Learning Jazz Piano will ruin your chops!

A provocative assertion. Here are my assumptions behind this thought.

1. You’re a part time adult learner, not a full-time college student attending some jazz academy.
2. You've learned to play "Classical" piano to a relatively high level sometime in the past.
3. You've bought your fake book and you are beginning to learn tunes with the goal of being able to "play" Jazz.
4. You own a stack of "how to" Jazz piano instruction books.
5. You watch YouTube looking for the secret recipe or "tip" that will open the mystery to you.

Over the years, as a Jazz piano teacher, my students and I have noted how piano technique quickly gets rusty when we give up Classical and embrace Jazz. Why? I believe it is because in Jazz we play what we can, in Classical we play what we are told. In Jazz the left hand is relegated to playing some simple chord voicings, our right hand plays single note melody. At least in the beginning of our Jazz studies.

Simple stuff, written out its on about a Grade 3 piano level. The trick and art of course is to create this in real time which listening and reacting to the other musicians around you. That pulls it up to level 10 quickly. But, later when we play some of our old Classical piano favorites we find our fingers are slow and lacking their former finesse and grace.
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Classical piano kept our fingers limber and fit because of the composer's demands. In Jazz our hands follow our demands and elementary ideas. Not great for staying in shape.
Solution?

I keep my hands in shape by practicing Classical piano at the higher-grade levels daily. I practice my "Classical" piano technique: scales, chords, and arpeggios. I suppose one could skip the Classical piano repertoire and learn Jazz piano transcriptions in the same manner as you formally studied Classical. Either way the hands will stay in shape.

Cheers,
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David Story

Practice video of the week. Jazz metronome ideas. And the importance of recording your practice. Try it, it really works for all instrumentalists.

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