Jazz 101
Free Block Chord Piano Lesson
Do you want to learn more about block chords? Are you looking for an easy jazz piano lesson on the locked hand chord style? You’ve come to the right place! In today’s lesson we’re going to take a look at a style of block chords made famous by George Shearing and Ahmad Jamal (video tutorial,…
Read MoreStraight No Chaser Jazz Piano Tutorial (Thelonious Monk Lesson)
If you love the sound of Thelonious Monk’s music than you’ll have a tun of fun with this sample jazz piano tutorial. In today’s lesson we’re going to learn the famous Monk tune Straight No Chaser. Straight No Chaser is a jazz blues tune written in the year 1951. It’s become one of the most famous jazz…
Read MoreJazz Piano Practice Strategy Guide Part 1
If you’re reading this lesson there’s no question that you have a love, a passion, and a commitment to learning jazz piano. You and I have a lot in common in that way! Part of my job, as an online jazz piano teacher, is to help keep you motivated and focused on your musical goals. Now, I…
Read MorePremium Jazz Lessons Reviews And Testimonials
The reviews are in for The Premium Jazz Lessons Elite Membership Course. I am completely humbled and incredibly honored that so many people wrote to me and shared their thoughts and feelings on the course. The cool part is these are just a small sample of the reviews! There are hundreds more of them when…
Read More10 Most Popular Jazz Piano Tutorials Of 2013
I thought it would be fun and useful to share a list of the most popular jazz piano tutorials that were published on this site in 2013. I was able to go back and look at my analytics for FJL and see what pages people visited the most. It’s a pretty cool feature and the…
Read MoreJazz Piano Voicings Video Tutorial – 4 Extremely Useful Chords
If you want to learn jazz piano voicings this will be a great starter lesson for you. By increasing your understanding of jazz piano harmony, chord progressions, jazz piano voicings, and chord voicings as an overall whole you’ll open up an incredible world of self expression. Creative Jazz Piano Is Like Creative Cooking Sometimes I…
Read MoreHerbie Hancock Chords – Free Video Tutorial
Would you like to learn some Herbie Hancock chords? Do you love the incredible artistry and soul of Herbie Hancock’s music? Well, to celebrate the launch of my new Premium Membership course I created a special free Herbie Hancock lesson for you. I am truly humbled by the love and support I’ve received and continue to…
Read MoreYour Free Guide To 15 Jazz Piano Legends
If you truly want to learn jazz piano you have to listen to the right people. As your online jazz piano teacher, I want to make sure you are listening to and learning from some of the best jazz pianists who’ve ever lived. What we listen to definitely influences what comes out of our ears…
Read MoreJazz Rhythm – How To Practice This Important Skill
Would you like to improve your jazz rhythm? Today we’re going to talk about one of the most fundamental skills that you need to succeed as a jazz piano player. Even though this skill is incredibly important I’m always amazed by how many jazz students seem so ready to blissfully ignore it inside the practice…
Read More4 Jazz Turnarounds You Need To Know
If you want to successfully learn jazz piano it is extremely important that you spent time learning jazz tunes and studying common jazz chord progressions. The more knowledge of chord progressions you have the easier it will be for you to learn jazz songs efficiently and quickly grow your repertoire. We all want to be…
Read More3 Jazz Education Questions Revealed With A Video Response
The goal for this site has been to always provide a 21st century jazz education experience. 🙂 So, in today’s lesson I thought it would be fun to create a personalized video response to some of the questions I’ve received through comments and emails on the site. (video below) Normally, I like to have a…
Read MoreLearn Jazz Piano Chords in 4ths
In today’s jazz piano lesson we’re going to learn how to play some very cool jazz piano chords built in 4ths. These types of chords using quartal harmony can really add a more modern sound into your jazz playing. New To Jazz Piano Chords in 4ths? Why not take 4 minutes and watch the video…
Read MoreJazz Ear Training – 5 Tips For Hearing Chord Extensions
