You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 4 Ways to Sound GREAT as a Beginner Jazz Pianist

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

Just because you're a beginner at jazz piano doesn't mean your playing needs to sound boring and easy. Today, Peter and Adam will give you some tips to improve your sound.4 Ways to Sound GreatLearn to swingLearn the bluesLearn to sing it firstLearn tunes you loveLinks From This Episode:Getting your regular practice in has never been easier thanks to our Piano Guided Practice Pass - featuring all of Adam's daily Guided Practice Sessions, exclusive daily live practice sessions, and the brand new Guided Practice AppThere's a new course from Open Studio: Rhythm Section Workout is available now! Play along with Peter Martin on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums as they teach you the tips and tricks to playing with a bandToday's Open Studio Live Events (All times in EDT):1:00 PM - Adam's Daily Guided Practice Session (for Members Only)8:00 PM - Peter's weekly Shelter in Place concert series continues on YouTubeFor the rest of this week's calendar, follow this linkIn light of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, we understand that money is tight for a lot of people right now. That's why we've decided that for the duration of this crisis, we'll be running a Choose What You Pay campaign at Open Studio. Choose whichever course you want and then let us know how much you're willing to pay - that's it. For more info, click this link.Interested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Pete. Hey. Do you remember what it was like to be a beginner podcaster? I do. I do. I actually graduated along with my friend Adam Maness yesterday from beginner to intermediate. Thank you very much. I'm Adam Manus.

And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear at Podcast. Daily Music Advice, coming at you. Coming at you today, sponsored by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio jazz.com and check out our new guided practice subscription. Do you know about this thing? It's a membership where you get a daily guided podcast. practice session, a new one every day.

We practice with you, Peter. We practice with you. We practice for you, in fact. No, we don't practice for you. Almost, though. It's getting close. It's like a virtual handhold from Adam and even some guests pianists, right? Yeah, actually this very week, we have the great Jeffrey Keeser doing a guided practice session for our members.

So go to Open StudioJazz.com. Check out the daily guided practice session. Sign up today. It's pretty awesome. Absolutely. And we're back on the YouTube. What's up? YouTube.

We got our video. happening. Oh man, it's about time. I miss YouTube. I only see YouTube on YouTube lives, and it's not the same as being here recording it and we can mess up all we want and record again. I was hoping you're going to notice that I was doing a little dance. We're still doing this virtually in different locations. We're not quite ready to come back together, but we're excited to be back on the YouTube with one of our you'll hear in episodes. And what are we talking about today? Well, today we have four ways to sound great as a beginner jazz pianist. I love this topic because I think it's like it's never too early to be able to actually play good music.

Even if you just know how to play a little bit, you can still make good music. What if you're in the womb? Is that too early? I mean, it might be just slightly too early. But I get asked all the time about like, you know, people who want information. Like, what about this scale? What about this piece of theory? Like, they think they can theory themselves to being a great player.

But I'm like, what about the 13-year-old kid that sounds amazing and doesn't know anything about theory? He's just playing from his heart and it works. And that's because of these things here that we're going to talk about. Oh, is Joey Alexander coming on the episode today? Is that what you're saying? Spoiler. No, no, not really. He's not 13 anymore, but he was killing at 13.

He really was. Yeah. So, yeah, so these four ways. So I'm really excited about this too, Adam. And obviously, question we get a lot. And the beginner level is something that I'm really passionate about because I feel like it's an area that we can really have a big impact. You know, as you get it more advanced, and of course, it gets to be more interesting in a lot of ways, but it also becomes more of, there's less of an instruction manual, right? And when you get into the advanced harmony and advanced theory, it becomes more difficult to learn that, but then internalize it, but not let it take you over.

The beginner level is a great time to be able to kind of relish in a sea of ignorance in a way, you know, but in a beautiful way. I love relish. I love it on my hot dog. I love her my brat worst. And I love it in my ignorance. That's right. You're right, though. The beginner level is it's also when you like, you can just take off out of nowhere.

You can really grow fast. Yes, yes, absolutely. And so let's jump right in here. Number one on our four ways to sound great as a beginner jazz pianist is learn to swing. Amen. Amen. Can I get an amen? I got one already.

Can I get another one? That should be an intermediate. tip as well as and it advanced in some case well and that's the whole thing learn it now as a beginner so that it doesn't become an intermediate or in advance don't skip this one over because you think it's too basic you or a lot of people skip it over because they think it's too hard in esoteric and there's some secret scrolls at the end of the advanced journey waiting for them no no no and this is actually one of the ones i was talking about about like you know yeah you can get a piece of theory but does it actually make you sound good but if you learn how to swing early

you're going to sound good. There's just no two ways about it. Like people who can swing and don't know every scale in the book sound better than people that know every scale in the book and can't swing. That's a fact, my friend. That's right.

