How to Practice Playing Jazz

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This Jazz Piano Tutorial is about How to Practice Playing Jazz. I explain how some of the Giants of Jazz practiced and give suggestions on how best to structure your piano practice to get the most out of it.
Personally, I think playing actual songs is much more interesting and useful than just playing scales, arpeggios or finger exercises. Now you obviously need the latter, but once you have a minimum level of competency then I think playing songs is more enjoyable and valuable. And playing Jazz, in the end, really should be enjoyable.
Some practice tips:
- Practice everything in every key
- Accuracy is more important than speed
- Listen to and transcribe everything
- Play along with songs and backing tracks
- Record yourself and listen back to it
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
If you enjoyed this Jazz Piano Tutorial on How to Practice Playing Jazz, please subscribe.

[@manoelbueno9997]

Love the way he says over and over again "everything in every key" 😄

[@alexfont]

Manoel Bueno actually I hate it 🤣

[@vmdp8790]

But it’s true Sooooo it’s sad

[@gabrielmusicspeak3311]

this is so true instead selling topic like "learn jazz in 7days" approach

[@DrummerJacob]

And when you're done with that, play each note in every key :)

[@tharyt-one6304]

All your videos are extremely helpful. This is definitely beefing up my solo piano game. Side note, could you please do some sort of aural skills tutorial. I have a hard time playing what I hear. Which is making it very hard to learn the jazz language. But I do think this video is helping since it's giving each song a solid foundation to rest on. Great stuff my friend!

[@johnnybravo1041]

I hate your channel simply because I hadn't found it sooner. Your content is some of the most valuable I've found so far.

[@toshirobozdogan2207]

They had us in the first half not gonna lie

[@RobertBryk]

excellent A+ advice, im 39, and just cleaning up and setting up my piano again after years and years. I took jazz lessons from 17 to about 25. And you summed up just about everything that I was taught. THANKS!!!!!!

[@markovcornelius]

"Practice makes perfect. But nobody's perfect... So why practice?" - Kurt Cobain Lol just kidding tho! 😂 Thank you so much for the tips! 🙏🏼

[@rik-keymusic160]

it's because of that question... :p

[@dudeman5303]

Yeah but not everyone needs to practice either. You learn what you have to to do what you want to do with music. Kurt did his own thing with minimal theory knowledge or technique, but he did it very well. He practiced what he had to to get what he wanted out of music. I often tell myself I need to practice and learn everything there is to practice and learn before I can be happy with my own playing, but really the satisfaction should be with the playing itself and the learning aspect should be seen as a way to get your thoughts out easier and in a more complex/nuanced way. Some people don't need much theory or practice to say what they want to instrumentally, and that's totally cool.

[@Nikora.Biddle]

@@dudeman5303 You literally just summed up my whole thought process. I'm still a beginner, all I want to achieve is to play my thoughts/ideas vice versa. I wish I had someone to converse with, only then I think I'll be able wrap my head around it.

[@Moneymade77]

Just watched the video and saw/heard it at 8:35...I transcribed AC/DC (She's My Babe), because I wanted to know what is being played by Malcom, Angus and Phil. Though not as complicated as Jazz, it was a good beginning and good training. Now comes the Jazz. Rock...I mean swing it!

[@imalamboman12]

Thank you mate. Very straight forward and useful.

[@mathiasschoenning]

This video is exactly what I needed

[@chlebiceksmaslem]

gave you the 1000th like ;) Thanks a lot, this helps so much right now.

[@x0-lom625]

holy shit man, i cannot thank you enough for this.

[@video_gabes]

thank you so much i really needed this

[@WalkThatBass]

No worries, kingster20. Glad it was useful :)

[@M419.99]

"practice everything in every key" So basically you smash the piano jk, I'm teaching myself to play the piano and it's been great thanks to Walk That Bass!

[@Ronno4691]

My Jazz Blues piano book by author Mark Harrison has a section on Mixolydian triads and patterns and the main riff to AC/DC's Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution sounds like a pure Mixolydian Jazz Blues riff.

