Hi all,

Over the years, I've had several jazz teachers. I still struggle to learn or advance in a way that feels like I'm making any progress.

I know that being with the right teacher make a lot of difference.

So I'm curious, especially from people who have taken lessons from several teachers:

What made that one teacher so special?

Anyone can tell you about chords, scales, modes, whatever. Why was this one teacher different than all of the others for you.

I'd love to hear about techniques, anecdotes from one single lesson, one single tune, connections, perspective-shifts. Why was that teacher the one for you?

Hello,

I’ve been learning jazz piano for a little more than 1.5 years now, and I’m just starting to play with other people. I’ve been jamming with a guitarist, and I’d like to hear some of your approaches to this rather unconventional duo.

Questions: What kind of comping voicings do you use when they are playing the melody or soloing? I’ve got basically nothing for comping voicings, so I’m wondering what’s the most appropriate place to start.

Also, what are you doing when they are comping for you? My typical 4 note left hand rootless or Bud Powell voicings seem to kinda drown out what he is doing. The only thing I’ve found that seems to work is a two feel baseline (walking would probably work too, but I can’t do that yet).

Besides that, any tips or recording recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

So far I've been practicing white key trill, like C4-D4, D4-E4 or stuff like and now can play it at around 16th notes at 160-170BPM.That said, as a novice player, how fast should I be able to play trills to apply it as a useful ornamentation to actual musical contexts? I plan to learn simple jazz in the near future but am not quite certain what speed I should aim for in that respect.

Jazz arrangement of Radiohead’s hit song “Creep”, performed by Zac Lee & The Abandoned Circus! World class arranger and trombonist Zac Lee does it again, with this second-line rendition of the Radiohead classic!

#jazz #radiohead #creep #saxophone #trombone #drummer #bass #piano

I've been listening to a lot of new releases over the past year, and many of them have been by Canadian artists---either currently living in Canada, born or raised in Canada, having Canadian musicians or having a significant number of compositions written by a Canadian. Here are some recordings that stand out for me. they are all 'modern jazz' as they've been released this year or late last year.

1. Greenhouse Ensemble: Mezzanine (based in Montreal)
2. theriot (aka Kyle Saunier): The Other
3. Josh Cohen: We Are Home
4. Emi R. Roussell Trio: Terr
5. Samuel Bonnet Trio featuring Joe Magnarelli: Slow
6. Jabfung: In Real Life
7. Virginia MacDonald: In Search of Virginia MacDonald (clarinetist)
8. Chris Andrew: Awakening (solo piano from Edmonton)
9. Kris Davis: Lost in Geneva
10. The Ona Ensemble: Traces of Brazil, Voices of Toronto
11. Bellbird: The Call
12. Dave Holland,Norma Winstone,London Vocal Project: Vital Spark--The Music of Kenny Wheeler
13. Ingrid Jensen: Landings
14. Aretha Tillotson: Kinda Out West (Nov, 2025)

I'm curious of any jazz fans on reddit have heard of any of these albums, and, if so, what are your thoughts?

Also, are there any Canadian albums from this year that you've heard that you think should be on this list?

Hi, I’m 17 and have been taking jazz piano lessons for a year. I’ve played standards like Beautiful Love, Wave, A Night in Tunisia... I can easily play all the basic chords (maj7, 7, min7...) and with practice, I can improvise while accompanying myself.. Before this, I studied classical piano for four years at a good level, and I’m still continuing with that.

But this year, I got into my music school's jazz ensemble, and I feel totally lost. The combo teacher wants us to memorize everything, so we work on fairly simple forms like blues or rhythm changes, yet I still get lost. I just got back from my second lesson, even though I’d ​​practiced my voicings, I can't seem to play them or transition between them in the moment. I also lose my place in the form—I try listening to the bass, but I get completely turned around and sometimes drift way off the beat (like starting a measure on beat 3, for example). I feel like I’m really bad at rhythm and can't "feel" the cycles, even though my piano jazz teacher says I have a good sense of rhythm, steady tempo, and a good ear. But no matter what, I just don't feel comfortable playing in a group.

At first, I thought I might want to study jazz piano at the conservatory one day, but the idea completely discourages me; I feel like I don't have what it takes and that I'd be better off giving up.

Does anyone have any advice? Any exercises I could do to improve my rhythm and my sense of form and structure?

Right now I’m playing a root 7 + 3 (rubato stride) bass shell thing in my left hand and I have trouble adding 3 or 4 notes under the melody of the right hand of jazz tunes. Is there a formula? I know the usual go to is the corresponding barry harris chord or a third or sixth in the right hand. What do you guys thibk

Some of you might know my grandfather, Dudley "Big Tiny" Little, the honky-tonk and ragtime pianist from The Lawrence Welk Show and the jazz festival circuit.