Hashtag fact. Okay. And also, you know, those of you astute you'll hear it listeners will know that normally number one is listen. But this is actually listen. That is the easiest way to learn to swing. It's the most intuitive way.

It's getting the language of what swing is. Now, jazz police and non-jazz police funk police, rock police, fusion police, don't come after us and say, oh, learn to swing. Are you saying that's all the jazzes? No, but we're saying that's the foundation. And all the other grooves and stuff kind of emanate from that as sort of your central groove knowledge. Yeah. And if you're a fusion player, you know, learn to groove, whatever that it means to you.

Like learn where the pocket is and learn your relationship to it. Make that an emphasis from the start. and I agree. You're going to make so much progress early if you focus on that rather than like, what's that scale? What's that voicing? Those are all, those will come.

You'll learn all that, but learn how to swing first. And the reason we have this as number one for beginners to sound great is because it is actually simpler than most people think. A lot of people think, oh, I don't have good time.

I don't want to hear anybody say that. I'm coming to your house with a mask on and I'm going to get you if I hear you say that. because this is a basic foundational human element of the music that we can all connect with. So let's talk about at the piano some ways to immediately apply this, okay? The most basic rhythm. And you can tell us what it's called just to make sure that I've got the nomenclature, right? But it's this.

One, two, three, four. Oh, yep. What is that called? So we around it here at Open Studio, we call it the Charleston, which is kind of corny. but that is the rhythm. The Charleston, Charleston, that's that old corny song from the 20s. Right. Is that rhythm.

It's a dotted quarter note, eighth note rhythm. Right. But, you know, much as the city of Charleston, South Carolina, I don't know if you spent much time there, sir, Adam. But you're approaching it. You're saying, what a corny city with the corny oak trees? But then you're enveloped in the warmth and bask in the tradition of that beautiful southern bell of a city.

It's actually quite nice. Same with this rhythm. I love that you're starting with this, because if you do, just started with this rhythm. Like, if you just, if you just put on, here, I'm going to actually, I'm not even going to talk about it, we're just going to put on a little handy-dandy metronome here, Peter. I don't know if you know anything about this. You sold me on Metro.

Right? And if you just practice this, right, and really concentrated on where you were placing that. Yeah. You don't even have to know any other chords. Yeah. Just getting that down would take you so, so far. And the important thing about this is if you want to go, and I'll go back to the key of C just because it's C and we're going to do something on that in a minute.

If you want to go very basic, the rhythm stays the same, the feel, that's what we're going for. So you can start with just a root note in your left hand or the right hand. Hmm. In fact, if you can learn to do this and while you snap on two and four, two and four. That's like a bonus beginner points, right? And talk at the same time. You get triple bonus. But the idea is learn the articulation. Don't learn like, is that a stress, is that a legato? No, just listen to it. Boom. Pop. Sing it and then play it the way you would because this is going to be used over and over again in your play. We were doing beginner stuff today, man.

That's not beginner. No, no, but I'm just saying, you know, the feel, this is the easiest way to get into the swing. Yeah. And then you're going to start hearing all sorts of other rhythms. All those other rhythms. You just did the reverse Charleston. I did the reverse Charleston. Yeah, yeah, because it's three, four, one. It's like the Savannah, Georgia. It's like the reverse up there.

That's a great way to start, man. I love that one. Yeah, and then just do single note, do root in seven, do whatever you can do. We're going to get into with number two somewhere to actually apply. But all you're thinking about, I mean, you can just do that's kind of what I was doing. Yeah, that's not a great sound.

But I mean, whatever it is, we're concentrating on the rhythm, we're getting the swing feel, we're committing to it, we're believing, and then we're opening the door and entering. I love it. What's number two? Okay, number two of our four ways to sound great as a beginner is learn the blues, okay? Now, I know I'm getting dogmatic, dogmatic, I'm getting foundational, I'm getting fundamental, you know, I'm even getting a different tone to a tone to my voice for some reason.

learn the swing, learn the blues. These are the things that can take you so far later on. It's like you're putting money in the bank as a jazz piano so that when you get to that intermediate and advance level that you're rolling. So the blues, this is the foundation, this is the fundamentals, and it's universal too. That's the great thing about the blues. So normally people coming to play jazz actually know the blues better

than they actually know jazz in terms of as a form, most of the traditional jazz forms. And the way that we're going to recommend this is, as a jazz pianist, as a beginner, is root in seventh in the left hand and C-jam blues in the right hand. That's how you're going to learn the blues. So we're going. This whole notes first.

