6 Tips for Practicing Jazz Piano for Beginners
Learning how to play the jazz piano can feel like learning a new language. Each time you learn a new scale, a new chord or lick, is a vocabulary on its own that can be compared to a word in a sentence. Learning new “words” is important to any language, but if you can’t construct a full sentence, it is hard communicating what you are trying to say.
If we can use the same metaphor we have been looking at, learning jazz is just like speaking in sentences. Once the tunes are known, then applying any new musical idea to the jazz music becomes easy. So, the first step in learning the tunes of jazz for starters is to learn the chord changes and the melody, and you will be on your way to playing some jazz music on the keyboard. Now, let us look at 6 tips which you can use as a beginner, to learn how to play the jazz piano.
1- Plan your goals.
Realistic goals need to be set when learning how to play an instrument. Sitting and playing the chords you learned on the first day over and over will not help you to progressively grow your skills. Instead, select music you love and aim at learning how to play it within a month. This will boost your interest in learning how to play the piano even faster. You can also divide your goals into small targets. For instance, you can learn the first five lines in the first week, and so on.
2- 15 minutes for a training session.
It is hard to discipline yourself into learning the jazz piano for a few hours a day in a week, especially if it’s your first time. However, scheduling the time to practice into your daily calendar can work. You can begin practicing for 15 minutes day, and it will grow as you progressively learn how to play. When you allocate small chunks of time into learning how to play the piano, you will have a fun experience after a short time.
3- Patience is a virtue.
It is not easy to learn music instruments. It takes some time for your muscles and brain to sync the music reading and playing. Therefore, prepare yourself for trial and error. You will have to adopt an attitude of patience during your training lessons as you navigate your way through the fundamentals of playing the piano. Interestingly, there was a research done at Brown University which indicated that sleeping between practice sessions increased the learning curve. So, if you get tired or frustrated, take a rest.
4- Find a guru.
Finding a great teacher is important to learning how to play the piano to the best standard; event a great contemporary player like John Legend also had a teacher who helped him find his way. Hiring a private tutor is expensive and difficult to integrate into your busy schedule, you can check out platforms like Skoove where you will learn easily from the computer anytime.
5- Take it slow.
Instead of going through the practice sessions fast to complete the piece, consider taking baby steps to avoid mistakes. Your fingers and brains memorize mistakes much faster. If frustrations settle in fast, it will lead you to repeating the mistakes in the future. To avoid this scenario, slowly practice and let your brain get the right information which will make you become a pro in a short time.
6- Begin with the end in mind.
Before any sporting event, athletes are usually taught this technique before the events start. They are normally asked by their coach to visualize themselves finishing the race, and imagining how they would feel after a win. The same principle applies to learning how to play the jazz piano. You have to imagine yourself playing flawlessly, getting all the notes right and with a perfect rhythm; you have to hear the piece in your head before you play it. You will be shocked at how fast you improve once this technique is engraved in your mind.
