How to play uptempo jazz - 6 tips for any instrument

[@Jazzcrime1]

Wow Sam Yahel on youtube! Lucky to find this channel. Your work with Joshua Redman made a big impression growing up and getting into jazz. Thanks you ^_^

[@JamesOKlippel]

Quite intuitive teaching style - for the intermediate. Dig it

[@juleslerisbe]

Thank you Sam, amazing tips and teaching skills ! Big fan of your music too. Cheers from a piano and hammond player from south of France !

[@paulrhodesquinn]

Free tips from Sam Yahel! Thanks so much Sam, I’ve always struggled to be fluent and smooth at very fast tempos. I really love your playing, all the very best from a Hammond trio player in the UK.

[@samyahel]

Another hammond player ! As Lonnie Smith (rip) once told me, "we a family. We got to stick together..."

[@gerrycappuccio4186]

Very helpful tips to play fast ! Thanks for sharing !

[@samyahel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jazzerfred]

Every line (speech and piano!) is gold dust

[@IrekMierzejek]

Thank you. I wish you good health 🌞

[@charlieherbert6610]

Brilliant video, thank you very much. Greetings from the UK :)

[@samyahel]

Thanks ! Another UK 🇬🇧 person. Welcome …

[@musicmichaelc]

Very helpful tips -- thank you very much! I also thoroughly enjoyed your masterclass last Sunday (that's how I found this channel).

[@samyahel]

Glad you liked it ! I enjoyed the masterclass as well… best, sam

[@thomasmartinscott]

Excellently presented! I liked and subscribed.

[@samyahel]

Thanks !

[@AlecKatz]

Nice one, Sam. You sound wonderful ✨

[@samyahel]

Alec thank you 🙏

[@carlosmiranda6419]

This is great Sam, thanks a lot !! Would you do a video about swinging and time feel?...this might sound simple for many, but it really differentiate a beginner from a pro, thanks again.

[@samyahel]

Actually the only thing that has ever helped my time feel has been transcribing solos as accurately as possible and playing along. Coincidentally I just posted a video about transcribing on this channel … I wonder if it might be helpful for you ?

[@carlosmiranda6419]

Hi Sam, absolutely, I watched that video too, it's great , Thank you !!

[@simonfivez2947]

Great video!! Thanks for these wonderful tips; they definitely help me on guitar!

[@samyahel]

Yes! Let’s get more non pianists stopping by 😀

[@insidejazzguitar8112]

I appreciate the tips - very helpful. Nicely done

[@samyahel]

Thanks for watching!

[@facundogarde2023]

Love it, thank you so much!

[@bubonic06]

This was great, liked and subscribed!!

[@samyahel]

awesome!

[@DomPusey]

Thanks for this great video! Big fan of your playing. I particularly like the tip about finding the biggest inefficiency.

[@samyahel]

Thank you ! That’s something I pulled from classical piano studies. But I find it works great in a lot of different settings. Works in sports too, by the way …

[@liamp.9201]

this makes a lot of sense, thanks!

[@samyahel]

Your welcome !

[@makistudio1592]

Good one, thx for sharing. Cheers from Poland. 👍&sub.

[@MarkEisenman]

Wonderful advice! Note to the students… It definitely helps to be playing a long form structure like (this example) Just One of Those Things (64 bars). Because the changes are actually going by slower than say 32 bar rhythm changes... So Just One of Those Things at 300BPM is like playing a 32 bar version at 150BPM and playing, which also helps think in longer units. Cherokee is similar...

[@samyahel]

Thank you Mark ! I love the idea of people weighing in on this channel to help each other improve . Actually, this approach can also work on songs like rhythm changes as well . You can conceive of most songs as having slower harmonic rhythms if you need to by dropping out certain chords. For example, in the first 2 bars of rhythm changes you can play as written I Vi/ ii V (2 chords per bar) but you could also drop one chord from each measure, playing I / V or also I / ii (1 chord per bar ). You could even play the first 2 measures as just I !!! (1 chord per 2 bars) Miles Davis does this a lot (for example on the great album” collectors items” ) . Best, Sam

[@MarkEisenman]

Yes, that’s exactly how I learned to deal with fast tempos. Further, this approach ties together ballads and fast tempos as opposite sides of the same (coin) problem.

[@bop9701]

Very helpful, thanks!!

