Where to go next?

[kewner]

Hello everybody,

This is my first post here but I've been lurking for a while and I really like the forum. I'd like to ask for some help since I'm really not sure what to do. A couple of years ago I fell in love with jazz piano and music in general and dived right into it. I joined a part time jazz course where I got theory, piano, and combo lessons. I'm in there for the second year now but I'm starting to have doubts about what to do next.

This course focusses very specifically on playing jazz in a combo, not so much on technique, reading, playing solo etc. Since I've never really had any 'regular' piano lessons I'm starting to feel like I'm missing something:

- I think my lack of good technique / general control over the instrument is limiting me.
- I'm a very slow reader. This might not be priority #1 in jazz but it would be a useful skill.
- This might be the most important one: although my favourite genre of music might be jazz I listen to many different genres and I think I'd enjoy playing a much broader spectrum of music. I'd like to be more confident and versatile at the piano.

I feel like the (classical?) fundamentals would help with these things. While playing jazz I often feel like I don't really know what I'm doing, and stuff like laying down new chords and new voicings takes a lot of time for me. I'm considering to quit this course (at least for a while) and take regular basic piano lessons to build a solid foundation to branch out from. Since music is a hobby for me I can't afford to put all my time in it, which leaves me no choice but to make priorities.

I'd really like to know what you think of this, cause I think there's mountains of knowledge on this forum. Are the fundamentals as valuable as I think, or am I just overthinking it?

Thanks!