The Jazz Piano Practice Plan

Welcome to the Jazz Piano Practice Plan

I’m here to learn Jazz and everything that comes with it!

If this sounds like you, then this article is a must read before you sign up.
As you might have read on my front page, my focus is on how to create music and express different kinds of emotions with the piano.

To play jazz is an excellent tool to do that… as well as contemporary piano, or any other style.  If you are planning to sign up for a monthly membership, you must be aware of getting lessons in all type of genres. (Jazz is one of the six styles I am covering on the site.)

LET’S GET STARTED!

All that JAZZ!

Introduction

(Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 50 seconds)

There are 3 types of students when it comes to learning jazz.

Student 1:  I want to learn things that sound ‘jazzy’.

In my translation, this means that you like the sound of jazz, but you don’t feel the necessity to go deep and understand the logic behind every note.
Well, I think you will like this practice plan. Everything in this list sounds jazzy. You are going to learn more than you need to reach your goal but look at that as a positive side effect. I mean, it is not a bad thing that you will be able to create your own walking bass lines even though you just want to follow my version 😉

Student 2: I want to understand jazz, I want to be a jazz pianist.

For me, a jazz pianist is equal to a well-rounded pianist. I have never met jazz pianist saying something like:
“Sorry I can’t play blues. I can only play Jazz”
“Sorry, but I don’t know how to play triads. I only play jazz chords, like rootless voicings.”
This practice plan is going to be fun for you, but not going to be enough. I recommend you to follow my well-rounded practice plan.

Student 3: I want to understand jazz, I want to be a jazz pianist (so please, don’t make me play anything that has nothing to do to jazz).

What ‘Student 3’ is really asking here is: Can I skip the basics and be awesome right away?
The short answer is no.
And the long answer is: nope.
(Yes, you can learn to play a rootless Bb7b9 chord right away, without knowing how to play a Bb triad in root position. I can also learn a sentence in Japanese without knowing what I am talking about. I am sure it will sound awesome, and with that one sentence, I can impress my grandma, but other than that? No, nothing will happen.)
My advice is to start with this practice plan. Try not to be bothered when things are not making sense. However, if you feel that you lose motivation because you got completely lost, try to go back to basics and see how does it feel. You might as well enjoy it.

Walking Bass

Chords

Jazz-blues Improvisation

Create a beautiful sounding arrangement on the spot:

Final Words...

If you are still not sure where to start or how to approach these lessons, feel free to contact me. In order to give you good advice and guidance, I would need the following information from you:

  • Your name, age, and main motivation.
  • A link where I can see or hear you playing any of my exercises from this practice plan. (Unlisted youtube link, mp3 file, etc.) If you are not a member yet, please chose a lesson from my Youtube Channel. Play the entire exercise from the beginning to the end with a steady beat and let me know how long time did it take you to complete the lesson. If the recording is about improvisation, please improvise at least for 1 minute (with a steady beat).
  • How much time do you have for practice?
  • Are you working on the additional exercises too?
  • What lessons have you already completed or are still working on?
  • What is your next short-term goal? Is it ok if I tell you that you should change that goal?:)

 

Most of the time you think that your problem will be solved if you learn more about theory, scales, and licks, but then I come and tell you that all you have to do first is to keep the rhythm.