[@dudeman5303]

Practice for guitar is very different than it is for piano or another instrument. I don't entirely know how to take what you've said here and apply to guitar, because guitar isn't laid out in the same manner. I can play a C major and an Emajor and it remains the same shape if I stay on the same strings, but then can decide to play a C major differently consecutively just from changing strings. I wish guitar was as straight forward as piano in this regard because all of this practice would be so much easier to work on. Guitar is much more pattern oriented, you end up working more on how to get used to playing the same things on different strings than you do figuring out how to play in different keys. Any tips on that? All of what you're saying in this video is great advice, I'm just trying to think of how I could apply it to guitar playing.

[@WilsonTam1118]

Any good suggestions on how to practice rhythm part?

[@gugu4921]

Great vid! I hated The Virtuoso Pianist so much back when i was a kid. I only realized it was somehow usefull after noticing that my left hand was unnable to play things the right one was able to :/

[@WalkThatBass]

Yeah, same. Terribly tedious by actually quite useful...annoyingly

[@004asv]

thank you for your videos!

[@WalkThatBass]

My pleasure :)

[@gerstleTube]

Great tutorial, hammering home some of the stuff my teachers have already told me 😝. Question: do you recommend composing solos to a tune as a way to develop ideas? Also, to what extent do you feel "present" while soloing, i.e. deliberately choosing what to play vs. losing yourself and largely being driven by subconscious intuition and habit?

[@WalkThatBass]

Hi Brian, So firstly, yep it's definitely worthwhile composing solos over a song to generate ideas - that's how licks are created. The art of composing a great sounding and strong melody is pretty tough but important. So definitely go ahead with that. With regards to your other point, everyone is different. Some people play just by 'intuition' and some play by 'intellect'. The important think is that you're not just regurgitating cliches. You want your improvisation to be fresh, original and creative. For that reason, I try to be always 'present' in my improvisation and think about what I'm doing. If I'm relying on instinct and intuition alone, I find my fingers just play licks and riffs they already know through muscle memory, so it sounds a bit bland. Habit is the enemy of the soloist. Having said that, I actually find playing with my eyes closed, or in a dark room useful. For whatever reason, I sometimes find I come up with nice sounding melodies by just letting my fingers fiddle around in the dark. Which shows perhaps overthinking is also problem. So my answer to your questions is a big and unhelpful 'I don't know'. But I would do a bit of both. As they say, all things in moderation.

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

I play various instruments and various styles. I often play in the dark or eyes closed. Pretty easy to do 🎸 as it is a fretted instrument. B is definitely not my favorite key on the piano. Knowing the scales is easy but improvising on them is hard. Many guitarist who play fluently in keys A C D E F G ..don't like # and b keys. Pianist play fluently usually in A C D F G Ab A Bb C.. That used to my keys on the piano ..I have added Db. to the list. I find learning songs like Donna Lee in Ab on piano and then translating them to a familiar key very enlightening. I have never done this but it just occurred to do this in G. You could just do a phrase at a time and write it out by ✋..It will totally foreign and will be like learning a different language. However it will be easier to to see the minor 3 of G (Bb) than seeing the min 3 of Ab (B).Once you write out a section.. by hand is best. You will know your 13ths, 11ths Ect. Probably #9..

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Very good Video. This really is tangential to your lesson. It was the part about knowing all your scales etc. I have lately been working on some chord melody guitar pieces. While working on the Bb version of Autumn Leaves I ran into some problems. But by going back to basics and doing research I am well on my way to solving it. I started doing research. I wasn't sure what altered chord to put where. I knew there had to be done definitive guide. I knew that it was partly in a harmonic Minor. This is the Readers Digest Condensed Version. It's kind of crazy..but even though it's written in Bb..its basically Gmin. Ok the Dom7 of Gmin is a simple D7. But D 7 has a F# in it. G natural minor from Bb major scale (Aolian mode) (G A Bb C D Eb F G) has an F..so I wrote out the Diatonic 7ths of G harmonic minor. Easiest way is to look at at the G natural minor above and put the leading tone F# in it. So here goes... THE G HARMONIC MINOR 7THS.. G Bb D F# A C E G Bb D F A C Eb G Bb ((D F# A C)) Eb G Bb D F# A C Eb G Bb D F#. Notice the ((D7). The D7 allows the F# ..which would sound very poor over a Dmin7. There is more to this. Ear players. Which I am have played this for years with very little theory. Which I have very little, relatively, and can play it perfectly..Working on that. BTW, often a Min7b5 or half dim7 will be before that..

