Jazz 101 Archives - Page 3 of 4 | FreeJazzLessons.com

Herbie 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…

Your 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…

Jazz 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…

4 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…

3 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…

Learn 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…

Jazz 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 musical ear training because it’s so important for mastering jazz piano. As pianists…

12 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…

The 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…

7th 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…

7th 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…

Minor 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…

How 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…

Jazz Piano Improvisation: Build Great Licks

Do you wish you were better at 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 new licks and…

Jazz 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…

Learn 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…

Stride 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…

11 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…

Dominant 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…

Clifford Brown Jazz Improvisation Lesson

I always tell my jazz students if they really want to learn jazz improvisation and master the bebop language then they need to go directly to the source. They need to learn from people like Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Bud Powell, and Sonny Stitt. So, in today’s jazz improvisation lesson we’re going to do just that!…

How To Add The Major Bebop Scale To Your Playing

Have you ever heard of the bebop scale? Do you wish knew more ways to bridge the gap between the scales you know and what real jazz musicians actually use in their jazz solos? One of the best ways to go about doing this is to learn the method behind the major bebop scale. When used…

Altered Scale – A Simple How To Guide

Are you curious how to use the altered scale? Are your dominant chords getting a bit boring? Do you wish you knew some more interesting scales to use over them? Well, in today’s jazz scale lesson I’m going to teach you a very cool sounding scale you can play over your dominant chords. This scale…

5 Recommended Recordings That Have Made Me A Better Jazz Musician

You’ve heard the common phrase, You are what you eat before right? Well, when you’re learning to play jazz you are what you listen to! If you want to learn this style of music you’ve got to listen to the right music! So, today I’m going to talk about some recommended jazz albums that helped me…

How to Play Jazz Piano – A Beginners Guide

Alright, so how do you really learn jazz piano? Since I started this site I’ve received numerous emails from readers asking me the best way to learn how to play jazz piano and how to get started learning jazz as a beginner. Let’s first start with my jazz piano journey to give you an example……

Tritone Substitution – The Ultimate Guide

Check out this cool tritone substitution tutorial: In this video I’m going to teach you how to play a tritone substitution. We all know how important the II-V-I chord progression is to jazz music. It’s used in thousands of jazz standards. Now, it a beautiful sounding chord progression but sometimes in order to not sound…