Spend 15 minutes playing along with a recording. 

• Comp the chords
• Play the melody
• Play the melody and chords
  
• Steal licks

​Spend 15 minutes of one of the following activities. 

1. Practice the scales, chords, and arpeggios for the tune you will be jamming with. 
2. ​Transcriptions. “Stealing licks” or as Harry Pickins says, collect sounds.
3. Practice sight reading chords from the fake book.
4. ​Practice writing out the chords in the following ways. The photo below comes from a recent lesson. 

• Voice leading chords
• Sonny’s thumbs
• Rootless voicings
• Guide tones

     5. Spend 15 minutes listening and analyzing a recording and ask: “What is going on here? How many times do they play the form in any recording you are listening to?” What instruments do you hear? Is the music played swing or straight? From which era does the music come from or mimic? And so on. 

Have fun. 

​David

This African rhythm is found throughout the popular music of the Americas for centuries. Here it is applied in a jazz context. You will hear it in the introduction of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, The Charleston by Green Hill, and Chinatown by Teddy Wilson. It is still heard today loudly emanating from the cars of young men. Jelly Roll Morton called it the "Spanish tinge." You can hear it in "The Crave." It is also called the Habanera Rhythm as heard in the introduction of St. Louis Blues. 

Learning the melodies to jazz standards will save you a lot of time and bother. The thesis is this.

1. You will play with rhythm and correct articulations from day one.
2. As you become more sophisticated in your use of jazz theory, you have a readymade place to work on it. It is exceedingly difficult to practice theoretical concepts if you are struggling with the piece. 

David

​The teacher practices Jazz
 
Last weekend I went to my first jazz jam with my Vibraphone aka my Malletkat GS Grand. We were a quartet of Tenor Sax/Flute, Vibes, Bass, and Drums. I survived with my dignity intact, but I’ve a few discoveries and confessions to share.

1. My skills on the piano are not necessarily transferable to the vibes.
2. My four-mallet chord playing will need further work.
3. I was unable to execute the solo lines I could hear in my head.

On the plus side, I knew all the tunes from years of playing and teaching jazz piano plus my jazz time and feel is strong.

Here is the practice regime I began to follow to improve my jazz experience.

Tune: Satin Doll by Ellington/Strayhorn

1. I practiced the melody, by ear, with the original recordings on YouTube. I discovered that after 45 years, that I’m dragging some notes. They are now corrected; I’m locked into the sax melody.  
2. I reviewed the piano licks played on the head by Duke Ellington.
3. I figured out bits of his piano solo.
4. I practiced all the broken chords like I instruct my students and I quickly discovered that this took a lot longer than I anticipated.
5. I practiced what I’ve learned by playing along on YouTube. 
6. I’m ready for another piece next week.  My goal is to learn a tune a week for 52 weeks. 
7. I'm continuing with my mallet study books to develop my manual skills. 

If I can help you with your jazz piano journey, call me. 

David

BTW: In the era of Ai content generation, a human wrote this blog. 

Materials required:

1. Fake book
2. Recording from YouTube
3. Piano 😊

Knowledge required:

1. Strong knowledge of musical rudiments. This lesson was written for a student who has his Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 8 piano and advanced rudiments.
2. Knowledge of at least one jazz chording system.  Rick used these chords in his left hand.

Lesson to play in 6 keys:

1. Learn and memorize the original melody and chords in C minor as written in the fakebook. Being able to play from memory is imperative. Here are some tips to help you.

• Note the melody is in C natural minor and that the third phrase modulates up ½ step into the major key of Db.
• Note that the first phrase starts in the fifth note of the minor scale, jumps an octave and walks down. Then the melody jumps up a 7th and down a 2nd to complete the first phrase.
• The second phrase starts on the last note of the previous phrase and repeats the same shape in this new starting position. This is called a diatonic transposition.
• The third phrase starts on the last note of the previous phrase and plays down the major scale a half step above the original minor key, in this case C minor. This is called modulation.
• The last phrase is back on the original key of C minor.

     2. The harmony: The harmony is notated using Roman numerals. This facilitates the transpositions to come. Minor chords are marked lower case and major chords in upper case.

