Improve Your Piano Touch with These 2 Simple Practice Tips

Importance of Touch and Sensitivity in Jazz Piano

In this podcast episode, Sterling discusses the importance of touch and sensitivity in jazz piano playing. While jazz education often focuses on the 'what' - chords, scales, and improv techniques, the 'how' - touch and expression - is equally crucial. Sterling highlights the influence of classical training on touch, using the example of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. However, he also emphasizes that classical training is not necessary to develop a good touch and expressiveness on the piano. Sterling provides a simple exercise to improve touch awareness, involving rubbing hands together to generate heat, feeling the energy flow, and paying attention to the fingertips' sensitivity. He then suggests incorporating a variety of dynamics and articulations (such as legato, staccato, and marcato) into scale warm-ups to enhance touch and expressivity during improvisation.