Jazz & free style

[liszt-essence]

Although this board is mainly discussing classical piano music, there must be some here that are into jazz/freestyle..

I am looking for information about jazz.. The basics.. Chords, configurations etc.. Just to get me started

And it doesn't have to be jazz per sé. If you have your own style, if you use a certain system which is yours, or know about one, please share it.

Also, links to websites/books etc are most welcome

[rex-craft7]

jazz is my favorite genre of music>> and ive been trying to get started in jazz piano>>> but being classically trained (which i think is the reason), jazz feels extremely difficult to me>>> i cant play it for ****>>> sorry, i have no advice, im just here to agree with the TC... some advice would be nice

[franz_]

First of all, listen a lot. Listen to people as Oscar Peterson (thé jazz legend), Art Tatum,...
The first thing you should learn are the dominantè chords, to read them fluently. Also, buy 'The real book' , it is as the bible for jazz. Also very very important in jazz music are the II-V-I . You should google for it, but it is used in almost every jazz standard. Just try some things on the piano, improvise, and look for your way of playing.

[mephisto]

jazz is my favorite genre of music>> and ive been trying to get started in jazz piano>>> but being classically trained (which i think is the reason), jazz feels extremely difficult to me>>> i cant play it for ****>>> sorry, i have no advice, im just here to agree with the TC... some advice would be nice

Just a question. Did you expect to be able to learn jazz right away? I do strongly doubt that any jazz musician did just learn to play jazz right away. You have to practice for years, just like with classical music. And be sure that you get a good teacher. I don't think being classicaly trained slows down learning jazz, I think it only helps because of the technic you have aquired from playing classical music. It is just that one has to practice and learn a lot before one plays good jazz.

[earl]

Liszt-essence:

Go to learnjazzpiano.com. There is a lot of helpful advice to get you started.

The advice already given is good: Learn ii-V-I chord progression in every key. There are basic voicings of these chords that are will give you the jazz sound, and can be expanded and altered as you learn the more complex chords (those with added 9th, 11th, and 13ths).

I am currently studying jazz, and yes, it takes a while to become fluent in jazz. After learning voicings (left hand only, two handed) the difficult part is learning to improvise a solo.

Ear training will also become critical. Listen to as many recordings and live jazz as you can, including other instruments besides piano.

I highly recommend a teacher if you can find one. I tried doing it on my own and it was slow going. After I found my current teacher, I began improving and understanding much faster.

Good luck!!

Earl

[invictious]

The first thing to do, of course is to, well, listen to lots of jazz.
here are some I recommend

Dave Brubeck
Duke Ellington
Art Tatum

The first one I mentioned is my favorite

[liszt-essence]

Thanks for the advice guys

btw if you're into bach, and also like jazz and in case you don't know these guys:

Jacques Loussier Trio - Fantasia and Fugue in G minor = jazz transcription of bach's Fantasia & Fugue. (Bwv 542) It's originally an organ work, liszt has also transcribed it for the piano.

They have transcribed a lot, but I especially like this transcription.

[arbisley]

jazz is my favorite genre of music>> and ive been trying to get started in jazz piano>>> but being classically trained (which i think is the reason), jazz feels extremely difficult to me>>> i cant play it for ****>>> sorry, i have no advice, im just here to agree with the TC... some advice would be nice

I'm also classically trained, but joined the jazz band and got jazz piano lessons for free from an awesome teacher. I can now read chord symbols quite well, but what I find essentially so fascinating about jazz musicians is their knowledge of harmony. They not only know basic relationships such as extended chords, but also in reference to modes to improvise on, pentatonic scales, diminished scales, loads of other things which I';m nit yet experienced enough to talk about.

Basically, get used to reading chord symbols, like the other said, in different positions, first inversion, root position, whateved, then adding extensions, but essentially you are training your ear to "hear" what you want to play or the many possibilities before you do.

I don't find that clasical training makes it more difficult, you have to find where classical and jazz overlap, and they do so more than you think, because after all, the most complex jazz originally came from classically trained musicians who moved into jazz (sorry if this is wrong info, but I believe it works both ways, jazz then also influenced classical music). what classical music is helpful for, mostly Romantic music, in relation to jazz is that it's so much easier to actually place the chords, because that is what you do all the time and you practies. For instance, in Mendelssohn's "rondo capriccioso", I found a diminished scales in the right hand which can then help you for your jazz knowledge. Now coming back to Ravel or Debussy pieces, I often find so much more stuff which I didn;t understand before, and that really helps to point out the "juicy" passages in their works.

For started, kabalevsky's sonatinas are the best for relatively simple extended chords.

Hope this isn't too random!

[liszt-essence]

I'm also classically trained, but joined the jazz band and got jazz piano lessons for free from an awesome teacher. I can now read chord symbols quite well, but what I find essentially so fascinating about jazz musicians is their knowledge of harmony. They not only know basic relationships such as extended chords, but also in reference to modes to improvise on, pentatonic scales, diminished scales, loads of other things which I';m nit yet experienced enough to talk about.

Basically, get used to reading chord symbols, like the other said, in different positions, first inversion, root position, whateved, then adding extensions, but essentially you are training your ear to "hear" what you want to play or the many possibilities before you do.

I don't find that clasical training makes it more difficult, you have to find where classical and jazz overlap, and they do so more than you think, because after all, the most complex jazz originally came from classically trained musicians who moved into jazz (sorry if this is wrong info, but I believe it works both ways, jazz then also influenced classical music). what classical music is helpful for, mostly Romantic music, in relation to jazz is that it's so much easier to actually place the chords, because that is what you do all the time and you practies. For instance, in Mendelssohn's "rondo capriccioso", I found a diminished scales in the right hand which can then help you for your jazz knowledge. Now coming back to Ravel or Debussy pieces, I often find so much more stuff which I didn;t understand before, and that really helps to point out the "juicy" passages in their works.

For started, kabalevsky's sonatinas are the best for relatively simple extended chords.

Hope this isn't too random!

wow that's cool..
I once had a teacher in jazz/freestyle.. he was awesome. He could just start playing a few notes and in a matter of minutes he was improvising like a beast. And it really sounded awesome. Too bad I moved and lost him, just had a couple of lessons from him.

Like you said, understanding of harmony is the key I think. It's been said that beethoven was a master improviser as well. I think he also must have known everything about harmony, that was to know in those days..