Beginning Jazz Pianists: Just dive in!

A lot of beginning jazz pianists get stuck at what seems to be a “steep learning curve” in order to get started with jazz. It seems like you have to learn all these complex chord voicings, scales, modes, styles, and theory just in order to get started.

Not true!!!

All you have to do is play a Dm7 chord with your left hand and improvise on the white notes with your right hand in a swing rhythm.

Yes, that’s it. If you have a friend who can walk a bass line for you, so much the better. Or you can play along with a drum beat from your keyboard.

Yes, it’s called a D Dorian mode, but don’t think about that too much. Just play. Have fun. In fact, have so much fun that you can’t wait to get back to the keyboard tomorrow!

That’s the attitude that will get you far with jazz. Then, when you’re ready, learn a little more about chords and modes. But just enough to give you more to improvise with.

I hear from too many jazz beginners who want to give up because they think they see all this theory and it’s overwhelming. Put all that aside for now and jump in with both feet. Experience jazz by doing it, and only learn enough theory to take you to the next step. The more you play, the more you’ll want to learn. And you’ll be able to apply the theory as you go along.

This is the way all the great jazz pianists learned.

Here are some jazz piano lessons to get you started. Have fun!

Take your left hand playing to a new level with my free ebook: Left Hand Techniques for Jazz Piano
You’ll also get my weekly jazz newsletter with practice tips and inspiration


Leave a Comment

Sign up for Blog Updates