If you’re looking for a good digital piano with fully weighted keys, I strongly recommend the Kawai ES‑120 or the Kawai ES‑60. Both have a good feel and are great long‑term instruments for students. I use the Kawai ES‑120 myself and think it’s an excellent choice for anyone. Call D.C. Piano in Berkeley and ask…Continue reading What keyboard to get
Author: harry
Practicing a jazz tune
Arpeggiate every chord in all inversions. Play the modes relative to each chord, including possible ‘alternate’ modes. – Improvise on chord tones only. – Add scale/mode tones as *passing* notes (always resolve on chord notes) – Add chromatic passing notes in the same fashion. – Play the ‘big scale’. This means, play a continuous stream…Continue reading Practicing a jazz tune
Transitioning from classical piano to jazz piano
Many classically trained pianists are interested in learning jazz piano. Classical training will help physically but not a lot mentally. Your ability to play notes, chords, runs, etc, will all be very useful and put you ahead of the learning curve. That said, jazz is mentally a fundamentally different way of approaching music. Some classical people…Continue reading Transitioning from classical piano to jazz piano
Learning Jazz Piano: The Process
What skills are required to play jazz piano? What should you expect to learn from a jazz piano teacher? Improvisation: The element that defines jazz, improvisation is in large part about self-confidence, risk-taking, and the will to explore and experiment. But jazz piano improvisation also involves tools that can be studied both theoretically and practically:…Continue reading Learning Jazz Piano: The Process
Relaxed Playing
If you are not using the proper technique you will get sore. The entire playing mechanism which includes the wrists, forearms, elbows and the shoulders should be relaxed. It should never be tense. How do you relax while playing a difficult piece in mind,say a Liszt Etude? One answer to that would be a sigh.…Continue reading Relaxed Playing
Jazz theory of improvisation
Jazz theory of improvising over melody, chords and structure. Some improv styles may combine elements of all three areas Improvise on the Melody Paraphrasing Adding to the Melody Changing the Rhythmic content Ornamenting or Embellishing Improvising on the Harmony Harmonic Generalization Tonic Triad Diatonic Major Blues Scale Minor Blues Scale Cliches & Quotes Harmonically Specific…Continue reading Jazz theory of improvisation
Swing Analyzed
From: New Scientist vol 168 issue 2270 – 23 December 2000, page 48 “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. But what is swing? Whenthe musical West Side Story opened in London in 1958 the producers had a real problem. They didn’t know who should occupy the drum stool. Leonard Bernstein’s score was…Continue reading Swing Analyzed
Performance Anxiety
Different people respond differently to stress as we all know. Some thrive while others worry, deflate… One thing we all have in common however, is the we all need to breath to stay alive. As simple as it may sound, ‘don’t forget to breath’! You have probably heard it from lots of people. Here are…Continue reading Performance Anxiety
Sight Reading
Don’t look at your hands: keep your eyes on the music. If you have to look, glance with your eyes, but don’t move your head. Learn to look one beat ahead: quickly memorize each beat before you play it so that you can already be looking ahead while you are playing. As you get better,…Continue reading Sight Reading
Melody Phrasing For Piano
One of the goals during piano lessons is to discover and illuminate the hidden threads of musical structure in pieces. Adjustments are a matter of discovering the emotional content of each phrase, carefully shaping the dynamic while following the logical progression of a line—becoming aware of where it started and where it ended. Thus what…Continue reading Melody Phrasing For Piano