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 is “I wish I could learn enough so I could sit down at any piano and just play.” You know what I tell these people? I could teach you enough to do this in 1 hour.
The majority of these people end up walking off chuckling, thinking that I’m blowing smoke up their a**.
The truth is, I can teach anyone enough in one hour to be able to sit down and start playing any jazz/or pop standard they could ever want.
Anything from Miles Davis or George Gerswin to Miley Cirus, Lady Gaga, or Adele. Will someone have enough to discipline to work on the information? This is where most people seem to fall off the wagon.
Just imagine though for a second that you simply spend 10 min a day working on the information I have showed you. Within a week you actually could sit down at a piano and accomplish your goal!
Learning jazz piano is that easy. Let me tell you a little about what you need to know.
Let’s say you do happen to have a year or so of lessons under your belt from a classical piano teacher that you have probably forgotten about or who has passed away. You would have no problem playing chords in your left hand and a simple melody in your right hand.
This is all you need in order to play a jazz or a pop song. I bet it would be hard to believe me if I told you it gets easier. You can learn simple chord changes to a song that allow you to hear the harmonies without the melody.
The difficulty of this steps is comparable to making scrambled eggs.
Are you interested? I hope so, cause it really is that easy.
So you’re probably wondering what the exact steps are that you would need to take in order to get started. Or, I have never taken a piano lesson in my life where would I even begin?
Well simply continued reading for the strenuous step by step process.
- Step 1: Learn the notes on the piano.
- Step 2 : Learn the proper hand and body position to play the piano.
- Step 3 : Learn the notes that make up different chords.
- Step 4 : You’re done.
Did I mention each of these steps take 5 minutes each? All you need to do is attempt the learning process for 15 minutes and I guarantee you will accomplish your age old goal of sitting down at ANY piano and playing songs, WITHOUT music. If that doesn’t sound like heaven to you, I don’t know what does.
I’m sure I’ve exhausted my point by now that learning jazz piano is easy than most things.
I love helping people realize that anyone can actually play the piano well! All it takes is a little help. Having music as an outlet for self expressions is one the great gifts that we as musicians have available to us.
I save hundreds of dollars by simply playing piano instead of seeing a therapist…that was a joke.
On a serious note, what are you willing to sacrifice to play your favorite song? Is ten minutes a day too much? Give your goal a chance and just show up.
In the weeks ahead, I will be writing posts with detailed technical instruction that beginners can use to start playing jazz and pop in less than a week. Happy practicing!
Still feel like your jazz piano practice is scattered?
Most jazz pianists aren’t stuck because they’re not practicing enough — they’re stuck because they’re working on too many disconnected things at once.
The Proficient Jazz Pianist gives you a clear, step-by-step path for mastering the three skills that actually matter:
comping, solo piano, and improvisation.
Instead of random exercises, you’ll know exactly what to practice, in what order, and how it all fits together musically.
Ready for a real path forward?
3 Responses
BS low – ratilnaoity high! Really good answer!
It’s a joy to find someone who can think like that
Hey, that’s powerful. Thanks for the news.