How to Play Jazz Piano

When European music met African music in the early 20th century, it created something electrifying—jazz. Jazz is one of the more difficult styles of music to play, due in part to its dependence upon improvisation. However, playing jazz piano is a rewarding process that enhances your piano playing skills. Follow these steps to get started.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Start with the basics. Most jazz pianists start out with classical piano, so learn your scales and understand harmony. Learn all 12 major and 12 natural minor scales, plus the 12 major and minor triads. Knowing how to read music and understand music theory helps.

2. Understand chord symbols and chord progressions. Either invest in a good jazz chord book like one by John Mehegan or look at lead sheets at LearnJazzPiano.com. Practice all work in all 12 keys until it feels comfortable. Pay particular attention to the use of seventh chords and chord structures.

3. Practice one of the most common chord progressions heard in jazz: 2-5-1. Try it in the key of C, and then follow in all keys. Play the 2-5-1 chords with the left hand while playing the scale with right hand, then reverse.

4. Study the rhythm of jazz by reading and vocalizing them. A good feel for rhythm keeps your music sounding dynamic. Part of understanding rhythm involves learning to keep the beat, with either foot tapping or a metronome.

5. Play a jazz tune with the skills you've picked up so far. Start by learning the melody, then the bass. And then put it all together.

6. Listen to jazz in its various forms, particularly great jazz pianists like Keith Jarret. Listening trains you to detect differences in rhythm and melody. Find jazz on the radio, recordings and live performances. And then try to play what you hear.

7. Get comfortable with improvisation, as it is a big part of jazz. Play without reading your music, and realize that you're going to hit some clunkers. Try to use the piano to create emotions. Another fun exercise is "follow the leader," where one person plays a few bars and the other tries to imitate it.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice. Practice. Practice. There are no shortcuts to learning jazz piano, and the best teacher is practice.
• Understand that there are no set ways to learn jazz piano, and in fact, learning jazz is a very individual process. If you're practicing enough and still not improving, experiment with alternative methods.

Resources

• Learn more about jazz online from Learn Jazz Piano.