Jazz Piano and Improvisation for the Classically Trained Pianist: A Practical Guide On Where to Start, First Steps and How To Start Realizing Your True Musical Potential

By Justin Highland

As a Classically trained pianist from a young age, the author shares an incredibly personal story of diving head first into Jazz piano as a 21 year old Classical piano major in college. After only one semester into the program, he turned to Jazz and never looked back. The University at the time was Classical-focused and did not have an established Jazz program, which would be set in place a few years after graduating. After much intensive and rigorous self-study over the course of his 4 years while attending, the majority of the guide was wrtiten at the end of his time at the University in the fall of 2012, which tunred into his undergraduate thesis. 

 

The book discusses and addresses a wide range of topics; Including a compelling read about his first experiences in Jazz and why he made the swtich, why there was (and still is) a lack of good Jazz education/pedagoy, fallacies and misconceptions of improvisation from a Classical perspective, the Jazz Language, why you can't learn Jazz in a Classical way, the enigma and mysteries of practicing Jazz improvisation and how to address them, how to find key links from Classical training that can apply to Jazz playing, a listening guide, being your own teacher, a list of the best books on the market to help aid your study and a detailed list of 10 first steps to take to help aid the transition, among others. 

 

Highland offers a pethora of invaluable insight, advice and guidance to others with similar backgrounds who wish to get into the world of Jazz and imprvisation, as he went about it "The hard way." The main aim is to give clarity, direction and focus while saving the reader years of immense frustration, confusion and wasted time which he experienced. Since being completed in 2012 and published in 2023, there have been a few recent edits, giving a more well rounded total of all the knowledge and experience gained over the course of his 15+ years experiene with Jazz piano. However, the majority of the writing and material has largely been left unchanged since it's completion, to preserve the experience and perspective more closely related to his transition period and first few years experience.  

 

Justin Highland is an active pianist, composer and educator who resides in Los Angeles, California. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Justin Highland
• Release date: Dec 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223357032

Book preview

JAZZ PIANO AND IMPROVISATION

FOR THE CLASSICALLY TRAINED PIANIST:

A PRACTICAL GUIDE ON WHERE TO START, FIRST STEPS

AND HOW TO START REALIZING YOUR TRUE MUSICAL POTENTIAL

Justin Highland

© COPYRIGHT 2012/2023, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Table of Contents

Introduction     3

Background  4

Jazz Education: History, Methods, Issues and What’s Missing  9

The Jazz Language  18

Improvisation: Fallacies and Misconceptions  19

Why You Can’t Learn Jazz In a Classical Way  20

Classical vs. Jazz: Finding Key Links  26

Being Your Own Teacher  29

First Steps for Entering the Jazz World  32

How To Use Your Ears to Be a Better Musician  54

The Practice Routine: How to Practice Jazz (Brief Overview)  57

Solo Jazz Piano: Challenges and Many Possible Solutions  69

10 Essential Jazz Albums You Should Know (and listen to!)  71

Closing Remarks and Thoughts  73

Recommended Books To Help Aid Your Studies  74

Bibliography  75

Introduction

Transitioning from Classical piano into the Jazz/Contemporary world is often a very difficult and frustrating experience for the aspiring pianist, I know it most certainly was for me. I see so many people ask Where do I start? or I just wish I knew where to start! It can be so overwhelming and frustrating that we’re often left feeling lost, stressed and helpless trying to figure out the mysteries of Jazz and where to even start with the overwhelming amount of available information. More often than not, everything we learned in Classical training has little application to the Jazz, Pop and Contemporary idioms. It’s not uncommon to experience a great sense of what I like to call Musical culture shock soon after getting started. Why is this?? Shouldn’t we be able to easily transition since we can already play piano?! Let’s begin...

