Jam Session 101: 22 Dos & Don’ts

A jam session can be a great way to gain performing experience. Plus, if you play it right, you’ll be introduced to other musicians who may want to work with you someday! Ready to go onstage, meet and play music with others?

Be aware that certain sit-in behaviors can influence your reputation in a positive way, while others may be highly off-putting. Of course, sounding good on your instrument matters, but it’s not the entire story!

Learn the unspoken (yet understood by the pros) protocol tips for sitting in: Continue reading “Jam Session 101: 22 Dos & Don’ts”

Art Of A Beautiful Ballad: Emmet Cohen Plays “Where Is Love?”

Amazing jazz pianist Emmet Cohen knows how to make the piano sing during  the tune “Where Is Love?” from Oliver! Let’s compare his 6 live performances of this beautiful ballad, to see what makes his takes so lovely.

Here’s my simpler chart of “Where Is Love” with lyrics (this may be important to help a ballad’s interpretation) in Emmet’s chosen key of A Major:    Continue reading “Art Of A Beautiful Ballad: Emmet Cohen Plays “Where Is Love?””

On a Scale of 1 to 1000: How Many Do You Need To Know?

Disappointed Don sat on my piano bench, looking perplexed as to why he couldn’t manage to take a decent solo on C Jam Blues. “Should I be learning the modes of the ascending melodic minor scales in all 12 keys – is that what I need to do?” he asked. Truth be told, after several lessons my sweet and studious adult student still struggled with swinging the 2 note melody to the tune. Don poured over every jazz piano and music theory book he could get his hands on, took weekly lessons from myself plus another piano teacher in town, attended jazz workshops/adult music camps whenever he could. I think he had too many masters to try to follow, too much theory to sort out, too many scales buzzing around inside his head, which in turn caused his fingers to freeze at the keys! (It didn’t help that he spent more time reading a stack of books about jazz instead of actually practicing the piano.) Continue reading “On a Scale of 1 to 1000: How Many Do You Need To Know?”

Big Ideas For Small Hands: How To Write a Full Sounding Piano Arrangement

Let’s take the lovely ballad Skylark (by Johnny Mercer/Hoagy Carmichael), and learn how to enhance a ballad’s melody with beautiful chords and a foundational bass line. In this video observe how I took a chart from an old fakebook and updated some chords more to my liking, a process called reharmonization:


Continue reading “Big Ideas For Small Hands: How To Write a Full Sounding Piano Arrangement”

3 Easy Tips: Playing With Minor Chords

Bored with that minor chord? Don’t be! Making music in minor keys can be quite exhilarating with these 3 fun and easy tips. All you need is a bit of time to move around on a minor chord – then you can add colorful sounds to your arrangement.

The next 3 videos explain everything to start exploring the ideas. Apply the following tips to a tune of your choice in a minor key, or choose a piece which has a minor chord lasting 2 bars or longer. You may also elect to work on the many song suggestions demonstrated in the body of these tutorial videos: Continue reading “3 Easy Tips: Playing With Minor Chords”