Now, maybe number one. You remember the little Charleston? There. There is. But we're swinging. Charleston. So our only requirement is to swing, to play the rhythms well, and to play the blues form, to learn the blues form.

We hear the blues form since we're young in rock and roll and funk and R&B and. pop in a lot of different things jazz but to apply it to our instrument we need to play it hear ourselves playing it feel it so that we can really start to get it and i think the root in the seventh i mean you know we we certainly talk about shells those are important too um and you could do that there and then you can also add in the rhythm while you're playing the melody but all that's kind of for later if you get the feel on something basic and foundational you can always scale that up later man this is so so fundamental imagine if you just had number one and two that we have here

If you had an amazing rhythmic feel and you just worked on the blues, you would already be a good player. Like you would be there. In fact, that's where young good players usually start and what they have at the beginning. They don't have a lot of knowledge of esoteric jazz theory or any of that or harmony or thick chords. They start with a very simple feel that feels good. And then with the knowledge of the blues, that's the foundation of all of this music. So I think it's just really important to spend some time on it. And the earlier you can hit it, all the better.

That's great. Number three, number three is to learn to sing it first. Amen. Right? So one of the things I always hear with beginner improvisers and even intermediate improvisers and especially pianists is you're just running your fingers over things that you've kind of worked on or maybe that feel good on your hand or a shape.

that's comfortable, and it sounds terrible, I'll be honest. It doesn't sound great, right? And the way to get around that is to actually to use language as opposed to just running your fingers over something that you theoretically know sounds good, but to actually use the language of music in its most powerful format. And that's by using your own voice, whether that's in your head or you actually singing. if you can play what you sing, then you will always sound true and natural and the music you make will be from the heart and will be you and will be really, really good.

Now, the goal as we grow is to learn more language and to be able to hear more music on our head and be able to sing it in our voice and then to get technically proficient on our instrument so that that comes out very naturally. But if there's a disconnect from the start between what you hear and what you play, none of that matters.

So you have to, from the beginning, really start to develop your own voice in your head. And that means sing or at least think, like hear what you're about to play before you play it, right? So you're not just running your fingers over the piano or just playing some theory that someone told you on a YouTube video. I hate you guys do that. That's right.

But you're actually listening to what you're hearing in your head over, let's say, a blues, and you're playing what comes out. So it could be something as simple as like, one, two, three, four. Just that little phrase, right? And I'm not singing it like a professional singer or doing anything like that. I'm just hearing what I'm hearing in my head and letting it kind of vocalize as I'm playing it. Practicing like that, though, can really open up your playing so that your phrases are clean, you're playing music from the heart, and you're really sticking with the language of the music first.

You actually threw in a little bonus there that's more intermediate advanced, It's a little stank face that got translated into your playing there. Well, it's very important. I mean, we're... Yeah, man. I mean, I was feeling it. Yeah. Well, so, and this one is so important, learn to sing it first, learn to hear for something

that a lot of jazz, aspiring jazz players get wrong in waiting too late. Like some of the other things we talked about, like learning to swing later, really understand. I mean, I think a lot of people, the blues number two, I think a lot of people know that's important. But learning to swing, people think, oh, that's something. that comes later. Learning to sing at first, this is the most effective way for you to start on your journey of telling your story through this music. So you're getting yourself ready even before you have the technique, before you have the theoretical knowledge, before you have the rhythmic acuity, before you have the ability to hand independence, you know, all the different things that you're

going to need to, and you will acquire. But remember that the goal of this, especially for the improvisation part, which is going to end up later on, being 80, 90% of what we do as jazz pianist. The goal of that is to be able to tell your story. So if you practice everything else, but you never learn to play what you sing, to play what you hear, then you're going to get to the end. You're going to know all these things and they're going to feel good and you're going to be playing like other people. And you're going to sound like a hodgepodge.

And then you're going to have to learn how to say, wait, what do I want to say? You know, you're just going to be spurting out vocabulary words that other people learn, but they're not going to make sense. I mean, Peter, you're literally describing hundreds of thousands, if not maybe millions of musicians who feel stuck because they didn't, they kind of skip this step, right? Right. And then think about, like, the masters that we so admire. People like Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock, all they talk about is working to get towards this goal of being able to just let it come through you. So why not start from the beginning? It's actually easier.

