Learning jazz piano online?

March 23, 2020 10:21 AM

Since it looks like there's going to be lot of Quality Indoor Time in the near future, I'm looking for online resources for playing jazz piano.

I'm not starting from scratch: I've played piano for decades, but only in a classical-sheet-music sense. I've also studied basic jazz theory on the guitar. But I've never put the two together, and now seems as good a time as any. Any good Youtube/online university courses (like this)? Ideally free, of course, but I'd be wiling to pay for something decent. Mostly need someone to tell me: "practice this, this often."

posted by gottabefunky to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

I have been using 8notes.com to pick up my trumpet again after many many years of not playing. I only ever played classical style stuff, as I never felt comfortable improvising, but I'm taking the opportunity not just to re-learn but to expand, and I'm finding one of the cool things about that site is in a give piece for the improv section it will give a list of notes to noodle around on.

Access to much of the written music is free, and also without paying you can have the computer play a midi file of pieces up to three times per day, more for a paid subscription. It's also free to print page-by-page, then with the paid version you can download whole pdfs so you can print a whole song with one button click rather than one per page. I'm so far doing just fine with the free version.

The piano jazz section looks like it focuses a lot on learning blues riffs rather than the freestyle noodling I was referring to above (though building a vocabulary of riffs is probably just as or more helpful!). It also does not as far as I know offer as structured a training program as you are asking for.
posted by solotoro at 10:35 AM on March 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

I took a class and lessons (and never got very good) so I don't know many resources but on the "practice this" tip, as you may already know, a place to start that will serve you well throughout is just being able to play ii-V-I progressions in every key until you don't have to think about it.

Oh, here, this book might be useful to you. It starts from the above and moves rapidly ahead and is available digitally, I think.
posted by less of course at 10:42 AM on March 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Non-free: Open Studio. They do have some free content on Youtube.

Youtube: I am not a piano player, but I watch a lot of music instructional stuff, and these piano channels look pretty legit to me. In no particular order:

Aimee Nolte
Jeff Schneider
Kent Hewitt
posted by thelonius at 2:30 PM on March 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

Oh on the topic of books: The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine is supposed to be excellent. There is a little sample content at that page.
posted by thelonius at 2:32 PM on March 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Seconding Kent Hewitt on youtube.
posted by niicholas at 8:06 PM on March 23, 2020

Open Studio is outstanding, though it isn't cheap (and I don't blame them!).
posted by dfan at 7:11 AM on March 24, 2020 [1 favorite]