3 Uncommon Tips For Practicing Jazz Piano Technique

Posted on by freejazzlessons

jazz piano techniqueWhen most of us think about practicing jazz piano technique we usually think of the same old boring exercises that piano players have been playing for countless years. Things like scale practice, arpeggios, Hanon exercises, and playing classical pieces.

Now, to be fair these technique studies can be useful in certain ways but they don’t seem to be a direct path to help us become better jazz musicians.

So, what technique exercises and/or studies can we do to specifically improve our jazz playing?

A Funny But Sad Story

By the time I was 18 I knew I wanted to be a jazz musician.  I really wanted to learn how to play well!  So, I practiced lots and lots.  I used to practice my classical pieces and hanon exercises for hours everyday. Wow, could I burn at Hanon!  The more I practiced Hanon the faster I got at them.  Sadly, I couldn’t solo that well but boy could I play Hanon :)

My fingers could move fast but when I would jam with other musicians nothing came out right.  I left many jam sessions feeling frustrated. Playing Hanon and 4 octave scales up an down everyday just didn’t lead to great jazz.  I left a jam session so frustrated one night that I knew I had to immediately change the way I practiced. That was my rude awakening :)

Just practicing technique in the traditional classical way won’t lead you to your goal of becoming a better jazz musician.

So, what can jazz musicians practice to not only improve our overall technical control of the instrument but also lead directly to us playing better jazz?

Fortunately, I’ve had 15 years more experience , countless hours of practice, and over a thousand gigs under my belt since then. So, I’d like to share with you the discoveries I’ve made since then.  Here are 3 improved ways of practicing jazz piano technique.

A Jazz Piano Technical Routine

How I Practice Scales

1. When I warmup I’ll usually warm up with scales but I’ll do it in a very different way than what is traditionally done.

Playing scales in straight eighth notes or sixteenth 4 octaves up and down the piano with a metronome on every beat is not very jazzy!

Since I mostly perform jazz and blues I practice my scales almost exclusively with a swing feel.  In order for me to make sure my swing feel is really happening I’ll usually set the metronome to click just on beats 2 and 4.  This emulates a high-hat and the 2 and 4 accent pattern you’ll hear in a jazz rhythm section.

I also will put on the great jam track program Band-in-A-Box and play my scales swinging over a I-VI-II-V-I chord progression in each key. It’s all about being musical and simulating real musical situations.  In this case it’s playing behind a groove and a chord progression.

Jazz Transcriptions…yes.  Hanon….no.

2.  Instead of playing Hanon exercises or other etudes I’ll practice what I consider the real jazz etudes.  Specifically, I spend my time trying to execute transcriptions of challenging solos I’ve personally transcribed.

This in itself can be a phenomenal resource for learning technique. Not only am I studying jazz licks, jazz phrasing, but I’m also being challenged on the technical level.

It probably wouldn’t be musically appropriate for me to play a scale run that Beethoven composed on my next gig but I can definitely throw in a technically challenging Chick Corea or Bill Evans lick that I’ve been practicing.  (If you need a good jazz transcription to get you started you can check out this Barry Harris Transcription)

Jazz Licks = Piano Tricks :)

3.  Another immensely useful things I do for developing my piano technique is practicing licks.  When I practice licks I make sure to practice them in all 12 keys and try to speed up the tempos while maintaining a good rhythmic feel.

This is a goldmine for improving my technique. As I’m sure you noticed in your own playing it’s usually easier to play certain licks in some keys more than others.  Spending the time to figure out why that is has payed off for me in a very deep way!

I ask myself what I can do technically to realize an idea just as well perhaps in Ab as in the key of C or the key of D?

For example, Do I need to curl my fifth finger more?  Is my pinkie sticking up more than it should?  Do I need to move my thumb under more quickly on a crossover?  Do I have to much weight one side of my hand and not the other? When I move my thumb under does it create an accent where there shouldn’t be?

All these things can effect your swing feel.  Learning how to navigate different keys has made my finger motions much more efficient.

I know that I wasted alot of time early in my jazz studies practicing technique incorrectly.

How about you?  How do you practice your technique?

(I’d like to thank a reader of this site by the name of Ken for the inspiration to write this article.)

If you found this article useful please leave a comment below, sign up for the free jazz lessons mailing list, or share on your favorite social network! :)

Steve Nixon is the proud owner of freejazzlessons.com He is a world touring jazz and blues keyboard player and educator.

He is also the author of the brand new Jazz Masters Method , a study of 9 legendary jazz piano players, and the Learn Blues Piano DVD Course


Related Lessons:

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  2. 7 Tips To Help You Play Better At Fast Tempos
  3. Barry Harris Rhythm Changes Transcription Lesson
  4. The 1 Thing You Can Do Right Now To Immediately Improve Your Jazz Improvisation
  5. 3 Of The Most Useful Scales To Play Over Major Chords
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  • http://www.facebook.com/mikeykeys Mike Desroches

    great article. How fast do you put the metronome when practicing your scales. Do you feel like at certain tempos you start to lose your swing feel?

    • http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

      @Mike Thanks! The metronome marking depends on what scales I’m practicing. Anywhere from 100-300bpm. The main this is to always maintain a good swing feel and then build from there. Accuracy and swing feel first..and then speed will come :)

      The nature of swing feel actually changes at faster tempos. As the tempo increases the more even the eighth notes eventually become. So, usually at 100 bpm the first eighth note is quite a bit longer than the second one. But, if you move the metronome to 200 you’re still swinging but the eighths tend to even a bit more. At 300 alot of players will just pretty much play even eighth notes.