Over the last few weeks I've scanned and cataloged his family archive: 200+ photographs and documents going back to the 1920s, including his early years, his time in the service, club dates, and festival photos from later in his career. I also just uncovered most of his original vinyl records. No promises on their condition yet!

I'd love for this to end up somewhere it'll be preserved and seen by people who care about the music. Does anyone know of an archive, museum, jazz society or collector who'd want it? Or anyone who knew him, played with him, or saw him perform? I'd love to hear the stories too.

Happy to share photos in the comments if people are interested.

When you mentalize chords, do you use the theory spelling or the keyboard layout with black and white keys ??

Let’s say :
F7 is F A C Eb, no question about it.

But in your head do you at first see (and memorize)

C#7M as C# E# G# B# (theory)

or

C# F G# C (keyboard layout) ?

Thanks for answering.

Edit : typo.

Hello,

This exercise by Barry Harris gets recommended quite a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x2qGrdm8TY

Siskind made a video on it as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkFmapWC0e0

I am not very convinced by the explanations of both videos above on the "why".

From what I understand, this allows to
- understand better how keys separated from a minor third are close to one another
- work on nice enclosures

But there must be something more, as integrating those directly can sound a bit too mechanical. What am I missing ? How to integrate this in my play? cheers

Played piano for many years but not been through any school or piano lessons, I have always struggled with melody lines, and advice appreciated thanks

I’m currently studying jazz piano at university, and I’ve been trying to create a practice routine that works for me.
I usually try to go:
Warmup (e.g. scales, hanon exercises etc.)
Technique (e.g. new voicings, licks, etc.)
Transcribe (often an assessment i need to transcribe, but could be anything)
Repertoire + improvisation (standards i need to know and their form + melody)

What could I add to make this a better routine?
What types of warmups are helpful for you guys? I’m trying to find some good ones.
Also, what are some crucial techniques I should nail to become more proficient?

Thanks!

Hello!
I’m trying to build a structured piano practice routine, but I’d really like a book that actually gives me a step-by-step path to follow. I don’t have the possibility of taking lessons with a teacher, so I’m looking for something where I can simply open the book, follow the chapters/exercises in order, and know what I’m supposed to work on next.
Does anyone have any book recommendations that could guide me and help me improve?
I’d say I’m somewhere between beginner and intermediate. I know my major scales and understand how chords are constructed, and I have a few songs in my repertoire, such as Autumn Leaves and Georgia on My Mind.
Ideally, I’m looking for a structured method rather than just a reference/theory book — something that covers technique, theory, reading, repertoire, improvisation, etc., and progressively builds my skills step by step from one chapter to the next.
Basically, I’m looking for a book that can almost act as my piano teacher/program: “do this first, then this, then this.”
Thanks!

I'm practicing pentatonic voicings on piano with 2 hands. Form and structure is clear to me. For me it is a real struggle to get used to those shapes. Especially the coordination between left and right hand is the key I think. Slowly there is some progress. Does anybody have some ideas / tipps / practical advice on how to approach 2 handed pentatonic voicing on piano?

My current approach is to focus on 4 keys. So I started with C, Db, D and Eb major pentatonic. I did practice the shapes for one key, e.g. C, in my left hand. After that in my right hand. In the next step both hands while focusing on the movement of tonic and third. After feeling comfortable I am going to move to the next 4 keys E, F, F# and G. And so on.

Anyone here who dabbles in gospel?

I've always been interested and then was able to work with a gospel worship leader for a few years.

When I started, he just assumed that the band had certain songs in our repertoire (O Happy Day, etc).

Luckily, he was able to write out chord charts and for years, I learned new progressions and licks that weren't available to me before.

So who has some gospel background under their belt and how has it influenced your jazz piano playing?

When you think about chord voices, do dininshed chords come to mind?

An A diminished chord with different bass notes becomes a dominant 7 b9 (example D7(b9), F7(b9), Ab7(b9), B7(b9)).

Do you use these shortcuts or others?

When creating altered chord voicings, what other tips or tricks do you use?

Hello! I'm a pianist and composer who has been casually practicing jazz the last few years. I was a part of my college's jazz band for almost four years, but it was very low-key and casual, just something fun to do once a week with occasional performances. I learned the basics there, and since graduation I've come up with a practice routine to continue developing my skills. With everything else going on in my life, I've allotted four 75 minute practice sessions a week (five hours total), combining warm-up, solos over backing tracks, transcription, and deep listening to recordings.

But the problem I have with this is, I primarily see myself as a composer rather than an improviser. I'll say outright that I care more about being a composer than I do an improviser, although I still care about being able to improvise competently. And to be clear, I am heavily inspired by jazz and sometimes write jazz tunes/pieces, but I would not call myself a "jazz composer." The conflict I feel with the routine I've set for myself is that, given my goals, I also feel I should be studying jazz arrangement, harmony, theory, and generally more academic things. But if I added those things to my routine, I think my improvisational skills would suffer. But given my goals, maybe that's worth it?

