Week 8 – How to Play Jazz Piano (Improv Attempts)

One of my biggest challenges in learning how to play jazz music has been figuring out how to practice.  With classical music, my practice has always been very “prescribed” – technical warm ups and practice, followed by working on specific pieces. This might include hands separate practice, slow metronome work and focusing on small sections.  In fact, it was very rare that I would do a full run through of a piece because it was not an efficient use of my practice time.  With my jazz learning project, I feel like I am always jumping to the “full run through” phase without taking the time to build a solid foundation.  Looks like I need to take my own advice! This week I tried slowing down and focusing on some of the fundamental aspects of crafting a solo.  My recap this week highlights that I have a long way to go!

What I worked on:

• Started practicing how to solo (improvise) over “Autumn Leaves”.
• Scales, scales and more scales!

Example of different scale patterns

Wins:

• I found a few great resources that help me understand why you choose particular scales to create your solos. It was a nice connection to my previous scale practice from studying classical music.

Fails:

• I underestimated the amount of practice needed to incorporate these news scales in my soloing – I need more time.
• I felt very “stiff” – afraid of playing the “wrong note”. I need to loosen up!

Resources used:

• “Autumn Leaves” sheet music – Musicnotes.com
• “Autumn Leaves” lead sheet
• “Autumn Leaves” Scales for Improvisation
• “Autumn Leaves” Arrangement (drums/bass backing track starting at 5:00)
• Soloing over “Autumn Leaves”
• “Autumn Leaves” – 3 Tips for Jazz Players

• Learn How To Apply 10 New Piano Chords To The Jazz Tune Autumn Leaves

Next week will be my final learning project post. I plan to reflect on my progress over the last two months and make a plan for future practice.  This is only the beginning of my jazz journey!