  • http://twitter.com/ProducerJD JD Pennington

    Thanks for the tips…
    I have been practicing exactly as you say I shouldn’t for the past year. I guess it’s OK cause it’s good to know the scales, get correct posture and exercise the fingers…

    But now it’s time to swing…

    This should make practicing so much more fun as well :)

    • http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

      @JD So happy to hear you liked the article. I really hope this will also make your scale practice more enjoyable. Practicing should be fun right! :)

  • Moody

    And now is rude awaking for me! I am practicing a lot classical exercises and I have found them useless%(
    Do you practice with metronome all the time? 

    • http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

      I don’t think they’re necessarily “useless” :) I think in general there needs to be more added to them if you’re going to try and play jazz well. Just playing classical exercises won’t get your jazz chops entirely together.
         I practice w/ a metronome or some sort of rhythmic keeping device (jam track, drum groove, recording etc.) the vast majority of the time.

      • Moody

        Ok. I will do the same. Thank you, Steve! Every my visit to your web-site gives me more interesting information. Now, even despite all my weaknesses, I can see the improvement of my improvising skills. And most of that is because of your advises. Thank you again!

      • Moody

        By the way, inspired by this article I found some interesting book – “Improvisational patterns” by David Baker. It contents  daily jazz calisthenics, scales, scales with added note, perpetual motion exercise, patterns and other useful stuff.
        Do you use this kind of books for your practice or you create the exercises by yourself? Can you advise something for the beginners like me?

        • http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

          David Baker is a very smart guy and I’m sure everything he writes has great information in there. Those books could be helpful.

          I don’t really use those books right now in my study. For me I usually go right to the source and sit down and listen to people like Clifford Brown, Barry Harris, and Charlier Parker :)

          • Moody

            Band in a Box – great software! I’m having so much fun playing licks and standards now! It’s feel like you are on stage with a band. And it seems to be very helpful! Thanks, Steve!

  • Tanner

    I have to disagree with classical exercises being useless. The thing is, the exercises do NOT translate into being a great jazz improviser, which is pretty much essential in being a jazz musician. However, you may not even realize how helpful the classical exercise are in strengthening your ability to learn new licks and phrases faster, cleaner, and with overall better technique.

    Classical scale practice still does apply, you simply can’t stop there. Adding a swing to the scales is a great idea, no one ever said you can’t do that. But the limbering and strengthening of the fingers, as well as learning finger independence, most certainly translates to jazz as well. Classical exercises are not meant to be exhaustive, but they are still very applicable for all music genres. I daresay that most of the times, the musician with a classical background (keyword: background) is the better musician, at least technique wise.

    • http://www.freejazzlessons.com/ Steve Nixon (freejazzlessons)

      Hi Tanner. Thanks for your comment. I never said they were useless. Please reread the article. I specifically stated “Things like scale practice, arpeggios, Hanon exercises, and playing classical pieces.
      “Now, to be fair these technique studies can be useful in certain ways but they don’t seem to be a direct path to help us become better jazz musicians”
      My point is that those exercises are useful in certain ways but they just practicing technique in the traditional classical way won’t lead you to your goal of becoming a better jazz musician.

      There’s just way more involved in playing jazz correctly than practicing technique. Specifically, I”m talking about rhythmic concepts.

      The traditional classical exercise don’t address the many important stylistic elements. Things like jazz time feel, jazz articulation, improvisational note selection, phrasing groove etc. etc.

      Chops are one thing but in jazz it all starts with the groove. Thelonius Monk didn’t have chops in the traditional sense but he had groove.

      Simply put..classical exercises are great. There just needs to be more added for jazz musicians.

    • Wolf

      Sorry but I disagree with your opinion Tanner. Classical exercises makes a jazz player sound choppy,without flow and syncopation.I found that practising classical exercises makes one sound good playing classical music. The movement of motif from one progression to the other (ii-V-I)is never addressed in classical exercises. In Jazz ,the player has to make the change rhythmically and on the fly with emotion for the effect to be felt and heard. No amount of Hannon or straight scales and arpeggios are going to give you that.
      PLAYING JAZZ MAKES YOUR CLASSICAL MUSIC SOUND BETTER FOOL!!!….Not the other way around (I ve ran accross your type before)
      Go back to your old school ways….my money is on Chick Correa, Keith Jarrett. Rachael Z and Herbie Hancock…ALL excellent classical players AND Monsters in the Jazz world!!

  • missmaris

    I am a recent graduate from a great music school with a bachelor’s in music education. I moved back home and now I’m playing with a local band. (gigging every weekend) We play classic rock covers/grateful dead tunes/blues. I’ve hit a wall bc my classical background isn’t helping me all that much when I’m put on the spot to “take a solo.” Your article has inspired me that a classical player can become a jazzhead. Jazz playing is my new challenge…and a TOTALLY different beast from classical. Thanks for the practice tips. :)

  • J

    Steve,

    Great article as usual. ow would you say that way of practicing licks and transcriptions is more beneficial since essentially you are (more or less) practicing in the “classical” way? Just wondering how you go about implementing licks into your overall jazz playing?

    Also, I’d like to add that not only can you play scales with a swing feel which is helpful, but I’ve found playing scales in the following ways very helpful (in all keys of course): in broken thirds, tenths, contrary motion. The chromatic scale, playing every major and minor scale. Half/Whole and Whole/Half diminished scales, Pentatonic scales, blues scales, augmented scales, all major and minor mode scales (dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, locrian, locrian natural 2, alt scale, lydian augmented, lydian dominant, etc. etc.)

    In my opinion you should never neglect scales and you should always find new and creative ways to play them. Not only do they help with technique but they also give you more of an understanding of possible scales to implement in your jazz playing. Just a suggestion.