I would recommend focusing on 2 or 3 jazz standards at the same time. “Georgia” could be a nice option for the 2nd tune as it contains a lot of harmonic similarities with “The Nearness Of You” (the 2nd line of the A section is identical in both tunes ie. A-7 / D7 / G-7 / C7 ).
For the third tune, pick one that appeals to you the most!
3 Essential Elements For Practice Time
I like to structure and visualise my practice time split between 3 general areas:
Theory Drills
Jazz Standards
Listening & Transcription
You mentioned you were listening to Eddie Higgins earlier which is great. Allocating some time each and every day just to listen to your favourite players will work wonders for your playing in the long run.
The Importance Of Transcription
An important - and often overlooked - element of our development as jazz musicians is transcribing from our favourite records. I recommend allocating a little time to this each day and you will see great results in the space of a few months. I showed in a recent seminar how we can transcribe and play along with the melody of the jazz standards we are working on.
If transcription is new to you, check out these 2 videos:
Spend 5 or 10 minutes on an exercise or 2 in the ear training section - starting with the beginner ones - and this will help you to identify intervals, melodies, and common progressions and cadences.
If you have already done some ear training and/or transcription in the past, you might like to jump straight in with our Transcription Studies or transcribing from your favourite records:
I hope that helps Peter.
Definitely incorporate some ear training/transcription into your daily practice routine and then we have all bases covered
I’ve bookmarked the Bluesy Stride Piano For Beginners course and the “Georgia” Deep Dive Analysis seminar. Prior to signing up to PianoGroove, I had been working from sheet music for “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “This Masquerade” (all in the Easy Piano category).
The two aspects of the Royal Conservatory of Music piano syllabus that I’ve neglected are sight reading and ear training. I try to do 15-minutes of sightreading practice a day (I’m at the most elementary level). I’ve an ear training app on my Android tablet, but I’ll attempt some of the beginner ear training exercises in the Forum.
My scales and triads exercises take up about 90-minutes of daily practice time. The remaining 60- to 90-minutes is spent primarily on repertoire (yes, three hours per day—it’s good to be retired). I’m not sure how much more I can pack into a day.
One final piece of advice, and then I will let you practice
An alternative to 90 minutes of theory practice on just scales and triads is the Simplified Foundations Planner which covers 6 drills broken down by key:
Work towards completing all 12 keys in 1 sitting. Make notes of the keys that you find difficult and practice these keys individually. Find the lesson here where the drills are explained and demonstrated:
Be sure to progress onto the next courses too. I recommend new students to study the Foundations course and Chord Extensions course simultaneously. Much of the theory is interrelated.
Perhaps alternate 2 or 3 days of the Foundations, then 1 day of Chord extensions, then repeat.
Thanks for the additional recommendations, Hayden.
The extra time spent on scales and triads is because I’m having difficulty with unfamiliar keys, e.g., D𝄬/C𝄰 & G𝄬/F𝄰., and Dorian mode scales are also new to me. It’ll take a few days to work out the fingering.
I’ll definitely take a look at the Extended Chords & Voicings course.
Simplified Practice Drills: Eb, Ab, Db Concentrating on Eb Major (the key of love) (better than Ab Major (the key of the grave))
Courses/Lessons
Jazz Piano Foundations: How to Read Lead Sheets: “Georgia”, to time index 12:40
Repertoire
“The Nearness of You” for Beginners, mm. 1-15; mm. 16-23, fingering Analyzing arrangement; trying different 3-note voicings. Trouble with rhythm in mm. 22-24
Friday, July 29, 2022 (4 pomodoro cycles)
Foundations
Major Keys: F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb; HT
Dorian Mode: F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb; RH
Triads and inversions, Major & minor: F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db; RH
Simplified Ascending 7th Chord Drills: F, Bb, Eb, Ab (LH on root, RH 7th chord)
Type A & B 251 Progressions: F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db
Courses/Lessons
Beginner Jazz Arrangements: “Pure Imagination” For Beginners (to time index 8:22)
Repertoire
“The Nearness of You” for Beginners; mm. 1-23 (good progress) Keying off “The Nearness of You” recorded by Dick Haymes (The Complete Capitol
Collection, 2006) and Nancy Wilson (The Complete 1956-1960, 2011).
Monday, August 1, 2022 (6 pomodoro cycles)
Foundations
Major Keys: All 12; (RH, LH, HT)
Minor Keys: C, F, G, Bâ™, A; Natural, Dorian, melodic; (LH on m7, RH ascending, 2 octaves)
Major Diatonic Triads: C, F, G, Bâ™, D, Eâ™, A, Aâ™; 2 octaves, solid & broken; (HS)
Minor Diatonic Triads: C, F, G, Bâ™, D, Eâ™, A, Aâ™; 2 octaves, solid & broken; (HS)
Simplified Ascending 7th Chord Drills: C, F, G, Bâ™, D Majors; (LH on root, RH 7th chord)
Type A & B 251 Progressions: C, G, Bâ™, D Majors
Courses/Lessons
How To Accompany Singers: Piano Accompaniment Techniques: Adding Fills
Repertoire
“Autumn Leaves”; RH melody & LH 7th chords only (from lead sheet)
“Pure Imagination” For Beginners; mm. 1-16 + mm. 17-20
“The Nearness of You” for Beginners; complete, focus on mm. 25-37
Reading/Theory/Study
sus Chords
A “sus” chord refers to the suspended fourth of the chord. In the example of a Gsus chord (equivalent symbols are Gsus4, G7sus4, G4, and Gadd4), this means “to play the root with your left hand while playing a major triad a whole step below the root with your right hand” (ref. The Jazz Piano Book, Mark Levine, 1989). G is the root of this sus chord; the triad in the right hand would be the second inversion of F Major. Because of this, the symbol for Gsus can also be F/G. According to Wikipedia, however, the F/G symbol actually refers to a G9sus4 chord. The third is voiced above the fourth.
