What Time Is It?

Hey Improvisers, Have you ever seen those “Before and After” photos in magazines? The ones where they show someone before and after they get a new hair style or makeover? I was listening to someone play piano yesterday and noticed how they’re at an entirely new level of playing than they were a few months … Read More

Hey Improvisers! I love the musical intersection where the neighborhoods of blues, jazz, and R&B join together. Many of the great pianists grew up at this intersection, including Wynton Kelly, Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Leavell, Herbie Hancock, and Ray Manzarek. Other instrumentalists too, such as Miles Davis, Keith Richards, and Duane Allman to name just a … Read More

Hey Improvisers, It seems like everywhere we look these days, someone is telling us rules we need to follow: “You need to use 9th voicings to sound good playing jazz piano.” “Start with the blues before you play rock or jazz.” “You have to practice everything in all 12 keys.” Rules. And more rules. But … Read More

Wouldn’t it be great to play piano with the joy of a child again? Just imagine… we can sit down at our piano and simply delight in the process of making sounds, exploring chord progressions, creating melody after melody. And we can do it without self-criticism, with a sense of wonder, and with true joy. … Read More

Here’s how to become a happy and successful pianist: Ignore rules, but embrace principles Don’t say “sorry” when you make a mistake (smile instead) Practice because it’s fun, not merely to improve (you’ll improve anyway, I promise) Trust your talent Ride the groove Find a teacher who can take you where you want to go, … Read More

When Herbie Hancock was asked the difference between how he learned to improvise and the way the younger generations learn it, he said something that surprised me. He answered that the younger generations learn primarily from listening to note-perfect recordings, while he, in the late 1950s, learned primarily by hearing his musical idols play live … Read More

Hey Improvisers, When pianists tell me they have Practice Paralysis, they are usually referring to the feeling of being so overwhelmed by all the stuff they’re told they have to learn that they become emotionally frozen and end up doing nothing at all. This is a very common phenomenon and is understandable, due to the … Read More

Have you ever felt that everything about playing piano was difficult? That nothing comes easily to you? Or that you’ve been stuck at the same level for a long time? If so, you may want to try applying the Minimum Viable Piano concept to your musical development. Briefly, I got the idea for Minimum Viable … Read More

Hey Improvisers, It’s happened to all of us: we hear a new jazz tune that sounds great, we get excited about learning it, and then we sit down to play it for ourselves and… Yikes!!! We find it’s WAY too fast for us to play. When this happens, we usually just sigh, put the tune … Read More

When I was in college (UCONN during the mid-1980s: “Go Huskies!”), I read about a book about creativity. I don’t remember the title or author (maybe Rollo May?), but I do remember what surprised me the most about it: Flow. Yes.. Flow. The author had interviews dozens of creative people in all different fields, from … Read More