Transposition is an essential rock piano skill, and a skill that every musician should practice. Transposition refers to the ability to quickly diagnose a piece of music (i.e., a melody, a chord progression) and play it in a different key. Why might transposition be so essential to a musician? Consider a very frequent, real-music experience: […]
Learning some funk scales is a great way to start practicing improvisation. And the great thing about funk tunes is that they often use only a few repetitive chords, which means you can generate a lot of improvisation material from just a few scales. In this article we'll focus on three funk scales that you […]
In Part 1 of this "Learn to Play Stride Piano" article we focused on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of our stride piano approaches. These phases were meant to introduce one element of stride piano at a time in a way that gradually increases the level of difficulty. By working through these phases, you can […]
The tritone is a very common device used in the jazz and Great American Songbook repertoire. It's responsible for some of those very interesting, authentic jazz harmony sounds that sets jazz apart from other genres. But although the tritone (also known as the tritone substitution) is common in jazz and cocktail music it is often […]
In this article we'll be taking a look at three must-have latin piano grooves. The great thing about these latin piano grooves is that they're fairly easy and illustrate quite nicely how much music you can make using simple chord structures and some syncopated rhythms. If you like latin piano grooves and want even more […]
In this article we're going to challenge your understanding of jazz arranging techniques. We'll start off with a really common chord progression and then tweak it step-by-step, sprinkling in some of the common jazz arranging tricks of the pros. The chord progression is fairly simple - it's from the Bobby Hebb tune "Sunny," which has […]
The term "upper extensions" has a very important meaning to musicians, particularly to jazz players. This is because "upper extensions" refers to a jazz theory concept that is critical to jazz improvisation and (for piano players) jazz comping. Sometimes it's not the concept of upper extensions that is confusing but rather the terminology. It might […]
In this article we'll be discussing a classic Stevie Wonder track, "Isn't She Lovely." We'll take a look and a listen to this tune and cover some of the basic keyboard necessities to get started playing this song. One of the things about Stevie Wonder tunes that makes them ripe for cover by jazz artists […]
In this article we'll take a look at a great jazz standard, "The Days of Wine and Roses," and talk about advanced jazz arranging concepts. We're going to squeeze out so much information in just 4 measures that your brain might explode from the incredible amount of knowledge you'll gain. Days of Wine and Roses: […]
Blues piano comping is the topic of this article, in which we'll be discussing 10 "do's and don'ts." Of course, these 10 tips can easily apply to comping in any genre - blues, jazz, rock, pop, etc. Being able to implement these tips in your playing is usually the difference between inexperienced players and true […]
In this article we'll be discussing a few improvisation tips for pianists. These are the kinds of tips that are taught in music schools and practiced by the pros, so the good news is that you're getting some cold-hard professional-grade knowledge. The challenge is that these improvisation tips are meant for long-term use and study, […]
In this article we'll be featuring some piano licks from "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers, one of the greatest rock piano tunes - and rock piano solos - of all-time. One of the things that makes this solo so popular and copied by piano players is simply the way it sounds - it's got that […]