[@samyahel]

You're welcome! Glad it was helpful

[@ALANWEEKES]

thank you UK

[@samyahel]

You're welcome

[@felixtani4030]

Hello! Your tutorial on Jazzheaven discussing the big beat was fantastic and this is a great continuation! I'm curious about the relationship between foot tapping and feeling the big beats. Is there a correlation, and is it recommended to tap your foot to feel the pulse, especially when playing solo? You need to feel some kind of pulse but tapping on one every second beat might feel a bit awkward if you know what I mean. Additionally, could you create a video focusing on left hand rhythmic comping and how to coordinate it with right hand lines? It seems like there's a scarcity of resources on this topic, yet it's arguably one of the most challenging aspects of jazz piano. Looking forward to your insights!

[@samyahel]

Hi Felix- thanks ! glad you are finding some of the stuff helpful. The foot tapping thing is a little tricky. In general i find when people are tapping their feet they tend to be in a smaller pulse. i usually dont recommend foot tapping to my students- i find it tends to make them more tense rather than more relaxed. It might be considered a controversial opinion, since there is plenty of examples of great players who tap their feet (oscar peterson, for example). Maybe experiment both ways, and see what feels best to you? I could see getting value of tapping your foot every bar or 2 as an interim way to get used to feeling the bigger pulse

[@felixtani4030]

@@samyahel Thank you for your insightful comment! I've personally spent most of my musical journey without tapping, but recently, I've been drawn to the bluesy style of players like Dr. John, where foot tapping is quite prevalent. Having been influenced by more modern pianists such as Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner myself, I understand the shift in perspective. Interestingly, my classical teacher (your’s to?) was Sophia Rosoff, I think she didn’t advocate foot tapping. Indeed, it's easy to become obsessed in these things !😂 As for Zoom lessons, do you offer them? I’d be delighted to connect with you even from Sweden where I live. Would be interesting to pick your on brain on some topics. Best Regards Felix

[@samyahel]

@@felixtani4030Yes, i offer online lessons- send me an email at [e-mail] and we can take it from there...best,sam

[@bassocanario]

Yes, Sam's Jazzheaven stuff on time feel is fantastic; I've watched it many times. Subscribe, thank you!

[@facumiranda]

great video!

[@samyahel]

Thank you

[@xavierperez3368]

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

[@pianostuff191]

Thanks!

[@samyahel]

Welcome!

[@lucamarino4293]

Bravissimo! Grande empatia e chiarezza. Grazie

[@samyahel]

Your welcome !

[@davidjadunath1262]

Never mind the pedal to the metal playing speed. The harmonies are "criminally" delightful.

[@samyahel]

Haha thank you

[@iamdarragh]

Great video Sam! Your playing is a huge inspiration so great to hear some of your wisdom in these video lessons too. Just a question about applying this to organ. How do you try to stay relaxed and feel a slower tempo even when your left hand (and possibly left foot) are playing every quarter note? This is something I struggle with a lot on organ.

[@samyahel]

few quick thoughts on this -one thought is that its very hard to be in the bigger beat if i'm tapping my foot on every quarter note on bass pedals. this might be the reason I've shied away from that approach over the years on organ. I would not play pedals on every quarter note on an uptempo but might use some pedals every once in a while to accent a note or create a quick pedal point

[@samyahel]

part of what I try to talk about in the video is being able to play small divisions while feeling bigger divisions. The trick here is to feel the smaller divisions as fitting inside the big ones. So on organ , playing quarter notes in the left hand bass I think the same principle would apply. one thing you could try is to play normally on the organ and then count different bigger divisions- for example count 1 for the first measure, 2 for 2nd measure up to 4 and back again, all the while playing quarter notes in the left hand. Try that for a few minutes and see if it helps at all.

[@iamdarragh]

@@samyahel Thank you Sam that is very helpful! I will try this technique. Yes I also find keeping time with my left foot extremely taxing on faster tempos, I usually lock up after a few choruses! Thank you for getting back to me, and I hope you continue to make these videos.

[@RoMercy]

What are you using as backing track (the bass and drums)?

[@samyahel]

IReal pro - link in the description

[@RoMercy]

Thank you, Sam@@samyahel

[@kiranraphael9445]

thank you!

[@arifturgan]

Thanks.. But 2. Tip claves?? Did not understand any

[@samyahel]

Sorry if that wasn’t clear! I was talking about how to overlay a Clave rhythm onto the form of whichever song your but honestly it’s a little bit advanced - It’s ok if that part didn’t resonate for you , I’m glad other parts were maybe more helpful

[@Benjiroyoface]

let me try to help: claves, like the little thick wooden sticks in afro-latin music that usually go something like pk.. pk, pk... pk pk... in case that was what stumped you, thats the best ive got haha

[@edwinkeys]

🙏👍👍👍

[@stevebr551]

That sounded like Lenny Tristano in the intro.