Author: paul abrahams
Essential Jazz repertoire, part 1.
As you build up your collection of essential jazz repertoire it’s likely that the bulk of your growing collection will consist of what is known as jazz standards. Although this term covers a wide range of material, it usually refers to well known songs played by jazz musicians but originally written for Broadway musicals by… Read more »
Learn Jazz standards part 3: Tunes in 3/4 time
Learn Jazz standards part 3:Tunes in 3/4 time I’m guessing that as you learn jazz standards most of your repertoire is in 4/4 time. However, 3/4 is just as important and fun to play. This time I’ve also given you the structure (form) of each tune. If you just want to start learning jazz standards and… Read more »
Building your Jazz Repertoire part 2: Latin
All these tunes in this jazz repertoire have a straight 8 feel rather than swing. The world of Latin American music is vast and would take a lifetime of study. What we are looking at here when building jazz repertoire is a small collection of jazz repertoire tunes with a Latin feel; songs that are likely… Read more »
Building a Jazz Repertoire part 1: The Blues
Building a Jazz Repertoire part 1:17 essential blues tunes. When building a jazz repertoire there’s no better place to start than with the blues. Notice that blues compositions are not confined to the jazz musicians that we associate with the genre. We have everyone here from Miles Davis and Charlie Parker to Mingus and Monk. The… Read more »
Are you ready to start jazz piano lessons?
I receive many enquiries from people who want to start jazz piano lessons but I take on only about 10% of them. So why do I turn away so many potential students? One of the first questions I ask is ‘Do you listen to jazz?’ and if the answer is ‘no’ then my interest quickly wanes.… Read more »
Great jazz albums part 4
Great jazz albums This is the final instalment of my list of great jazz albums. You can find the complete list in book 3 of my eBook Learn Jazz Piano. Click here for the link I begin with my favourite jazz musician of all time: John Coltrane, and to chose just one album is almost… Read more »
Recommended jazz albums
Recommended jazz albums – part 3 This is part 3 of my list of recommended jazz albums that I think you should be listening to. You can find the complete list in chapter 10 of Learn Jazz Piano book 3. I’m starting with another essential Bill Evans album and this time it’s live. I was fortunate enough to see him at… Read more »
Learn Jazz Piano by Listening
Learn Jazz Piano by Listening – part 2 Yes, you can learn jazz piano by listening, even if you don’t fully understand what is being played. This is part 2 of my list of essential recordings that I think you should be listening to. You can find the complete list in chapter 10 of Learn… Read more »
Studying jazz: Suggested listening part 1
Three ways of studying jazz are playing, studying and listening. Playing: I can only continue to encourage you to seek out other musicians. One of the best ways to study jazz piano is by playing with other people, whether with friends, with your teacher, at an evening class or summer school etc etc. Whatever gets… Read more »
Learn Bebop scales part 2
Here is Learn Bebop scales part 2. This is an extract from my book ‘How To Solo.’. It is the 4th in the series of my eBooks Learn Jazz Piano. You can purchase all books by clicking here. In my previous blog I illustrated the Bebop Dominant scale in C. Take another look before continuing. Fig… Read more »