What Time Is It?

I hope you’re doing well with your piano playing, and enjoying every minute! This is actually an important aspect of music, and much more than “just words.” Every accomplished musician I know get to where they are today because they enjoyed the act of playing music at every step, even when they didn’t sound “good.” … Read More

Learning jazz piano is like climbing a mountain: we can either go straight up the incline, or take a more winding, gradual path. The mistake that the majority of aspiring jazz pianists make is they take the path that’s wrong for them at a given time. We can understand this better if we look at … Read More

I’ve been listening to a lot of Louis Armstrong lately, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer to me how much we pianists can learn from his music. In a way, it’s ironic that we even have to remind ourselves of this, since Armstrong is universally acknowledged as a jazz giant like no other. He was … Read More

Art Tatum is such a giant in the jazz world that most jazz pianists despair of ever trying to play like him. I remember attempting to play a Tatum transcription when I was in college and giving up after an hour or so, unable to play even a single measure. It was painful! (By the … Read More

Jazz is a marvelously flexible art form, and when combined with an instrument as versatile in nature as the piano, the musical possibilities are endless. Steve Swallow’s composition “Hullo Bolinas” is a great vehicle for exploring the musical and textural range of the piano, since it’s written in a way that doesn’t lock us into … Read More

As musicians, we’re sometimes in the position of performing for an audience, whether in-person or through video, live streaming, or whatever. And when we’re performing we’re not alone: there’s an audience and this brings with it a very important question. What’s our goal as performers? I think we all have to make decisions as performers, … Read More

All over the world today, people are getting back into playing piano on a daily basis. Why did we stop? So many people are baking bread nowadays that the yeast manufacturers can’t keep up with the demand. Why did we stop? Once a week, my neighbors and I bring chairs out into our hallway (6 … Read More

We all have some ways in which we hold ourselves back with our development as pianists. For many of us, the idea of “I want to practice this piece of music because I’ll sound great once I master it!” can be a big boost of energy, but at the same, time, it often is the … Read More

Hey everyone! I’ve been posting on YouTube almost every day, and it’s been great to hear from all of you in the comments. Many of you have been especially supportive of what we may call my “healthy frame of mind” videos. Here’s one of these recent videos, which I call “Learning 102.” If we pretend … Read More

Have you ever played Cole Porter’s music? When I started playing professionally, I never really thought about Cole Porter’s music. Oh yes, I played his songs in various situations. I accompanied cabaret singers who sang his songs “Every Time We Say Goodbye” and “The Physician.” I played keyboards for the show “Anything Goes.” Once I … Read More