3 Note Voicings In 3 Easy Steps Take 2! (Ep: 208)
Jazz Piano School 3.0 Launch and OPEN Enrollment Date is here!!! Mark you calendars folks! Monday, September 28th at 6am eastern! Check your inbox for more details.
Lots of people dive into all sorts of voicings. Myself included. What are 3 note voicings? What do they do? Why are they important? When should you learn them? How do you integrate them and use them? I’ll answer all these questions in this podcast to give you all the necessary information you need.
A Colorful Solo Break by Hampton Hawes on “Just One of Those Things” (LOTW #197)
For this week’s lick of the week, we’re taking things over to the West coast! Players such as Hampton Hawes, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, and Bob Brookmeyer were known for their “Cool Jazz” sound. That did not mean, however, that they couldn’t burn when it came down to it! Check out this great solo break […]
Bebop Secrets: How to Use Enclosures (Ep: 207)
Have you been looking for a way to take your Bebop jazz playing to the next level? In this edition of Bebop Secrets, we will discuss how to use Enclosures in your jazz improvisation. Great pianists from Bud Powell to Oscar Peterson utilize Enclosures in their playing, and you can too with the help of these exercises!
Jaki Byard’s Major Attitude on “Lullabye of Birdland” (LOTW #196)
Jaki Byard is known for his longtime tenure in Charles Mingus’s band. His spontaneous nature and animated solos brought an X-factor to that group, but also shines through on his own solo records. On his record “Hi-Fly,” (1962) check out the attitude he throws in over the classic standard “Lullabye of Birland.” CLICK HERE TO […]
How to Bring Out the Melody (Ep: 206)
In the classical piano world, it’s all about how you play the notes. Players like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett applied classical voicing techniques to jazz piano to create beautiful sounding melodies. You can do the same with these exercises!
There are no practice materials for this week’s podcast. Leave us a comment or question in the section below!
Listen to Elmo Hope’s Jazz Piano (LOTW #195)
Elmo Hope is one of the most slept on jazz pianists in his generation. He did not achieve as much fame as some of his colleagues, but nevertheless he played on many great recordings including this session with famous trumpeter Clifford Brown. Check out this lick, you’ll want to hear more of Elmo’s playing! https://youtu.be/qL4aWm0wRQU […]
How to Play the Piano like an Orchestra
Do you ever feel tired of using the same techniques in your piano playing over and over? This week’s podcast lesson can help you shake things up by thinking of the piano as an orchestra. Great players such as Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, and Roland Hanna all had this technique in common: they played the piano like an arranger would write for an orchestra! Check out these techniques, and you might find some to incorporate into your own playing.
Piano Blues Riffs: Practice Tips and Exercises
You can’t get very far without actually practicing. That’s why in this podcast episode, we take a “Practice Workout” directly from inside our members area and give it to you on practicing blues riffs! It’s a great one and I know you’ll love it!
How to Play Bossa Nova Piano Accompaniment (Ep: 203)
When playing a bossa nova, what is the best way to accompany a solo instrument in a latin jazz style? Look no further, this video will give you a clear step-by-step tutorial on how to do it right! Follow along as we explore the music of A. C. Jobim in this week’s podcast.
Improvising Polyphonic Lines (Ep: 202)
We pianists often imitate the voice or horn when improvising, but in this lesson we explore the capabilities unique to the piano. Playing lines with 1, 2, and all the way up to 6 notes at a time! Once you start exploring this area of improvisation, a whole new world of concepts will open up to you.
