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- Real Books
- Prerequisites to Jazz
- 7th Chords
- Chord Extensions
- Altered Chord Extensions
- The 2-5-1 Chord Progression
- Left-Hand Chord Voicings
- The Minor 2-5-1
- 2-5-1 Variations
- Jazz Improvisation
To play jazz piano you'll need two things: A piano, and a real book. A real book is a collection of lead sheets to different jazz songs. However the notation will look slightly different to that of most western music (like classical music). In jazz, songs are notated using a single melody line in the treble clef (there’s no bass clef usually). Then...
Before learning jazz, you'll first need to know how to count intervals - because everything we're about to learn is going to be some sort of interval pattern: Every jazz chord, every chord voicing, every jazz scale, and every melodic pattern (or 'lick') is going to be an interval pattern. Are you familiar with the following intervals? ‘Tritone’, ‘m...
Now you’re ready to learn the different types of jazz chord. Most chords you see in your real book will be 7th chords - they have a ‘7’ on the end of them. A '7th chord' is a normal major or minor triad (C E G) with a 7th added on top (B). So the chord is a stack of 3rds - it plays every other note from the scale: E.g. Play C - skip D - play E - sk...
Jazz chords are built in 3rds, and we can continue building this stack of 3rds beyond the 7th: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - 11 - 13(or C - E - G - B - D - F - A). The 9th, 11th, and 13thare called ‘chord extensions’. Some chord symbols will tell you to add a chord extension - by using the number ‘9’, ‘11’, or ‘13’. For example 'C min 11', or 'F7#11'. But as...
Any chord extension can be ‘altered’ - which means flattened or sharpened (e.g. 'b9', '#9', '#11', 'b13'). When a chord symbol tells you to add an altered extension, start by finding the natural extension first. Do this by running up the major scale to find your natural extension. Then - flatten or sharpen it (whichever it tells you to do). So to p...
Every style of music has its own characteristic chord progressions. In jazz, the most common chord progression is called the ‘2-5-1’ - commonly written as ‘ii-V-I’ (using Roman numerals). The ii-V-I is a three-chord progression, and the numbers ‘2 5 1’ refer to which note in the scale the chord is built from. Let’s look at the ii-V-I chord progress...
As a beginner, this how I suggest you play the ii-V-I in your left hand: Notice that I'm playing the V7 chord in 2nd inversion - which means I’ve taken the top 2 notes (D and F) and moved them down an octave.This allows you to keep your hand in the same place, while also creating smooth voice leading. TIP: To play this ii-V-I pattern, all you have ...
There is also a minor ii-V-Ichord progression which is less commonly used (it makes up roughly 10% of the ii-V-Is in your real book). The minor ii-V-I builds its chords from the harmonic minor scale (instead of the major scale). So a ii-V-I in C minor is built from C harmonic minor scale: This time the ii chord is a half-diminished chord (Dø), the ...
There are also many ‘ii-V-I variations’ that jazz composers will use. Sometimes you’ll see a ‘partial ii-V-I’, where the music plays just a ‘ii-V’ - seen here in Duke Ellington's 'Satin Doll': And sometimes you'll get a ‘V-I’ - seen here in Benny Goodman's 'Stompin' At The Savoy': In these 'partial ii-V-I' examples, the song changes to a new key be...
It’s common for jazz musicians to play an improvised solo over the song’s chords. This usually happens in the middle of the song- in-between the song's melody which is played at the beginning and ending (melody - solos - melody). To play a solo, you must know which notes to play from. A good place to start is to play the chord tones of each chord i...
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How do I play jazz piano?
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- 21 min
- Technique. The first pillar of concentration in today’s beginner jazz piano practice guide is technique. What is musical technique? A musician’s technique refers to their ability to efficiently control the anatomical mechanics needed to produce precisely desired sounds.
- Harmony. The second pillar in today’s beginner jazz piano practice guide is harmony. Specifically, beginner jazz piano students must be on a path to learning the 60 essential jazz chords.
- Scales. The third pillar that should be included in your daily practice is scales. Scales are import for 3 reasons: Playing scales improves your technique.
- Lead Sheets. Lead sheets are the most common form of music notation used by jazz musicians. Unlike the detailed scores of classical music, jazz lead sheets frequently omit many performance considerations such as
Learn how structure your practice, what to play, and when to play Jazz Piano to maximise your learning. Plus grab a few free 251 exercises!
1. Why Listening Is The 1st Step. The 1st thing we want to do is listen to at least 2 versions of Watermelon Man here: Now, why do you have to listen a song first? This is because jazz is what we call and aural artform. Before you can play it, you need to have a mental picture of the song inside your mind.
In this article I’ll show you 6 improvisation techniques for jazz piano (or any instrument). These include chord tone soloing, approach patterns, triplet rhythms, ‘chordal textures’, ’playing out’ and more.
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities.
