Pianist Wayne McConnell examines The Modern Jazz Piano Trio The art of playing in a trio is very dear to my heart as a pianist. I’d say it is my most favoured format. I enjoy the textural combinations of bass, drums and piano but also the space between the instruments. It allows for focus […]
Pianist Terry Seabrook’s Jazz Tip of the Month No. 6 Encoding The Chord Changes With Some Colour Here’s a nice little idea to help the amateur improviser find the scales to use over the “changes” in a chord sequence. (“Changes” is a word meaning the chords, as they “change” from one to the next) […]
Pianist Wayne McConnell asks: Is Jazz Worth My While? The problem with learning jazz is that you really have to want it. There is no quick fix for learning this complex art form. There is no one scale and no one way of doing things. The best jazz musicians are able to take what has gone […]
SJM editor and vibraphonist Charlie Anderson reviews the Coursera online course in Jazz Improvisation. This MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is a free online course taught by Gary Burton, suitable for all instruments. This free, five-week course on jazz improvisation is run by Berklee via Coursera.org. It’s essentially the first five weeks of […]
The harmonic major scale in jazz “The harmonic major scale, what’s that?” I hear you say. “I’ve heard of the harmonic minor scale but not the harmonic major.” Well it’s an interesting scale and closely related to the harmonic minor: C harmonic minor: Now the harmonic major scale is a major scale except with […]
I recently ran a composition weekend at Brighton Jazz School. We had a very productive and inspiring few days and the students came up with some wonderful ideas. The article below came from that weekend and I hope it inspires you to get writing… Starting the creative process Since most of us are […]
Terry Seabrook’s Jazz Tip of the Month No. 4 THE MINOR II V I IN JAZZ This is a subject which has always challenged me as a player and a teacher because it doesn’t follow the fairly straight forward way you can approach a II V I in a major key. Simply put, when […]
Keith Jarrett is without doubt one of the foremost musicians of the 20th Century. His ability to craft melody in a way which brings out the beauty of Classical Music, the dazzle of Bebop, the feeling from the Blues and all with a touch that is so personal and unique. Above his many attributes (dazzling […]
Jazz Tip of the Month No. 3: Creativity and Improvisation Friday morning: Listening to Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, creativity guru professor Sir Ken Robinson related the story of how the Beatles started writing great songs with only two chords and when they heard that there was a third chord they got on a […]
It would be very easy for me to write this piece and focus entirely on what "jazz singers" do wrong – which is why I’m going to do exactly that! Well, not entirely. I'll start by saying that working with good singers is my favourite format as a pianist. I truly love the art of […]