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Learning Jazz Piano?

Lokire

Lokire

Aug 21, 2003
4,980
53
39
Seattle, Washington
#1
I'm at a point with bass playing where I feel I have the basics down pretty solid. And of course I'll keep working on the more advanced stuff (chord voicings, improvising over chord changes...etc), but I'm thinking about switcing my main focus over to piano for a while. Jazz piano specifically. I don't want to be Bill Evans (well...I do, but you know what I mean), but I do want to be at least fairly comfortable playing chord changes and improvising over them.

So I guess my question is, where is the best place to start? Online tutorials? Should I get a private teacher? Teach myself?

I know enough theory to be able to put together chords and different voicings and such, so I could teach myself. But I feel like I need some kind of direction. I probably have ADD or something. I'll work on something for a little while and then get bored or distracted and move on to something else. I think I need specific exercises to work on, or goals to meet each week, or someone to critique what I'm doing and give advice, etc. What do you think? How did you start playing piano?

Any good online resources out there that you know of?
 
#2
A teacher will probably be best. Mark Levine's "Jazz Piano Book" is pretty amazing if you want to buy yourself a present as a jump start.

Listening to a bunch of your favorite players, and grabbing on to what they do, is a good way to learn jazz, no matter what instrument you want to play. If you do that for awhile, you start to pick up on common themes, and it starts making sense pretty quickly.

Oh yeah!... check out the legendary Seattle pianist/teacher Jerome Gray... he has some books out that can put you on the fast track. Believe me, if you're serious about jazz piano, he's a great person to start with.
 
#4
You might want to just send a PM to DURRL (Chris Fitzgerald) if he doesn't catch this thread..; great jazz bassist and pianist, he probably has lots of suggestions. Maybe you could post a similar thread in DBs, since many of us down there are wannabe jazz pianists as well.
 
#8
If you get the Levine book, I would go straight for chapter seven and begin working on learning the II V I voicings that he describes in all 12 keys. Pick a standard tune and play the melody with your right hand and play comp chords with your right against it.

You could work on this and getting the scale fingerings together (page 94) while you look for a teacher in your area.

Good luck!
 
#9
I think getting a handle on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] type of voicing is a good place to start. You can also find these same basic voicings in Aebersold's free [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on page 50 if you want to see them written out in all 12 keys. Most jazz pianists begin with voicings like these built up from either the 3rd (I call these "Type I" voicings) or the 7th (Type II). From there, they can be expanded into the basis of basic drop 2 and 5-note two hand voicings. Hope this helps.
 
#10
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Most jazz pianists begin with voicings like these built up from either the 3rd (I call these "Type I" voicings) or the 7th (Type II).
Click to expand...

I'm just starting piano, and so far I have been able to master such classics as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "London Bridge is Falling Down", and the Mexican Hat Dance. In addition to those, I've been working through some jazz lessons that were posted on a piano forum. They first thing they have you go through is Autumn Leaves (of course), and what they refer to as "shell voicings", which are the root and the seventh. I can get through all the changes playing the shell voicings with my left hand and the 3rd with my right. Look out.

edit: Link to the thread in their "Adult Beginner's Forum" Invalid Link Removed
 

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