Jazz Piano School

I had an epiphany at the end of 2021. It was time to change some things. For the better! I want to connect with you. I want to help you MORE! In different ways. Here's how.

"Plopping and Dropping" left hand voicings can only get you so far. Developing architectural left hand chord lines creates a beautiful backdrop for your right hand to improvise over. In today's podcast we will break down some key techniques to creating your own left hand chord lines!

Block chords are one of jazz piano's unsolved mysteries. This style made famous by George Shearing and Nat King Cole was once ubiquitously used by jazz pianists of the 20th century who came after them. In part two of this jazz piano tutorial, we will cover two more advanced strategies to integrate this style of playing into your repertoire.

Most the time we feel like we're inadequate players. That's rough, and I know because I've been there. But the truth is, the tools we currently possess are usually more than enough to make and play beautiful jazz piano music. You just need 3, very simple, yet powerful things. In this episode I'll share with you what those 3 things are and how they will instantly bring your playing to life, no matter WHAT level you are! Enjoy!

Block chords are one of jazz piano's unsolved mysteries. This style made famous by George Shearing and Nat King Cole was once ubiquitously used by jazz pianists of the 20th century who came after them. In this jazz piano tutorial, learn how to use this technique in your improvising, comping, and more!

Setting restraints forces us to play things we never would have thought of on our own. By limiting our choices, we actually drastically increase the amount of creativity in our lines. Restraints help us to bypass muscle memory and create new pathways through the harmonies. Check out these 3 strategies to implement restraints into your practice routine and jumpstart your creativity!

In honor of Thelonious Monk's 103rd birthday this October, we will be taking a deep dive into his musical style in this podcast lesson! Follow along as we explore two Monk compositions and examine what makes them tick. By the end of this lesson, you will have a new appreciation for Monk's style and discover new ways to incorporate it into your own personal creativity!

It's hard to break out of habits. A lot of times we play on autopilot but guess what, in order to make progress we need to STOP. We need to pay close attention to what we're playing and analyze it. Then after we're AWARE of what we're doing, we need to play the opposite texture. This episode will show you an easy process you can use to instantly break out of your improv norms.

In honor of our 200th Lick of the Week, we are bringing you Cory Henry's famous Lingus solo! The solo from Snarky Puppy's "Lingus" off of the album We Like it Here (2014) has gone down in history as one of the best. Want to know what makes this solo so great? Check out this solo analysis in this week's podcast to find out!

Jazz Piano School 3.0 including upgraded features, content, design annd more is being released on Monday, September 28th at 6am EST during our Open Enrollment period for new students. We've been closed for 11 months now and this release party is sure to be a doozy! Until then, dig into this week's podcast on filling space with these 3 easy strategies. I dive deep here in to specifics. The when, the how, the why. This should be a great podcast lesson for you that is a must listen for every student. Enjoy!