That's another benefit. It's easier than trying to run theory over a keyboard. No one wants to hear that, including yourself. And look, if you're coming back to this, like, okay, I'm more of an intermediate advanced player and I want to get some fundamental beginner stuff, that's great. Because these are things, it's never too late. And look, we never, and Adam, I have talked about this many times, both on the podcast and amongst ourselves. It's like nobody goes on the perfect journey to learn this music. In fact, that's not going to make you a very interesting player.

So don't feel bad if you miss some of this. I know I miss some of it and did some stuff out of order. But this is like an idealized thing. if, you know, sometimes I wonder, I'm like, man, I wish I was learning the piano and jazz today, but I had all the knowledge that I've acquired in my life because I could optimize and get to the, to the finish line, the proverbial finish line, so much quicker. But this one really will help you this act of singing and then playing. Look, and it's not going to sound good.

It's going to sound bad. You're going to be offending yourself with both your voice and your ideas for a little bit while. But remember, for a little while, but remember, it's the process of doing that. when you're like, bo-bo-do-be-bo-de-do-do-de-le-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-le-de-de-lebe-de-bo-de-de-bo-de-de-bo-de-de-bo-de-de-bo-de. So, but it's, it's, it's, when you hear me singing it, it sounds offensive, the quality of the voice, but when you hear me play, it's like those are pretty good lines. But that's what I'm singing is actually what's driving here, as you could tell there.

So we start that if it's ba-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b. Bob, if you can sing that with that swing feel over that C-Jamp, your next level is to let your hands imitate your voice. That's so great, man. I just love that whole idea. All right, our final way to sound great as a beginner seems like it's going to be an obvious one, but I'm always surprised at how much people don't recognize this.

And that's to learn tunes that you love. So we get asked all the time, Peter, like, what standards should I know? There's lists online of standards. There's 100, there's 30, There's the top 200. There's the top 1,000. There's a load of jazz standards

and great American songbook standards that you could learn. So why not learn ones that you actually like to listen to? This is like something I took me way too long to figure out that I didn't have to just know the entire book. I could learn tunes that I care about

and moved by. And that would actually help me progress faster. I tend to listen to music more when I'm listening to music that I want to listen to more, surprisingly, you tend to just pay attention more to things that you actually want to learn how to play. So take every list that you see with the grain and salt or every recommendation. If you, I mean, listen to them and listen to the tunes that people recommend because there are reason why that

they're standards. There are a lot of great tunes out there. But pick the ones at first that hit you hardest and learn those. And don't worry about not getting to every single one. Just there's always time. Like we said, you know, you can always come back. But start with the ones that you really like to listen to. And you'll spend more time with them. You'll spend more time listening to them. You'll spend more time practicing them. And you'll just generally care more about the music you're making. And again, that's just a key to longevity. That's a key to having the knowledge stick to you. Like all of this just goes together to make you grow faster and deeper. Yeah. And I think if we think about, it's just like going to a restaurant, you see the menu there.

You're looking, you're reading the description, you're finding, really what you want to find is that cross section of wow that sounds really good and that's really healthy there might be some things that are like and so like the healthy stuff is all the ones that are on the list and stuff that you need to kind of know

and it's going to help you to get better just like help get your body better help to get your playing better so in that list of standards and bebob and blues and everything you want to find something that's healthy for you so at the beginner level that's within your grass don't be like well you know what

Giant steps. I love that tune. I'm so passionate about that. I'm going to learn that. Like you want it to be within, you want it to be aspirational, not impossible, right? So I think that, but there's so many to find, you know, to your point of all these different choices, finding that that song that you're constantly working on that's within your level, but that you're passionate about so that you can fall in love with the process of practicing, of trying to get that phrase, of listening to it when you're away from the piano. It makes everything so much easier. And that number four, I think, I mean, all these are great, but number four is something that you can take all the way through your journey and really optimize your practice time and get you to that promise land even quicker.

Awesome, man. Well, YouTube, it was great to see you all again. That's my power cord, you know. You're welcome. If you are a beginner and want to learn more, go to open studio jazz.com. There's a link in the description below. We have a chorus called Jazz Piano Jump Start. that's like a seven-week jumpstart course

to get you as a beginner jazz pianist to actually playing some music. And then we have a ton more beginner courses. We have jazz piano for beginners. Peter is playing the theme song to jazz piano for beginners. All right. Well, I think we got it.

If you're listening to the podcast right now, how about a rating a review? We've been getting some lately, but can we always use more, Adam? We can always use more. And if you're watching on YouTube, how about a subscribe? Maybe put the bell on.

What? Put the bell. Yeah, because we actually go live quite a few times. We do some fun stuff. We have our sessions on Tuesday night. Come and check out and listen with us. We've got lives all through the week. And until tomorrow.

You'll hear it.