Jazz Piano Tutorials – Introduction

I’m very excited to start work on my jazz piano tutorials. I really like the format (piano+notation+voice), and I’ll be able to demonstrate my ideas much better this way.  I’ve paused my writing of jazz articles and transcribing to focus on these for the moment. So! Patrons will have early access to everything that I […]

Jazz Counterpoint – Improvising Melody & Bass at the Piano

When musicians think about counterpoint, most likely they think about traditional fugues and “Bach” counterpoint.  In some cases, they may also think about renaissance counterpoint, species writing and the music of Palestrina.  When you listen to improvising pianists like Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch, and Egberto Gismonti, you will hear lots of interesting hand independence and a […]

Piano Transcription & Deep Analysis – Sugar Ray by Phineas Newborn Jr.

I thought I’d take a break from the grind of writing about hand independence and transcribe something instead. In my own practice, I revisited this tune by Phineas Newborn Jr. called Sugar Ray.  I encourage students to learn it because the melody has a very specific piano/band arrangement, it covers a good spatial range at the piano, […]

Hand Independence and Counterpoint

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Idiomatic Gestures, the Economy of Motion and Jazz Piano Improvisation

Idiomatic Gestures, the Economy of Motion and Jazz Piano Improvisation The Chromatic Scale and Anchor Points A Scale for Ascending — Idiomatic Gestures, the Economy of Motion and Jazz Piano Improvisation Before I get into the exercises, I’d like to share a few (incomplete) thoughts and observations that I’ve had over the last few years. […]

I Love Michael Bolton – Popular Music in Jazz Education

I have a mildly embarrassing confession to make.  I love Michael Bolton.  His music.  His voice.  His PASSION! I remember driving to baseball games with my brother Ryan.  Michael Bolton made regular appearances on our playlist, along with Michael Jackson, Michael Brecker, and selections from the Double Dragon soundtrack (from the Sega Master System, not […]

Adventures in Chiptunes (Part 7) – Final Thoughts

Recap: For over a year, I’ve been investigating chiptune music.  I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned about myself, my music, my creative process and more.  I hope some of this is relevant to you.  Thanks for reading. Here’s another excerpt of one of my chip tunes. It’s Dan Fortin’s tune But Still and Yet.   […]

Adventures in Chiptunes (Part 6) – Another Way to Express Musicality

Recap: For over a year, I’ve been investigating chiptune music.  I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned about myself, my music, my creative process and more.  I hope some of this is relevant to you.  Thanks for reading. Here’s one of my own chiptunes.  My composition, Lament. How do you teach musicality? Musicality is the x-factor in […]

Adventures in Chiptunes (Part 5) – Compositions Methods, Flow and Squircles

Recap: For over a year, I’ve been investigating chiptune music.  I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned about myself, my music, my creative process and more.  I hope some of this is relevant to you.  Thanks for reading. Here’s one of my own chip tunes.  From Myriad3‘s album, Tell, it’s my composition Mr. Awkward. Learning Classical Theory […]