Today I want to tell you how I drastically improved my musical ear by using jazz ear training. Chord extensions, tensions, alterations, color tones, whatever you want to call them, I am always interested! I can’t write enough about this subject of jazz ear training because it’s so important for mastering jazz piano. As pianists…
Read More12 Jazz Questions Answered
You’ve got jazz questions you say? I have jazz answers! Today’s post I’m going to try something I’ve never done before. This will be an experiment of sorts. I’m going to publish and answer several of the email questions I’ve received recently. As I mentioned in my jazz holiday post this site keeps getting bigger and…
Read MoreThe Blues Scale For Piano: A Simple Guide
If you want to learn how to play the the blues scale on piano you’ve come to the right place! This scale can add a lot of soulfulness and richness to your piano playing. You can hear the blues scale used everywhere and it’s very simple and easy to learn! Even though it’s called the…
Read More7th Chords Guide Part 2
Welcome to our second free piano tutorial on 7th chords! In today’s piano chord lesson we’re going to continue our exploration of basic 7th chords. If you’ve always wondered how to play minor major 7th chords, fully diminished seventh chords, or minor 7th flat 5 chords this will be the lesson for you! (Youtube video…
Read More7th Chords: A Basic Guide Part 1
In today’s free jazz tutorial we’re going to learn how to build and play basic 7th chords like the major 7th chord, minor 7th, and dominant 7th. These types of chords are used in almost every single jazz standard, lots of rock songs, R&B songs, and even classical music too. So, getting comfortable with them…
Read MoreMinor 7 Flat 5 Piano Chords Video Tutorial
In today’s free piano lesson we’re going to learn how to play the minor 7 (flat 5) chords in a fun and interesting way. After teaching piano lessons for over 15 years now I’ve noticed an overwhelming trend in regards to this chord. Many people who are learning piano either… a) Don’t know how to…
Read MoreHow To Make Your Jazz Song Endings Sound Cooler
In today’s lesson we’re going to learn a technique you can use to make the endings to your jazz arrangements and songs much more interesting. Most jazz songs tend to end with the typical II-V-I chord progression (2-5-1). We’re going to mess with this! 🙂 (Video piano lesson, tips, and music notation below). Now, I…
Read MoreJazz Piano Improvisation: Build Great Licks
Do you wish you were better at jazz improvisation and jazz piano improvisation? Do you wish you could improvise over major 7th chords better than you do now? Do you find yourself lost when major 7th chords come up in your favorite jazz and rock songs? Well, in today’s lesson we’re going to explore some…
Read MoreJazz Masters Method Special Video Blog Thank You
Hey everybody! Today’s post is going to be short but sweet. I’m truly humbled right now. I’d like to thank everybody who’s ordered the Jazz Masters Method DVD so far during this launch week. The response has been simply been AMAZING. I am truly blessed! Thank you!! I prepared a quick little video blog as I…
Read MoreLearn 7 Sweet Piano Chords
Hey everybody! To celebrate the launch of my jazz instructional DVD “The Jazz Masters Method” (on Monday, October 8th 2012). I wanted to share a quick free piano lesson with you guys before the release. 🙂 (Update: The DVD has been released!! You can get access to the 9 jazz masters right here The Jazz Masters Method DVD ) The…
Read MoreStride Piano Lesson: Free Video and Tips
Want some stride piano tips? Would you like to learn more interesting ways of playing your favorite jazz standards and chord progressions on piano? In today’s jazz piano lesson, we’re going to study a classic rhythmic way of doing this called stride piano. (Video lesson, notation, and tips below.) This particular style was made famous…
Read More11 Tips On Playing Piano For Your Career
A few days ago I received an interesting email from a reader of this site by the name of Jake. Jake asked,“Hey Steve! What are the basic skills a piano player needs to play piano for a living, even a very basic one?” I knew this would be a question many of the readers here…
Read MoreDominant Bebop Scale Video Lesson
In today’s jazz scale lesson we’re going to explore a very sweet jazz scale. You’ll be able to add it into your playing right away when we’re done. This powerful scale is known as the dominant bebop scale. This 8 note scale can actually can be thought of as a chord and a scale at…
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