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

A little tip. Learn mouth sized bits. First keep a spiral notebook $ tree cheap $1.00 . They can be made chronological if you go page by page. If dated the can be even more organized. First look at the C scale. Circle EF and BC. Those are half steps or semi tones. Say this..Two and a half Three and a half. Real easy to do and play 4 notes.. 4/7 ..probably in days not months. Imagine in as little as a month you can learn all 12 keys. Add to that most piano players know scales of C D E F G Ab A .. So I would start with what is known.( CDEF.) ( FG A Bb)..Write out as much as you remember. Now all 12 major scales have the same pattern.ill put into decimals. (2.5 3.5) I've taught that to elementary students..I say 2 and a half..3 and a half. I'll pick a hard scale Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db.. What about the # keys D E F# G A B C# D. Just remember that the third note is the second step up. (Don't count the root)as a step.. What about the F#? .No problem. Look at the F#..use index and go through G# and A#.with middle and ring finger..that is the way the scale starts..Most including me were only used to saying Bb instead of A#..look it up on Wikipedia...more to follow...

[@warrenwilson7836]

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos - you share a lot of valuable ideas. As a guy who just likes playing, I actually follow many of your tips (transcribe, play ii, V I’s In all keys in various ways etc.). Something else I do daily as part of my practice is play some “classical” music (in my case mostly Bach) to keep my left hand chops. Is this something you also do?

[@GeorgKallenbach]

Thanks for sharing 'ya wisdom. It will probably help me alot. :D

[@alejandrosalmonfranco4846]

8:29 "Listen to and transcribe everything, and I mean EVERYTHING... except for maybe AC DC because that's probably a bit too easy" oh snap lmao

[@tumzarelaxing]

thanx

[@Jewkake1]

ChAHlie PAHkah

[@gabrielbarbosa3838]

Thanks for the Video! Apologies for the intrusion, I would appreciate your initial thoughts. Have you heard the talk about - Riddleagan Smart Hands Remedy (should be on google have a look)? It is a great one off product for learning piano fast minus the normal expense. Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my work buddy after a lifetime of fighting got great success with it.

[@theace110013]

I imagined Bill Burr Reading this

[@danreb1527]

Have you maybe an advice, on how to practice efficient in all keys? I'm not sure about, how long to practice in one single key. All piano teachers say, you have to be able to play every chord, progression and song in all 12 keys. So I struggle with my schedule, because I try first to master every melody, chord progression, improv exercise and voicing in one key. But if I only start to play in other keys, when I mastered every chord progression and exercise I know in one key, I would never start playing in other keys...On the other hand it would get quite boring, if you only start learning a new progression or song, once you mastered it in all 12 keys and you play the same stuff for months just in different keys. So to summarize my question: Do you think its more efficient to transponse a certain technique as soon as you can in other keys, or is it better to get solid with several techniques, progessions and songs in one single key, before transposing everything? Same for repertoire...Should I be able to play a song in every key, before learning a new one? I would be really thankful, if you could tell your approach on these things Thank you in advance!

[@vaibhavmakwana98]

Thankful to you 💐💐

[@WalkThatBass]

No problem. Thanks for the comment.

[@OneRequiem123]

thanks a lot for this!!! :)

[@WalkThatBass]

No worries :)

[@gabrielvazquez5491]

Great video

[@rik-keymusic160]

is there a store to buy some memory and time ? :p

[@DJDavis844]

Are you playing what's in the chart at 2:55?

[@alberto798]

He does rootless voicings with 9ths

[@JasonGeddie]

Amazing Tutorial! Definitely going to apply this to my trumpet practicing. Also, where in Australia are you based? I would love to go to some of your gigs! (I'm in Melbourne btw)

[@WalkThatBass]

I'm in Melbourne also, actually. Though I'm not gigging at the moment. Sorry.

[@kelseyreynolds1838]

What do you mean by transcribe? Like listen and write it out on staff paper?

[@lukegregg5944]

Yeah he means that, while I suppose technically you can relate it straight to your instrument, but it's not going to internalise it fully.

[@johanwiman5983]

Great video, thanks! It describes partly my way of practicing. This far, though, I have focused on learning only every second key. which gives me a 50% reduce... Maybe it would be a better thing to learn all of them instead, but for going only half way around the circle of fifth. I dont know really but an amateur must compromise to achieve his goals. Would you agree?

