Playing Jazz Piano By Ear

If you enjoy listening to some great jazz music while hanging out at your favorite coffee shop or relaxing at the beach, you might want to investigate jazz piano tutorials as an option. Your first stop may be the internet, or a local book store to find out as much information as you can about playing the jazz piano by ear. Who are the greatest jazz piano players of all time, and what types of works are considered standards in jazz piano repertoire? Listen to recordings of jazz piano playing from a wide variety of different musicians and decide if this is the style of music that you want to spend your time practicing and mastering.

Learning to play jazz on the piano requires the same amount of dedicated practice time that learning any other style of music will. You will need to devote a block of time several days a week (if not daily!) to improving your skill on the piano. Because playing the piano is a skill just like throwing a football or hitting a golf ball, daily practice is critical to building your coordination and playing ability. Your piano teacher can help you establish a practice routine that will produce outstanding results if you are patient and stick with it!

Jazz music has its own set of rules, symbols, and techniques that make it a unique musical style. You will need to learn not only the physical parts of how to make the piano play jazz music, but you will also need an in depth understanding of the history and theory of jazz. There are hundreds of books written on these topics. Find one that you like and learn as much as you can about how jazz began, and what makes jazz music sound the characteristic way that it does. As you are taking jazz piano lessons by ear, try also to attend as many live performances of jazz music as you can. Watch the piano player and pay attention to the way that he plays the music, and his role within the jazz group. A jazz piano player has a distinct musical job to do, and the more you learn about that job, the better a musician you will become, especially in ensemble situations.

If you pay attention to your instructor during your piano lessons and keep up with your practice schedule, you will become the jazz musician that you dream of being.