Example of jazz and classical technique combined: Over the Rainbow (tutorial)

[creationrage]

I am a classically trained jazz pianist, and in this version of Over the Rainbow (including notes/changes), I used a lot of my classical training for technique and expression. I used my jazz training for rhythmic, re-harmonizational and improvisational alterations. Please check it out and tell me what you think!

Piano Lesson: Over the Rainbow - Improv, reharm, mystery, sadness, surprise (variations):

[dcstudio]

Wow, you are good--really good.  Like the camera angle

it's beautiful-- you are far more adventurous harmonically than I have ever been.  Love the "If I only had a Brain" reference in the intro.

...but then you know I am a fan...   

maybe I need to go back and read Effortless Mastery again... it seemed to work for you. 

[creationrage]

Thanks a lot dcstudio! Reading Effortless Mastery, along with Kenny repeatedly drilling his concepts into me, finally made me better at focusing on small details instead of always looking forward!

[dcstudio]

one on one with Kenny--it's no wonder you sound like that.   I've seen a few of his vids and I did read his book years ago.  I will confess that I have been watching your tutorial and using some of your ideas for my rendition of Somewhere--(a song I have been playing since before you were born I would imagine  ) 

I was kinda thrown into jazz--I somehow landed a steady gig in a restaurant...  I had studied jazz in music school.. but I had never played a full 3 hour jazz gig in my life.   I had to go out there and fake it for a while.  I was scared to death...  but it worked out.   

I must ask you..  do you scare the classical teachers in your studio with your jazz  improv?    lol.  In my experience, most hardcore classical pianists are fascinated by jazz players--or they are disgusted...  do you notice this?   The scariest of all are those who can play Liszt and Art Tatum without missing a beat. 

[creationrage]

one on one with Kenny--it's no wonder you sound like that.   I've seen a few of his vids and I did read his book years ago.  I will confess that I have been watching your tutorial and using some of your ideas for my rendition of Somewhere--(a song I have been playing since before you were born I would imagine  ) 

I was kinda thrown into jazz--I somehow landed a steady gig in a restaurant...  I had studied jazz in music school.. but I had never played a full 3 hour jazz gig in my life.   I had to go out there and fake it for a while.  I was scared to death...  but it worked out.   

I must ask you..  do you scare the classical teachers in your studio with your jazz  improv?    lol.  In my experience, most hardcore classical pianists are fascinated by jazz players--or they are disgusted...  do you notice this?   The scariest of all are those who can play Liszt and Art Tatum without missing a beat. 

We all have to fake it for a while, I feel like I did that for 10+ years! haha some of the other teachers are really interested in what I'm doing and say that they could never do that, but I came from the same background as them. It is definitely tough transitioning but just takes practice focusing on slightly different things. My feeling is, if you're a great classical player, you can be a great improviser as well. Keith Jarrett says that his improvisation skills come from playing classical music. Kenny has shown me that practicing classical music and jazz are not that different; in classical, you can play a piece over and over again until it is mastered and perfected. It should be the same with each melodic, harmonic or rhythmic exercise you're working on (the shorter the exercise the better). When someone asked Bill Evans what he practices, he replied, "The minimum". He didn't practice a ton of material, just a small amount of material to bring to mastery.

The closest person I've seen who can play Liszt and Art Tatum would be Eldar Djangirov, have you heard of him? Very scary indeed, he's a young phenomenon (but sometimes a little too technical for me).

[dcstudio]

checked out Eldar....wow...amazing chops.