I have no words for this man. He's brilliant. He really has come down to beginner level and explained everything in a way that proper beginners can understand not pitching to a level where one can already play well as many do and true beginners leave. The whole hour plus video was riveting and extremely interesting and he had me laughing too with some of his funny-ness even though he might not have been trying to be funny but it was great to watch. This is just what I needed and now I know that I sit too long on things trying to get to a brilliant level when I should accept 80% (or 90% for me). And I intuitively thought that even though something is not perfect, close to perfection or professional level comes when one moves on appropriately and gain experience from new material rather than being stuck in the same trench digging for perfection. This is by far one of the best lessons on RU-vid. Alot of these other academies and tutors one learns nothing if not very little by far not enough. With this video I learnt what I was looking for and how to achieve it and also that it appears achieveanble and am ready to go with eagerness all thanks to JazzEdge Willie. Oh and I will certainly go through the process. A huge thank you Willie from JazzEdge.
OK, I played acoustic guitar (folk/country) for 60 years, then got into tenor sax/jazz bands at our local community college. Because of neuropathy in my left hand I can no longer play guitar so decided to take up the piano, hoping I could still find the notes reasonably well. Took a couple of beginner classes at city college, then signed up with a recommended piano teacher. Took one lesson and realized that wasn't for me since she was a classical pianist and didn't know how to teach jazz or pop. This is the only video of yours I watched, but just watching and playing along, I learned more in an hour here than all the hours at city college and the hour-long lesson with a "real" teacher. Being retired on a very limited budget I'm not sure I can swing the cost of the membership, but I intend to try, since your teaching method and style appeals to me personally, and I think this may be the best learning tool I can find anywhere. Thanks for this video, and for pointing me in the right direction. Hope to see you in the Academy.
Thanks so much for that! Looking forward to working with you in the Academy. There is a lot more inside and a lot of lessons that break these concepts down even further.
Hi Willie! I’m presently taking your Jazz Piano Lessons course and find this and the previous standard session for beginners (Cry me a River) to be excellent complements to the course. It’s been a marvelous way to practice and improve the playing techniques and music theory knowledge that I am picking up from the course. My learning journey in playing the piano is as a senior with a “pre-existing health condition” of chronic joint pain (fingers, wrists, elbows, etc). Your holistic approach to teaching is really working for me. I greatly appreciate the focus on healthy playing technique, theory, rhythm, and self-expression - right from the basic entry level; and the uncanny way of weaving-in a gradual level of difficulty. I’m still at an awkward “toddler” level, but getting better at playing the longer Standard pieces and having fun, drawing great satisfaction at being able to play with increasing fluidity, little or no tension build-up in joints and muscles, and getting a better grasp and skill on rhythm. Sincere Thanks! Andres
Thank you so much for this simplistic yet fantastic approach to starting to play jazz standards. I actually understand eveything yove taught here. Other so called beginning jazz courses have been overwhelming with their extended flat 9,11, 13 etc chords; just too much for a beginner.
I like this lesson very much because I remember when I went to a jazz academy to learn jazz saxophone we were all required to learn Jazz piano. The Jazz piano teacher told us the best way for us non-pianists is to learn Shell Voicings. I did learn them but I didn't have enough time to fully understand them the way WILLIE is teaching which is SUPER for me. I'll definitely buy the course on these voicing because I like them and I see value in them. Thanks
Thanks so much! Yeah this system works SO well for students. I've seen a lot of students find some real success and make some really killer arrangements!
this is really good because so many people on RU-vid are offering a lot of sophisticated upper level music theory. You, on the other hand, are providing a starting point for people who are novices. And that is a good thing. The only suggestion I have is that your piano tone is rather harsh. Maybe roll that treble back? good luck!
It is in this positive way like to build a good house. The structure has to be as solid as it may be. This result is based on a system which runs well if the fundements are respected. What slow down first in terms of time is later refunded which a corresponding level of professionalism. Compliments.
