is the recommended sequence to progress through PianoGroove’s Beginner Lessons. Once you have worked through the beginner material you can check out the contents of our more advanced learning syllabuses: Intermediate Lessons & Courses Advanced Lessons & Courses Course Syllabus 1: The Basic Syllabus Below we outline the beginner jazz courses in the order they should be taken. We start by highlighting the beginner jazz standard tutorials, starting with the easiest and working onto more c…

2) PDF Practice Planners

We have a series of PDF practice planners which can be followed to give structure and organisation to our practice sessions. I explain how to use them in this video.

You can find more detailed information on the plans here:

PDF Practice Plans

3) Listening & Transcribing

As jazz musicians it’s essential that we regularly listen and transcribe from our favourite recordings. This is a very important part of our development.

We have hundreds of records shared in this thread, it might be nice to browse through them to discover some sounds you like and also share your own favourites.

Check out this video where I explain the importance of listening and transcription, and how this is essential to develop our ‘own voice’ and improvisational style.

4) Jazz Standard Lessons

I’d recommend starting with the beginner jazz courses, but if you have a particular song you would like to learn, I would recommend that you just go ahead and learn it.

If you choose some intermediate/advanced lessons, you may not understand all of the theory involved, but don’t fret about that. The full understanding will come with time.

Here’s our standard lessons organised by genre.

Here’s our standard lessons ordered by difficulty.

Spend some time to check out the links above and any questions or comments just let us know.

Enjoy the lessons!

[celia]

Welcome Grant! You are going to love PianoGroove! There is something here for everyone. I learn new things every week…even as I revisit lessons I have taken previously. I know that I have already improved tremendously and can’t wait to see where I will be this time next year! Have fun!

[lynelle]

Hi Hayden - I have just discovered your youtube channel and after doing a couple of lessons I signed up for a year straight away!

I am from Brisbane, Australia. I studied classical piano and voice from 6 years of age, doing the usual eisteddfods and exams through my childhood. I went onto to study voice and piano at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and have since been a am a professional musician of thirty years.

I did some jazz lessons while I was at the Con, and successfully auditioned for a 12 voice jazz vocal group in my second year. Being classically trained, jazz and improvisation have always daunted me - I like to be carefully rehearsed note for note before a performance, and music reproduction is my strength. Therefore my career led me in the way of corporate bands and tribute shows, and solo and duo work. I still work approx 3-6 gigs a week, and my most successful production is my ABBA tribute show that has been running for 16 years now, ABBALIVE. I have a good ear and perfect pitch, so when I started working with a country band 7 years ago that just threw songs and solos at me, I have now become a little more familiar with the improvisation side of things, but would like to fully understand, learn, and practice more.

My daughter is now 19 and in her second year at the Conservatorium, following a similar path, and I have encouraged her in the area of Jazz which has reignited my interest in exploring this area further. I also now have a passion for travel and have just applied for cruise ship work as part of the house band. As a sight reader I am fine but I need to brush up on my reading of jazz charts and put the knowledge into practice so it is instantaneous.

I’m really looking forward to starting the lessons on here - I am going to work through from the beginning so it fills in all the holes for me.

Sadly to say, I have never liked jazz much. I saw Herbie Hancock when he came to Brisbane and have seen a few other acts along the way, including a great quintet in Prague at the beginning of the year. I believe my lack of falling in love with this genre is lack of knowledge and understanding, and I hope to be a keen jazz fan very soon. I will start listening to the artists you have recommended. Thank you, Lynelle.

[Pierrot]

Wellcome Grand and Lynelle in the community !!!

[Guillaume]

Welcome both of you @grant and @lynelle to our awesome community and forum space !