Jazz Piano
How difficult is it to learn jazz piano with a classical background?
i have been playing classical for years and now i’m interested in jazz piano.
With the background of a classical musician you are well on your way. The late, great Oscar Peterson comes to mind as someone with classical training. Listen to him endlessly.
The biggest problem I see with some classical musicians who try to play jazz can best be described by a line from a play about jazz musicians by Warren Leight called “Side Man”:
“They couldn’t swing if you hung them.”
Its very important to swing and to play with feel; much more important than showing off chops or how much sophisticated harmony you may or may not know. I’m sure you know theory, you know harmony, probably more so than I and I’ve been playing jazz guitar since I was 18 and an instrument since I was 7.
Immerse yourself in the genre so that you really become familiar with it and how it feels. Get used to not relying on the sheet music; in most jazz its just a rough sketch for the improvisation. I would learn to play a lot of standards from fake books (or as we call it “The Real Book”) so you just have the most basic chart to go from.
Listen to these folks:
Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Bill Evans (the pianist not the horn player), McCoy Tyner, Elmo Hope, Phineas Newborn Jr., Erroll Garner, Thelonious Monk (AN ABSOLUTE MUST), George Shearing, Bennie Green, Wynton Kelly, Paul Bley
That ought to get you started. Those are all pianists I mentioned; listen to other jazz greats as well.
You are playing the granddaddy of instruments and the one with the most harmonic power in any jazz group.
Best of luck to you.
EDIT: “Man Of Gold” does a great job of summing it up in a couple of quick sentences so I gave him a thumbs up. You can take everything you’ve been told here and put it under that umbrella and you’ll be on your way!
Jazz Piano improvisation
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