​

    3. Play the melody in the following keys: Cm, Am, Em, Dm, and Gm. Follow the instructions in step 1 after you review the natural minor scales and the major scales ½ step above these minor scales. 
    4. Now add the chords. To transpose the chords, you must do the following steps. Write out the c natural minor scale: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C. Directly below these letters write the scale of the new key, say f minor: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F. Be sure the letters line up. C is directly above F and so on. Then, C minor chord becomes F minor chord, F minor chord becomes Bb minor and so on. Write out the scale of Db: Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db and then the scale ½ step above f minor, in this case Gb: Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb. The chord qualities, of course, remain the same. 
    5. What do we learn?

• We reviewed our intervals, key signatures, relative minor, transposition.
• We are transposing by combining ear, skill, and knowledge.
• Most importantly, we are learning visual pathways on the keyboard of chords and melodies, which will help us to transpose and visualize our jazz “licks.”

Call me, I can help.
 
David

What is the Blues?

Mimic the melody, as interpreted by each recording below. Chords will come later. 

I've used a simplified "lick" from a Wynton Kelly recording of Autumn Leaves. You may recognize it. Here is a method to integrate this, or any other "jazz lick" into your playing.  First, play the lick as written, then write out the lick in the keys of C, Eb, F, G, Gb using the following steps.

Materials needed:

1. manuscript paper
2. sharp pencil
3. big eraser

Prerequisite knowledge required:

1. key signatures
2. major scales
3. ii-7-V7 chord progressions in major keys

Steps:

1. draw the treble clef
2. add the correct key signature for the ii-7 V7 chord progression
3. add 2 bar lines
4. mark in ii-7 V7 beneath the measures as shown
5. add the chord symbols above the staff
6. add quarter rest in measure 1
7. starting on the 5th of the ii-7 chord, draw three quarter notes ascending in steps or 2nds.
8. measure 2 starts with a quarter note, with a 1/2 step grace note, on the root of the V7 chord and descends a step to the 7th of the chord. This 7th will require an accidental (natural or flat sign) to lower it because of the grace note, which was raised.
9. Bada boom, you're done.

​Have fun. 

The fun starts at 2.27. 

Learning tunes from a fake book is the hard way to go about things. Here is the Bill McBernie method of jazz practice in which you play by ear to multiple recordings. 

I could recall the basic outline of the tune "A foggy day" from playing it years ago. That helped. (If you don't know the tune, you must listen until you can sing along.) Below are the recordings and the order in which I played them. Some were played numerous times as I recalled more of the melody and figured out the key. The song was played in the keys of F, C, Eb, and Bb. I played along on vibes, not piano. I focused only on the melody . As the practicing progressed, I began to recall and understand the chords.

Today I was playing it on the piano, from memory, with the chords. 

David

Here is my top 10 list of skills to work on ahead of camp. You don't need to be an expert, but you will need some familiarity with the following skills and activities.​

1. Comping and voice leading chords.
2. Practice sightreading simple chord charts like blues in Bb and F, Summertime, Killer Joe, etc. Click out the Aebersold picture for some suggestions. By clicking on the image, you will go to a product page. I don't take a commission. ​
3. Play along with recordings. 
4. Record yourself and listen back. 
5. Practice playing louder because drums are loud.
6. Practice your right-hand broken chords for every tune on the Aebersold list.
7. Use a metronome on everything you play and practice.
8. Learn to clap and count aloud eighth note jazz rhythms.
9. Listen to jazz daily.
10. Sign up early to camp because piano spots go quickly.

What tunes should you practice?

If I can help you, call me. I've attended a dozen jazz camps over the years as a pianist and drummer. 

David

What do we gain by learning Jazz and Pop Standards by ear?

1. We acquire an intuitive understanding of jazz and pop rhythm. 
2. We learn the feel of the music, which is something that can't be notated.
3. By playing along with recordings we learn to stay in place.
4. We learn how to solo by acquiring ideas (licks) that we can use in other pieces.
5. We learn how to play our instrument idiomatically by hearing it played in context. 
6. We begin to appreciate the depth and scope of jazz and pop history and its eras and players.
7. We learn how to mess with a melody. A first step to soloing with finesse. "Learn the melody, mess with the melody, then mess with the mess" Louis Armstrong 

If I can help you on your journey, call me. 