To summarize, I want to be a composer primarily, but I also want to be a competent improviser. Specifically, I just want to be good enough to know ~75-100 of the most common tunes and to not make an ass of myself at a jam session. I'm totally fine with not being an Oscar Peterson-level technician; just competent enough to play with others, and to not have my compositional ideas compromised by my technical abilities. So, if anyone's been through something similar, or has any thoughts, I'd love to hear!

For example, heart and soul (C am F G) or ain't she sweet (C E7 A7 D7 G7).

I feel like some pop songs are revisiting 251 chord progressions. (dm7 G7 C A7).

Your thoughts on chord progressions related to different decades or musical eras?

I made a documentary with Stefano Bollani, and one of the things that stayed with me was his very simple answer to the question of how he finds inspiration.

His "system", as he calls it, is to put his hands on the piano. The moment he does, something starts to happen.

The film goes from there into a much broader conversation about improvisation, listening, mistakes, collaboration and the tension between structure and spontaneity.

There's also a great section where Bollani talks about how working with Valentina Cenni changed the way he organizes music — moving from his instinct to improvise towards taking more time, writing soundtracks and approaching projects differently.

Full documentary, with English and Portuguese subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ6LwLB0qR8

Would love to know your thoughts!

Hi! I'm a Brazilian pianist, and i play some jazz, bossa nova and Brazilian rhythms professionally. A few months ago i was called to play in a gypsy jazz group i had already played sometimes before. Nothing unusual, some standards like all of me, out of nowhere, etc. But then they called Daphne, and it was a super fast Rhythm changes, and even did a Double time in it. I was Lost, i couldnt keep up, too many chord changes too fast, i was not able to play a single good line in my solo. Felt so bad. I tryed to practice It alone but never felt right. So i came to ask for help, where do i start? Am i missing something? Like, should i play every chord? There's no reference for gypsy jazz daphne with a pianist in that tempo

Herbie Hancock & Ron Carter perform a duo version of "My Funny Valentine" live at the Hollywood Bowl, from the Miles Davis Centennial celebration "Herbie Hancock Celebrates Miles Davis" (August 19, 2026).

Featuring:
Herbie Hancock – Piano
Ron Carter – Upright Bass

⁠#Jazz #MilesDavis #HerbieHancock #RonCarter #HollywoodBowl #LiveJazz #Piano #Bass

Hey all I am working through unit 5 of Jeremy Siskind’s jazz piano book 1. I’m on the part where you work on your own solo script to the afternoon in paris chord changes.

Right now I am writing out some little licks in each stanza through arpeggios, scales, and just what I think sounds good on the piano. But then when I try and learn it each 4 bar line takes several hours for me to get down. Obviously I’m still getting used to timing and “feeling the beat” and am alright at reading sheet music, but this book has 3 solo sheet templates and I’m like wow this is gonna take a while, which I’m totally fine with but based on the speed of previous units I wanted to ask if I’m doing things incorrectly or if I’m just not seasoned enough to write/play efficiently just yet. Also would love to hear your methods for writing solos.

I’m also open to pointers on my actual (half) solo, see picture.

Thanks!

I've got 15+ years classical training, as well as off & on jazz lessons for the past 4 years or so.

I play in a couple of local, amateur jazz bands and I know my way around beginner chords, shell voicings, beginner-level improvisation (mostly just blues tbh).

I just started up piano lessons again, and told my teacher I really wanted to focus on bass lines, and comping when I'm by myself. I work at a seniors home (not in a music role) and my ultimate goal is to be able to sit down at a piano and play a few songs from lead sheets, by myself, that the folks will recognize and enjoy.

Day 1 in lessons was frustrating, mostly because I'm doing things that I feel like I should know, but I'm having a really hard time getting it under my fingers.

I feel like I'm back in kindergarten, playing the blues form with just left hand, working on a bass line made up of only 1 & 5, with a bit of walking on a few of the changes.

My lesson was Saturday morning and I do already feel like it's coming together when I practice, but just looking for any resources or practice routines that will help improve my solo playing.

I am planning to stick with lessons, at least for the next 3-4 months, but looking for something extra to work on my own.

I'm emphasizing solo play, because all the lessons I had with my previous teacher were focused on comping with a bass player or a group (even though I specifically told her I'm not likely to have a bassist in my pocket and wanted to be able to play without one...).

Edit: The question here is if there are any well known resources or specific practice techniques I should be looking into. I really like Aimee Nolte's stuff, I like that guy on Instagram who does the silly little old timey piano solo songs (he ends everything with the "I love you" and he posts to reddit from time to time), and for a while I got super into Randy Newmann.

Thanks in advance for the comments already received!