Thanks for this! The simple shells in the LH to start seems like a great idea and hoping that will help me build a repertoire of standards faster. I want to be able to play 20-50 standards, even if only in a simple way. ---- Couple of questions (for anyone who wants to answer): 1. When intermediate/advanced pianists learn a standard, do they memorize a particular arrangement, or are they usually drawing on knowledge to build chords on the fly? Or both? 2. Do intermediate/advanced pianists memorize a standard so well that they can play it at any time, or do they need to practice each standard every so often or they forget it? ---- Autumn Leaves was the first standard I learned. I learned a particular arrangement (by John Brimhall) and I have to keep practicing it or I forget it. I never learned it in its most simple form, with shells in LH, so I will go back and do that. I feel like a good exercise would be to learn how to play Autumn Leaves in many different ways.
Hey Rick, I can't answer for everyone, but this is what I do and many others: 1. We create the arrangements on the fly drawing on theory knowledge. Maybe we have an intro or ending planned but often every time we play the arrangement it changes a bit. 2. I know I need to practice -some- standards now and again to retain the melody and the progression, but you get to a point where you've played a standard SO many times, it is in your longterm memory. Great questions!
When he talks about style an analogy came to my mind: like with cooking. The ingredients of a soup can be compared to all the techniques and tips. All of us have now learnt these. So we all are using the same ingredients, but the way we do the soup is different. Just think of the salt, adding more or less of salt already changes the flavour of the soup. Think of all the other ingredients that you can use in different proportions. The way you prepare the soup becomes your style in way, and the way you are making use of the techniques and tips make your style as a musician. Does that make sense?
Thank you Willie ! I totally subscribe to the comment Andres left below (and I tend to think that we are following the same "Just standards" lessons with you ;-) ) ! Take care ! Pascal
On a lead sheet are the dominant 7s the ones with the sevens next to them. And I’ll just play a major seven when ever the chord says just the major chord without the seven? Thanks for the video. Just confused bc on your video you use the chord sheet and everything has a 7 next to it or a 7 with a triangle. But not so on lead sheets.
when it has the triangle next to it, play a major 7th chord. If it just says "C" then you could play a basic C triad - C, E, G or add a 6th, C, E, G, A or -maybe- play the major 7th if it sounds good with the melody!
Hey Dennis, yes I would suggest focusing a lot on the Jazzedge Practice Curriculum™ which is right on the dashboard. Go through all of these exercises and you'll see your technique and coordination improve dramatically.
Hi Willie. Your material's amazing. Thought I'd mention that your piano's a bit out of tune. I'm only saying this because I'm a vision-impaired piano tuner/tech. lol :-) How will your lessons work for me since I can't read music? Do you address how to obtain gigs/jobs playing piano?
Hey Marshall, thanks :) Yeah sometimes the piano goes a bit out between tunings. Happens. You don't need to know how to read music to use my lessons since everything is on the screen. Now as vision impaired, I'm not sure what setup you would need but I've had several vision impaired students study my materials. I just don't know what their setup was to do so though, sorry. As for gigging, yeah these are great questions for my free Office Hours which I hold every month. The schedule is at jazzedge.academy/ under the "Insights Hub" menu. Cheers!
Hey Ron, this lesson will be added to Jazzedge Academy this week as a blueprint and the sheet music will be in there. Look for it by Wednesday in the Blueprints area.
I have played Jazz since July, 1969. I have put over 70,000 hours of time into one tenor saxophone... and more on piano (my first instrument was Hammond Organ). And now guitar. There is NO "easy" way to "play Jazz." Today is Bird's 103rd birthday. He said: If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. Jazz is blood, sweat and tears. I'm sure you can play and teach. But playing actual Jazz is NOT about chords, scales, and of that BS. Anybody can play the notes. The music is an entirely different matter.
Absolutely! I 100% agree. Playing jazz is waaayyy more than just the sum of notes, chords, etc. With that said, this video is a great way to learn the basics to get started. In this video I've tried to create a nice "snapshot" of a simple way to create your own jazz piano arrangements. Thanks for the comment Jeffrey!
