The Enigma of Practicing Jazz

6 Minute Read

Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or even when you're advanced, you may be asking or have asked yourself at least one of the following questions:

How do I practice Jazz?

How do I practice efficiently?

How do I manage my time and balance the sheer amount of things I'm supposed to know?

Why is there no clear path?!?

To answer at least one of those questions, there is no clear path because Jazz is simply such an incredibly vast of area of study and lineage. Because of that fact, it can't be learned in a systematic, orderly way. You learn as you go along.

Unlike say Classical or other music styles, with Jazz your practice routines and practice material will shift fairly regularly on an ongoing basis.

Jazz practice is a dynamic and often enigmatic process. For many, it feels like constantly navigating uncharted waters, which can often lead to confusion and frustration.

But fear not! Understanding how your practice routine shifts and evolves can show you a light at the end of the tunnel.

In this post, we'll (briefly) explore why jazz practice is different, why it’s often perplexing, and provide a few practical tips on structuring your practice routine at different stages of your jazz piano journey (more specifics to come soon).

1: Why Jazz Piano Practice is Different from Classical and Other Piano Styles:

• Spontaneity Over Structure: Unlike Classical music, which is rooted in precise notation and everything is there for you, Jazz thrives on spontaneity and creativity in the moment. Your practice must embrace improvisation, you must be adaptable and willing to try things you may not fully understand or can wrap your head around, and not be afraid to explore and see what happens.

• Learning by Ear: Jazz musicians often learn by listening and transcribing, rather than reading or relying on sheet music. This aural tradition is essential for developing an authentic jazz feel, an understanding of the art form and vocabulary. Thus, learning to develop your ears and transcribe is an essential skill for any Jazz musician and should be a part of your practice, whether at your instrument or away from it!

• Personal Style Development: Jazz demands the cultivation of your own unique voice and creative spirit. Your practice should include experimenting with a variety of different styles and techniques to find your own unique personal expression.

• Complex Chords and Voicings: Jazz harmony is rich and complex, requiring a deep understanding of harmony: Extended chords, voicings, and substitutions, etc. Practice must focus on internalizing and being able to hear and play these harmonies in many different situations that are not always pre-planned.

• Chord Progression Mastery: Standard jazz progressions, like the 2-5-1 (ii V I) and Turnaround progressions (1-6-2-5, 3-6-2-5, etc.) are fundamental and essential for any Jazz musician to master. Your routine should include practicing these progressions in all keys and contexts.

• Modes, Pentatonic and Blues Scales: Jazz often utilizes modes and Blues scales. Integrating these into your practice helps in developing a versatile improvisational toolkit.

• Ensemble Playing: Unlike solo Classical performance, jazz is a social music and collaborative. Practicing with other musicians is crucial for developing interplay, developing your ears, communication and growing as a Jazz musician.

• Comping Techniques: Comping, or accompanying other musicians, is a key jazz skill. Practice should include developing different comping voicings, comping rhythms, patterns and styles. And not so obvious, LISTENING to recordings and how Jazz musicians, especially pianists and guitarists, comp!

• Rhythmic Flexibility: Jazz rhythm is fluid and requires a strong sense of timing and groove. Working on rhythmic exercises, playing with good time, swing feel and syncopation is essential.

Most readers are probably already familiar with most of those points above, but it's important to take note of those things when you're a beginner.

Especially for those of you who are beginners or novices, here's a few reasons why Jazz Practice is an enigma for most:

• Lack of Structure and Ambiguity in Progressing:

Jazz practice lacks the clear, step-by-step progression found in Classical training. This can make it difficult to gauge your own improvement and set goals. In some upcoming posts, I'll explain ways of mitigating this common and often discouraging phenomenon.

• Open-Ended Exploration: The open-ended nature of jazz and the sheer amount of things you could learn can feel overwhelming. There’s always more to learn and practice, which can lead to a sense of never being “good enough", overwhelm or discouragement.

• Individual Pathways: Each jazz musician’s journey is unique. Unlike Classical practice, which follows a more standardized curriculum, Jazz requires a highly personalized approach that you will eventually be able to use and teach yourself.

• Ear Training Challenges, Listening Skills: Developing a strong ear is crucial but challenging. Beginners often struggle with transcribing and understanding what they hear, or what to listen for.

• Harmonic Recognition: Recognizing complex jazz harmonies by ear is difficult and requires dedicated practice. Rest assured, after learning and playing many different voicings, melodic lines and the like and after much deep listening, you will be able to do so!

• Improvisational Recall: Being able to recall and reuse improvisational ideas in real-time and in different creative ways is a skill that takes significant time to develop.

