Jazz Piano School

Ballads can be tricky to play over because they are going so slllowwwlllyyy. What do you do to spice things up? Listen to the way Wynton Marsalis phrases his lines in this ballad recording I took when I was in college at the New School University. It's an amazing texture to have available to use. Instead of holding out long lines with his horn, he actually plays very simply short lines and ends them with a short articulation. It's as if he is talking through his trumpet and putting periods at the end of all of his lines. I hope you enjoy this. If you have questions please feel free to comment and I will do my best to answer. Enjoy!

Major scales are extremely important to learn and heres why! They help with your movement around the piano. They will help increase your harmony and theory knowledge. You will be able to grasp improvisation concepts much easier. You need them for practically all future steps in this podcast! Now if that last reason isn't good enough to learn them then I don't know what is. Goodluck and happy practicing!

Eric Harland gives a masterclass at Next Gen Jazz Festival in Monterey, 2014. He offers some great insight and knowledge! Enjoy!

This is a great podcast for beginners, to get started on 5 very easy steps today! With these steps you'll have a plan to begin your learning. The best part is they're very easy so you can begin today if you'd like. I know starting is the hardest part so I really wanted to give everyone simple, simple steps to get started so you didn't feel overwhelmed. The first step is by far the easiest and fun! The next steps get slightly more challenging, and by challenging I mean the amount of effort it takes to get off the couch and walk to the kitchen. So goodluck, and as always post questions if you have any!

After a months of nit picking details on the website, I've finally moved into launching the podcast. This will a completely new education facet into learning jazz not to mention extremely accessible. I have always listened to podcast while driving to teach, and I thought it would be great if there was a jazz piano podcast. I have a lot in mind for the podcast, including live interviews and demonstrations with my previous teachers, live rehearsal and gig recordings, tips on all topics and much more. If there is anything you would like to specifically hear or have questions, please ask them in in the comments section or email me at podcast@jazzpianoschool.com. Enjoy!