A question I get asked relatively often is: “Well, all this theory is well and good; but how should I actually practice playing Jazz?” So before we dive into the some heavy Jazz Theory, I thought I might say a few words about how you should put this theory into practice.
Do It 12 Times!
Most of the Giants of Jazz practiced every day, for hours at a time.
- John Coltrane was fascinated by scales so he practiced them for hours, running up and down each scale in every key
- Bill Evans spend hours practicing every possible chord, in every possible inversion, in every possible voicing, in every possible key
- Charlie Parker famously spent four years practicing up to 15 hours a day the song. He would take a song (say, Cherokee) and learn to play it in every key
You may have noticed a pattern here. If you want to be a highly competent musician, you need to learn to play and practice everything in every key. Many Jazz songs change keys often and quickly and in odd ways (think Giant Steps and much of Wayne Shorter’s stuff). The best way to be able to play these songs well, is to be comfortable playing in every key. Mind you, this is quite challenging and I’m certainly not competent in every key. If you don’t have the time (as most people don’t), at least learn to play everything in a few keys – all taken from the left of the circle of fifths (i.e. the flat keys). Flat keys are much more prevalent in Jazz than sharp keys, so if you’re going to neglect anything it may as well by the sharps!
Finger Exercises
Classical music teacher LOVE finger exercises. While they can be boring, monotonous, and painful, they do also server a purpose. Personally, I think playing actual songs is much more interesting and useful than just playing scales, arpeggios or finger exercises. But if you want to build up your speed, dexterity, and finger technique – and you can stomach a lot of repetition – then they can be very useful. Learn to play them slowly at first, with a metronome, then gradually increasing the speed. There are plenty of ‘finger exercise’ textbooks out there for you to use, just Google it. I recommend:
- The Virtuoso Pianist by Charles-Louis Hanon (a classic); or
- Jazz for the Young Pianist by Oscar Peterson.
The Ultimate 2-5-1 Exercise Guide
But if you’re going to play finger exercises, you may as well make them relevant to Jazz. In future lessons we are going to cover a number of important Jazz Piano techniques and concepts, including:
ii-V7-I’s are the most common chord progression found in Jazz, so many many many teachers recommend practicing them as an exercises. You want to practice them:
- In every key;
- Modulating by intervals commonly used in Standards (down a tone, semitone or perfect fifth);
- With both hands;
- Using different chord voicings (we’ll learn about these later); and
- Incorporating other widely used Jazz Piano techniques.
Luckily for you, I have written out ‘The Ultimate 2-5-1 Exercise Guide’ in sheet music. To download it Click Here. You may also want to watch the video at the bottom of this page for an explanation of what the exercises.
Putting Theory into Practice
After you’re sick to death of playing finger exercises, start playing some actual Jazz songs. Below are a few ideas/suggestions on how to play them. For more details on what to play and how, check out this lesson.
- Pick a (simple) Jazz Standard and learn to play it in every key
- Learn to play it using different chord voicings in your left hand
- Learn to play it with a walking bassline in your left hand and the melody or chords in the right hand
- Learn to improvise over the chords/bassline
- Learn to play it using two handed chord voicings
- Learn to play it with some chord substitutions or a full reharmonisation
- Find a recording of a jazz solo that you like, and transcribe it – or at least find some licks that you like and try replicate them
- Play along with a song or a backing track OR even better, play it with a friend/band
- Listen to lots of different versions of that Jazz song (for inspiration).
How and When to Play
So that partly covers what to play. What about how and when to play. This is up to you. You need to figure out what works for you and stick to it. Many people like practicing first thing in the morning so that it’s done for the day. Other’s prefer playing in the evening when they can relax after work/study. This is entirely up to you. What I would say, though, is:
- Practice for less time but more often. I think there’s more value in playing 20 minutes every day than 60 mins every 3 days.
- Block out a specific period of time (say 30 minutes in the morning before work – from 7-7:30am)
- Create a practice regime – for example you could start with 5 minutes of finger exercises, 10 minutes of revision (playing what you have already learned), and then 15 minutes of learning something new (a new song, or a new technique over an existing song, etc.)
- Set aside time to learn some theory AND to listen to some Jazz
Practice Tips
I’ll close with some final practice tips:
- Practice everything – scales, licks, voicings, improvisation and songs – in every key, especially your weak keys
- Accuracy is more important than speed – so practice everything slowly. Speed will come naturally if you are accurate
- Only gradually build up speed – this will help you learn to think fast. There’s no point playing a lightning fast solo if all you’re doing is spewing out cliché licks and riffs. You want to be creative, even at a fast tempo – that requires you to think fast, which first requires you to play and think slow
- Listen to and transcribe everything
- Play along with songs and backing tracks (or join a band/jam session!)
- Record yourself and listen back to it – see what you like and dislike
- And finally, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes mean you’re learning AND they are what make Jazz interesting to listen to (unlike those boringly perfectionist Classical musicians!).
The best way to learn to play Jazz is really to listen to lots of Jazz, transcribe lots of Jazz, and play with others. Don’t be afraid to ‘borrow’ other people’s licks or ideas. Remember: creativity is just disguised theft. Every great Jazz musician has transcribed a Charlie Parker solo and learned to play it note for note. In fact, some improvisations become so popular and well known that they become songs in and of themselves. For example, Coleman Hawkin’s solo over Body and Soul became so popular that it has been arranged into a song (by Benny Carter), and the melody has even had lyrics added to it (by Eddie Jefferson).
Structuring Your Practice Routine
Your practice routine should be structured around your goals. As a rule, you should practice the thing you want to achieve (e.g. if you want to improve your sight reading, practice sight reading…etc.). Below is a suggested, generic practice routine. You can use this as a template and modify it to fit your needs (e.g. by adding ear training one day a week). In general, I tend to recommend playing fewer drills and more songs as I find this to me more enjoyable and better at keeping you motivated to play. Some of the benefits of the below routine are:
- You allocate some time to work on technical finger exercises/drills
- You allocate some time to revise songs so as to keep them fresh in your memory
- You spend most of your time actually playing songs, applying theory, and building your repertoire
Check out the video below for more details and examples of how to implement this routine in practice.
How to Practice Jazz
Structuring Your Practice Routine
The Ultimate 2-5-1 Exercise Guide