It seems there’s a guide for everything, yet in my own journey I’ve found there has been next to nothing written on this particular subject or from someone who has fully experienced this transition that has been any good. This guide will be written from the standpoint of my own experiences from having a Classical background along with the techniques, resources and the knowledge I’ve learned along the way that took me years to figure out, with crucial tips and points I wish someone would have told me to save hours and even years of struggle and frustration. Additionally, there will be discussions on Jazz/Jazz Piano Education and what’s missing, along with my college experience as a Classical Performance Major at a traditional Classical music school (which at the time had been transitioning into acquiring a serious and credible Jazz program that wasn’t in place yet), and my experience getting into the Jazz world. It should also be noted that much of this book was written in 2012, especially the section on Jazz Education, which has come a long way since then. It’s still worth mentioning because it also explains why there’s still such a lack of good Jazz and Jazz Piano education in general.

Background

Abrief biography of my musical background and training: I began playing piano at the age of 7 until an early teenager. At age 13, you couldn’t even pay me to practice because I hated it so much. I would have rather been doing just about anything else more fun, so I stopped playing piano completely for about six years, taking up the guitar instead. It was not until age 18 when I started getting inspiration to play the piano again and get serious about it.

I was raised in the traditional Classical way: Learning scales, sight-reading, playing from all the Alfred method books (among others), Hanon exercises, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach Inventions and Preludes  along with Music Theory workbooks. I was never the greatest note reader and would memorize and play things by ear most of the time. When I started college, I initially played Classical music and studied with the Classical faculty. I fell in love with Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, Bach, Beethoven, all the masters. The harmonies of Debussy and Ravel were particularly interesting to me, as was Chopin’s otherworldly sound and frequent use of chromaticism. I listened to Classical piano music 24/7. I was drilled in knowing and developing basic piano skills: Scales and arpeggios, triads in all inversions, I-IV-I-V-I progressions in all inversions in every key, sight-reading, etc. I started playing college level repertoire, Etudes and advanced pieces. My technique improved rapidly. I accompanied vocalists, practiced sight-reading and took many courses on traditional music theory, music history and ear training. Everything I learned was an essential foundation and I’m glad for the experience, however most of the theory, techniques and ear training was Classically based and little did I know it wouldn’t have much impact on playing in an improvisational or modern way. Regular and studious listening, ear training and at least basic music theory is a vital component of the Jazz curriculum and as much as it is important, it is simultaneously a vital as well as second nature aspect that the individual should not be thinking of consciously in the moment during a performance, which takes time. These details will be discussed later on in this book.

It wasn’t long until I started getting interested in piano music beyond the Classical realm after only one semester into the program. It first started with a Jazz history class, Jazz Styles, which was taught by the legendary Jazz trumpeter Ron Miles. The big moment came when I started hearing people play Jazz piano in the campus practice rooms. I was instantly and inexplicably drawn to the sound and harmony. It sounded so otherworldly and modern, with a sophisticated beauty that seemed so much more advanced than Classical harmony. I was curiously and instantly drawn to the sound; I just had to figure out what it was all about. It was the rich and highly sophisticated harmonies/chords along with listening to legendary Jazz pianist Bill Evans which was the spark to everything.

But to my dismay, after all those years of Classical training I couldn’t play Jazz or improvise to save my life! I was determined to explore the (premature) Jazz program at my university, which at the time was very small and only consisted of a Big Band and a few small ensemble classes. Fortunately private instruction for Jazz piano was available, which was the most recent development in the school’s music department. From that point on, I was on a mission to learn Jazz and improvisation.

Before auditioning into the Jazz program, I felt it was crucial to take a lesson with the head of Jazz piano studies. One week later I performed and passed the audition for the Jazz program by improvising on a B-flat Blues progression and enrolled in the Jazz Big Band ensemble under the direction of Ron Miles. Looking back, I’m surprised I even got in. On the first day of class for the big band ensemble I was a nervous wreck, not knowing at all what I was getting myself into. The class jumped right in and everyone started playing tunes from numerous chord charts, which at the time seemed daunting and totally unfamiliar to what I was used to; There were a bunch of mostly unfamiliar chord symbols that I had zero idea