Jazz Piano School Ep 33 : Beginning Ear Training

Ear training is highly sought after in jazz because much of the music involves using our ear to hear progressions, licks, movements and much more. The better ear you have, the better player you will be. So how exactly do we go about improving our ear and helping it to hear movements and notes better. In this podcast that’s exactly what I will tell you.
Wynton Kelly – This I Dig Of You (From the album “Soul Station”) [LOTW #56]

Here is a great break to have up your sleeve when you got the first solo. Wynton stays on Bb diatonic but it’s how he uses his approaches to certain chord tones that makes all the difference. The first part of this line is targeted towards the F, the fifth of Bb at the end […]
Wynton Kelly – Kelly Blue (Pt. 1, From the album “Kelly Blue”) [LOTW #55]

Another great one by Wynton Kelly. I just can’t get enough of him. Besides his melodic content, his swing and rhythmic feel is top notch. If there is any groove for you to mimic with your eighth notes, it is definitely Wynton Kelly’s. This line is a two measure approach into the 2 chord of […]
Wynton Kelly – Freddie Freeloader (From the album “Kind Of Blue”) [LOTW #54]

Very famous lick here by Wynton Kelly, coming off the track “Freddie Freeloader”, recorded on the album Kind Of Blue. The simplicity of this line is what really makes it great. He isn’t doing anything fancy here, just focusing on swingin’ his butt off! In the first measure he starts on the fifth of the […]
Jazz Piano School Ep 32 : Rootless Voicings Part 2

So structure 2 is simply an inversion of rootless voicings structure 1. We now start on the 7th degree of our minor chord instead of the 3rd. Once you studied structure 1, structure #2 should come just as easily.
Blues Series – Part 8 (Last 4 Measures) [LOTW #53]

All blues scale in this one. The rhythms are the tricky part here. Lots of hand lifts into trills and fast approaches. Work on the line without the trills first. Then once you have got the hang of it, work on each trill individually. Points for practicing this lick: Blues scale can be fun to […]
Learn Jazz Piano Online – 10 Reasons Online Is The Better Choice

Technology is booming. Everything you could possibly want to learn is now online. With a tap of a couple buttons on your phone you can have instant access to videos, articles, tips and guides that will teach you anything you want. In this case jazz piano. Can you actually learn jazz piano online? Most of […]
Blues Series – Part 7 [LOTW #52]

This is a fun little two bar line that just uses the major 6th blues scale and some grace note slides. Pay attention to how the slides effect the texture of the blues scale. They add tons of flavor to the regularly mundane blues scale that everyone gets sick of. This is how we begin […]
Jazz Piano School Ep 31 : Rootless Voicings Part 1

Alright, you’ve waited long enough for some pro jazz voicings! Well here they are. Rootless voicings will be your key to advanced jazz voicings with both one and two hands in the future. These are your transport system to playing amazing sounding jazz chords. Study these hards because they will only help open more doors to come. There are two different structure and in this episode I will be going over structure 1.
Blues Series – Part 6 (5-8) [LOTW #51]

Technically this line is a little challenging due to the back and forth motion. It will really help you get used to movement back and forth if you work on it. I took a most of the same notes from the recent licks and applied it to this but changed to a Bo7 chord which […]