4 Considerations for Jazz Piano Comping (Written by Dr. Samuel Griffith, trombone)
1) Time Beginning jazz pianists frequently forget, ignore, and devalue the importance of comping IN TIME. This should be the number one consideration when comping! If a pianist comps with bad time, or is playing out of time, the power of everything they do is lessened. Sometimes, even more experienced players will sacrifice time to […]
Introduction To 7th Chords
Do you ever walk into a restaurant and hear someone playing the piano, and just wonder how they get those juicy jazz sounds? Or maybe you hear a song on a movie that sets the perfect kind of atmosphere for a 1950’s scene. Those harmonies (chords) that you are hearing are mainly 7th chords! And […]
How To Start Playing Pop And Cover Songs Today!! Part 4 – Rhythms
Rhythms are the last key ingredient to being able to play any song of your choice and make it sound decent to the average listener. Rhythms will be serve a large role when I begin talking about Jazz more but for now the simple rhythms you will learn to play will help you spice up […]
How To Start Playing Pop and Cover Songs Today!! – Part 3 Hands Together
So the great thing about pop songs is that for the most part the only chords you’re ever going to see are major and minor triads…did you hear that? Let’s let that sink in for a second…. I’m going to say it again. The majority of chords in pop songs are ONLY major and minor […]
The 6 Most Important Steps To Booking More Gigs
Does Wynton ever look bad? Nope, cause he’s a professional. There’s one thing that always makes me chuckle when I meet someone new. It’s the moment they ask me what I do for work. In our society everyone is judged by what we “do”. People who work a 9-5 are almost more respected than someone who creates their […]
How To Start Playing Pop and Cover Songs!! Part 2 – Minor Triads
Well I have some good news and bad news. The good news is if you’re reading this you didn’t get too discouraged by part 1 and you’re eager to learn more. The bad news is you have to learn 12 more chords, but wait…they’re extremely similar to the major chords. So if you we’re good […]
How To Start Playing Pop and Cover Songs Today!! – Part 1 Major Triads
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Alright so here we go! If you’re one of those people who has played piano before and want to be able to play the pop songs you hear in your car while driving to work, or you’re a jazz lover wanting to play classic Broadway standards, let me tell you….this is the […]
Start Learning Jazz Piano Today!
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Learning the piano is a very simple process. Like anything in life, when we break a problem down into a step by step solution, we allow ourselves to make simple and gradual progress to our goal while sparing frustration and headaches. This post is directed to someone who has never played piano, […]
Learning Jazz Piano Is The Easiest Hobby In The World
Share on facebook Facebook Share on google Google+ Share on twitter Twitter Share on linkedin LinkedIn If I had a dime for every time I heard someone say “Wow! I wish I could do that!”, while I was playing somewhere, I actually would be rich. The other line that would make me a pretty penny […]
The Top 5 Musical Lessons I Learned From The BSO Concertmaster
Whenever I tell someone that I am a professional jazz pianist, I always get asked the question, “Is your family musical?” I always chuckle to myself in my head. How do you begin to explain to someone that your father is the Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra? (Well that one is easy but it […]
