3 Uncommon Tips For Practicing Jazz Piano Technique Posted on by Steve Nixon jazz piano techniqueWhen most of us think about practicing jazz piano technique we usually think of the same old boring exercises that piano players have been p laying for countless years. Things like scale practice, arpeggios, Hanon exercises, and playing classical pi eces. Now, to be fair these technique studies can be useful in certain ways but they d on't seem to be a direct path to help us become better jazz musicians. So, what technique exercises and/or studies can we do to specifically improve ou r jazz playing? A Funny But Sad Story By the time I was 18 I knew I wanted to be a jazz musician. I really wanted to learn how to play well! So, I practiced lots and lots. I used to practice my classical pieces and hanon exercises for hours everyday. W ow, could I burn at Hanon! The more I practiced Hanon the faster I got at them. Sadly, I couldn't solo that well but boy could I play Hanon :) My fingers could move fast but when I would jam with other musicians nothing cam e out right. I left many jam sessions feeling frustrated. Playing Hanon and 4 octave scales up an down everyday just didn't lead to great ja zz. I left a jam session so frustrated one night that I knew I had to immediate ly change the way I practiced. That was my rude awakening :) Just practicing technique in the traditional classical way won't lead you to your goal of becoming a better jazz musician. So, what can jazz musicians practice to not only improve our overall technical c ontrol of the instrument but also lead directly to us playing better jazz? Fortunately, I've had 15 years more experience , countless hours of practice, and over a 1700 gigs under my belt since then. So, I'd like to share with you the discoveries I've made since then. Here are 3 imp roved ways of practicing jazz piano technique. A Jazz Piano Technical Routine 1. How I Practice Scales When I warmup I'll usually warm up with scales but I'll do it in a very different wa y than what is traditionally done. Playing scales in straight eighth notes or sixteenth 4 octaves up and down the p iano with a metronome on every beat is not very jazzy! Since I mostly perform jazz and blues I practice my scales almost exclusively wi th a swing feel. In order for me to make sure my swing feel is really happening I'll usually set th e metronome to click just on beats 2 and 4. This emulates a high-hat and the 2 and 4 accent pattern you'll hear in a jazz rhyt hm section.

I also will put on the great jam track program Band-in-A-Box and play my scales swinging over a I-VI-II-V-I chord progression in each key. It's all about being musical and simulating real musical situations. In this case it's playing behind a groove and a chord progression. 2. Jazz Transcriptionsyes. Hanon.no. Instead of playing Hanon exercises or other etudes I'll practice what I consider t he real jazz etudes. Specifically, I spend my time trying to execute transcripti ons of challenging solos I've personally transcribed. This in itself can be a phenomenal resource for learning technique. Not only am I studying jazz licks, jazz phrasing, but I'm also being challenged on the technic al level. It probably wouldn't be musically appropriate for me to play a scale run that Beet hoven composed on my next gig but I can definitely throw in a technically challe nging Chick Corea or Bill Evans lick that I've been practicing. (If you need a good jazz transcription to get you started you can check out this Barry Harris Transcription or this Sonny Clark jazz piano transcription) 3. Jazz Licks = Piano Tricks :) Another immensely useful things I do for developing my piano technique is practi cing licks. When I practice licks I make sure to practice them in all 12 keys and try to spe ed up the tempos while maintaining a good rhythmic feel. This is a goldmine for improving my technique. As I'm sure you noticed in your own playing it's usually easier to play certain lick s in some keys more than others. Spending the time to figure out why that is ha s payed off for me in a very deep way! I ask myself what I can do technically to realize an idea just as well perhaps i n Ab as in the key of C or the key of D? For example: Do I need to curl my fifth finger more? Is my pinkie sticking up more than it should? Do I need to move my thumb under more quickly on a crossover? Do I have to much weight one side of my hand and not the other? When I move my thumb under does it create an accent where there shouldn't be? All these things can effect your swing feel. Learning how to navigate different keys has made my finger motions much more efficient. I know that I wasted alot of time early in my jazz studies practicing technique incorrectly. 5 More Resources For You To Explore If you want to some lick samples to explore check out this Charlie Parker lick l esson or this Red Garland lick lesson. jazz piano lesson DVDOf course I also created a whole DVD that studies the jazz vocabulary and licks of 9 jazz piano masters called the Jazz Masters Method DVD. With over 1,000 copies sold in a little over a year people seem to enjoy it quit

e a bit! :) Jazz Piano Arrangements And More Chords If you want to your jazz piano arrangements to sound more authentic you can chec k out this sample jazz piano arrangement lesson. If you prefer the online route and want immediate access to 5 jazz piano librari es you should you out the online Premium Jazz Lessons Elite Membership Course. jazz piano lessons online It's constantly updating every month with hours of brand new lessons. It's like havi ng a jazz piano teacher accessible to you 24 hours a day. In many ways because every lesson is fully notated and you can watch and rewind the HD videos as much as you like it's even better. :) Now It's Your Turn How about you? How do you practice your technique? (I'd like to thank a reader of this site by the name of Ken for the inspiration to write this article.)