The Myth of Talent:

• Misconceptions: Many believe that jazz proficiency is an innate talent. This myth can discourage diligent practice and the belief that improvement is possible.

Yes, there are those who are naturally talented at anything. But I can tell you right now that most Jazz musicians who are any good have worked their tails off for many, many years and have dedicated their lives to the craft.

• Hard Work Over Talent: Jazz mastery is achieved through persistent effort and intelligent practice, not just natural ability. You have to put in the hours and work, there is no getting around it. It takes time. More time than you think, want it to take, or think it should take.

• Community Learning: Engaging with a community of musicians and learning from others can demystify the process and provide valuable insights that you will not get playing by yourself, from books or YouTube tutorials. Playing with others is SO CRUCIAL for your growth and development if you're able to!

Ok ok, we get it. So what things should you be focusing on, given your level?

In this next section we'll very briefly look at each level. There will be much more upcoming posts and content getting into specifics, and eventually a deep dive course going over how to best structure your practice according to level, what specific things you should know as a Jazz pianist, and the crucial part: HOW and WHAT to actually practice!

Structuring Practice at Different Levels. Beginner Level:

• Focus on Basics: Start with fundamental scales (Major, Minor, Blues, Pentatonic), arpeggios, shell voicings, simple chord progressions and basic improvisation techniques such as using motifs, motvic development, repetition and imitation in your soloing.

At this stage you want to focus on RHYTHM and developing your swing feel, articulation, phrasing, touch, groove and playing in good time, and being able to keep the form.

Just as importantly, you should be LISTENING to Jazz as much as possible, as you're essentially learning a language. Listening is absolutely crucial when learning and mastering ANY language.

• Ear Training: Incorporate ear training exercises, such as 2-note interval and triad recognition (in any key, for all keys) and simple transcription. I recommend the goodEar Pro app and some easier solos to transcribe such as: Wynton Kelly on "Freddie the Freeloader", Thelonious Monk on "Bag's Groove" and most Horace Silver solos.

Listen to tunes: Listen to the melody, the harmony, the bass, the drums, the solos. Listen for voicings you may be playing, or for phrases you like and want to learn. Listen to each instrument by itself and how it works with the other instrumentation. Listen to internalize and know the form of the kind of tune it is.

• Blues Practice: Start with the 12-bar Blues and Blues tunes to develop a feel for jazz rhythms, basic improv techniques mentioned above, getting familiar with common forms and progressions but most importantly, improvisation itself.

Intermediate Level:

• Expanded Repertoire: Add more complex jazz tunes to your repertoire and study different styles and tune types: Bebop, Modal, Ballads and other Standards. Bossa Nova. Contemporary tunes.

• Advanced Harmonic Concepts: Work on altering dominants and using modes, tritone substituion and Turnaround variations, more intricate voicings while using a variety of scales and modes, rhythmic techniques, left hand techniques, right hand techniques. Free improvisation.

• Transcription: Regularly transcribe small parts of solos from jazz masters to deepen your understanding of jazz language and phrasing. Analyze their phrasing, articulation, rhythm and harmonic choices to deepen your understanding of jazz language.

Advanced Level: (Again, this is very broad and there will be more specifics coming soon)

• Personal Voice Development: Focus on developing your unique style and sound. Experiment with different techniques and approaches to find what resonates with you most. Is there a specific player or technique they use that you want to get into your own playing? I also recommend lots and lots of free playing and composing your own tunes and chord progressions.

• Complex Improvisation: Practice improvising over more challenging tunes with advanced chord changes and time signatures. Push yourself to explore new ideas and approaches, even if you don't feel ready.

Some examples may include incorporating hexatonic scales aka Triad pairs, altered pentatonic scales, super-imposing pentatonics and Tonal Systems, adding in progressions not found on Lead Sheets, developing your own introductions and endings for tunes you know. Learning a standard you know if a few different keys.

You should know AT LEAST ONE standard in all 12 keys at a competent level!

• Performance and Collaboration: Engage in regular performance opportunities and collaborations with other musicians as much as possible. Playing live and interacting with others is crucial for refining your skills and gaining confidence.

The evolution of your jazz piano practice routine is a journey of continuous learning and adaptation.

Jazz demands a flexible and multifaceted approach. While the path may seem like something you'll never fully figure out, understanding how to structure your practice at different stages can lead to significant growth.

Call to Action: Ready to deepen your jazz piano journey and get more specific and structured about your own practice? If you haven't already, Download my FREE 8-page guide and learn the 5 Steps on how to structure and organize your Jazz practice at any level.