Each session can be divided into 5 equal mini-sessions to give specific attention to each of the 5 pillars. The image below represents deliberate practice sessions ranging in length from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Christopher Tarr, Lecturer in Jazz, Edith Cowan University “The quality of a musician’s practice and the use of specific strategies play a bigger role in success that a simple measure of accumulated practice time.” In fact, Christopher Tarr, Lecturer in Jazz at Edith Cowan University, cites a study entitled “It’s Not How Much: It’s How” published in Journal of Research in Music Education which found that piano students’ length of practice time was not a significant factor in successful performance retention. You might be surprised to learn that you can execute a well-balanced jazz piano practice routine in as little as 30 minutes per day. The key is to determine the total amount of time you have available for practice each day, and then divide that time into five mini-practice-sessions of equal length. Therefore, you serve yourself best in taking baby steps toward each of them rather than “hitting snooze” on the pillars that seem more difficult. The point is that each pillar- technique, harmony, scales, lead sheets and improv- is too important to neglect. Naturally, you’re probably thinking, “How can I practice all five jazz piano pillars every day? That sounds like five different practice sessions per day!” Well, in a sense, you’re right. So it’s important to include improvisation, and the other four pillars of today’s guide, in every jazz piano practice session, but how?Ī Guide to Divide: Jazz Piano Practice for Beginners ¹ Jazz is a spoken language, and those who desire to become fluent must listen to it and speak it regularly. As a result, they put off the right-brained work of improvisation because they want to “understand it first.” That’s like discouraging a baby’s first words until they understand iambic pentameter. For example, many jazz piano students become stagnant with left-brained analysis of jazz harmony. If you focus too narrowly, you’re likely to struggle in actual playing situations. Since there are so many jazz piano skills to learn, it’s important that your practice guide is strategic and progressive.

It’s true that jazz pianists are brilliant-but then again, so are you! So no matter where your are in your jazz piano journey, you can celebrate the fact that you have made the commitment to discover your voice with this amazing form of musical expression we call jazz. Many piano students find the study jazz piano intimidating because of the vast amount of information involved.

Intro to The Beginner Jazz Piano Practice Guide

Major scales exercises piano pdf