David

Revised August 2022

Lesson Plan

Materials needed:

• Download the Bebop shell or Rootless chord sheets through these links: Rootless voicings click here.

Bebop Shells as taught to me by Sonny Stitt click here. 

• In the iReal Pro app search "exercises" in the song list of iReal Pro. I suggest starting with the "II-V-I in 12 major keys" first.

​​Method:

• Practice the chord voicings "II-V-I in 12 major keys" along with the app. Go as slow as you need to, and continue daily until it is automatic.

Have fun. If I can help, call me. 



​David
revised August 2022

Here are my thoughts the acquisition of jazz chops.
  
1. Learn and memorize tunes by ear. Generations of Jazz musicians have taken this route. If playing by ear is difficult, call me for ear training lessons.
2. Join a band and play as much as possible. A young musician asked Art Blakey how he could improve. "Play every night" was his response.
3. Transcribe like crazy. If this is difficult, I teach music theory. 
4. Record everything you do. Recording yourself is the best feedback you have between lessons. 
5. Learn more tunes. "The musician with the largest repertoire wins".
6. Practice your technique, at various tempos, with a metronome. All great musicians have a deep sense of time. 
7. Play Bach, Debussy, and Faure. Jazz piano is notoriously diminishing of our left-hand skills. I practice classical music to maintain my left-hand piano skills. 
8. Keep up your lessons. I’ve been taking lessons for over 50 years.
9. Join a second band that plays only original music. Playing original music solidifies the skills and knowledge of composition, theory, history, leadership, notation, and more.
10. Write original music for solo piano. 

Bonus. Read and explore the history of jazz prior to heading to jazz school. 
 ​
If I can help you call me. 

​David
Revised August 2022

Jamey Aebersold gave an illuminating demonstration this past summer on the importance of being able to skillfully play your instrument.  
He assembled students in the auditorium at University of Louisville. He then plucked one “lucky contestant/musician/newbie” to join him on stage. (The repeat campers knew what was coming and sat the back of the room). Jamey would then hand them a microphone and instruct them to sing/scat/hauler a jazz solo along with the jazz chords he would randomly play on the piano.

Guess what?

Everyone could scat. Some sang very well, others just so-so. But the consensus amongst the “singers” was that they could scat better than they could play. Hmmm. “So, the problem wasn’t in your head”, he said, “it’s in your hands”. He continued, “now go home, take lessons, practice like crazy and the jazz will be easier. You can hear the music; you just can’t execute.” (My paraphrasing)

Jamey's second reveal, a thin repertoire is symptomatic of larger issues.

​One morning he asks the musicians, “How many of you can play 50 jazz standards from memory?” I enthusiastically raised my hand. Looking around the 250+ room there were very few hands joining me.

"How many can play 25, 10, any?" (The overwhelming answer was zero.)

Jamie’s 1st conclusion, it’s hard to play freely when your head is in a book.
Jamie’s 2nd conclusion, trust yourselves to play without a book/sheet/app in front of you by starting with simple tunes like:

• C jam blues
• Summertime
• Killer Joe
• Blue bossa

​I can help you get started playing by ear. Please call me,

David
Revised September 2022

1. Having an identifiable sound in the tonal quality of your playing.
   
2. The speed, evenness, and clarity of execution in your technique.
   
3. The ability to play with consistently accurate time and feeling of pulse.
   
4. Your choice of tonal material in improvisation.
   
5. The spirit and drive of your playing. The emotional feeling and vitality comes from your conviction of rhythm and pulse.
   
6. The melodiousness of your lyricism.
   
7. The depth and variety of your repertoire.
   
8. Your ability to navigate,with integrity, a wide range of repertoire (vehicles) without losing effectiveness.
   
9. The quality of your inventiveness, creativity, originality which demonstrates your innovation.
   

Found on pages 77 & 78

I highly recommend this book to all my Jazz students. 

Cheers,

David

"Without a sound you have nothing?" Glen Hall

What does this mean? Playing simply with good tone and beautiful phrasing is more important that playing fast, playing loud, or trying to play above your level.

Artistry is possible for beginners who understand this.

Cheers,

David