[@WalkThatBass]

Yeah, I agree. If you're just playing for fun and for yourself, then 50% of the keys is probably good enough. There aren't too many songs written in Ab Major. It's really only if you play with a singer or horns that you need to learn all the keys, to account for their vocal range/Bb tuning.

[@johanwiman5983]

Walk That Bass Too bad I already know Ab then. My favourite, but I'm mostly improvising so if there are songs or not doesn't really matter so much. Of course, accompaniement of singers is a really good reason to learn to play in all keys.

[@RadiY]

Can you give any advise on how to actually understand from the roots all the theory behind jazz. Where should I start from? In what order should I learn stuff? And what are things that are very useful and important to know and understand which aren't very common? I've been playing classical music from around 4 years and I think I've build up a decent technique but I really want to play jazz and I understand that I must learn and understand all the things behind jazz to be able to play it.

[@WalkThatBass]

Hi Yandri, First, watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jauvc3RroKiDZ9k In it I give a high level overview of (standard) Jazz theory from the roots up - as you say. Second, I've got a website which takes you through, step by step, lesson by lesson, exactly what you need to know to play Jazz. It's starts very basic (scales, chords, keys) and gradually builds up to more complex topics such as Modal Harmony and Atonality. Try reading through these lessons and see if they are the type of thing you're after. My website: www.thejazzpianosite.com/

[@RadiY]

Walk That Bass Will definitely check them out! Thank you for your time in giving so detailed and useful lessons!

[@rik-keymusic160]

@yandri i would recommend you to find a great teacher, someone who gives lessons with passion. There are teachers who are great artist but suck in teaching! I had one myself and it made me feel i want to quit (but i didn't) For most of the time i guess jazz is a life time journey. Some people are very talented without much effort so try not to get demotivated by other players who are better. What i think you also should do is to sing along wile learning tunes, licks, progressions,... sing everything because most jazz artists have developed a great ear/inner ear. i started by learning my intervals separately and then two notes at te same time, after that you can learn to hear and sing triad chords and so on. I also started with learn to playing every major triad chords and minor chords with in all inversions. So if one asks you to play Bbmaj in second inversion that you quickly know "that's on the 5th so F Bb D,.. " for every maj,min,dim and aug, chord actually. The next thing I've learned are ii-V-I progressions with simpel guide notes ( the 3th and the 7th witch defines the quality of the chord) i think the best way to learn jazz is by knowing the very basics very well and build on a good foundation instead of going to quickly from topic to topic. Theory can be very overwhelming so always remind yourself to that big picture you want to go. ;)

[@spiderlab2526]

Is it better to to be average in every key or great in just a few?

[@hughbenson1987]

Can the circle of 5ths ii-V-1 progressions be applied to minor keys?

[@beckst3r]

What keys are most comfortable for you? For me it’s C, Bb, and Eb

[@clemenske1]

Nice tutorial :D I personally dislike Hanon and there is prove that it's much better to never even touch it. But if it works for you go for it.

[@WalkThatBass]

Yeah, each to their own.

[@alexfont]

Why? Could you prove that, please? Would be very cool to see it. Thanks!

[@RobertBryk]

nah you prob dislike it cause its mind numbing, but thats the point to train your unconscious to do it at any tempo consistently without thought!!!! Believe me, i kinda really hate it too. But I love what it does for me, its like vegan food or hitting the gym@!! no different

[@crazyace88]

What are your thoughts on etudes?

[@serseriherif9530]

Why the h8 for ACDC man :'(

[@ngay5thang726]

Ok so what do I practice now?

[@lemcsudds]

Guess I can cancel my lessons now lol

[@JPBeausoleil81]

Don't forget! If you make a mistake, make it twice. Then they'll think you meant it! Lol

[@kidprodigio1118]

do you recommend practising scales with both. hands?

[@WalkThatBass]

So the classical way of playing scales (which is pretty comprehensive) is as follows: 1. Play a scale ascending and descending one hand at a time (2 or 4 octaves) 2. Play a scale ascending and descending both hands in similar motion (2 or 4 octaves) - So both hands play C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C 3. Play a scale both hands in contrary motion (2 octaves) - So RH = C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C; and LH = C, B, A, G, F, E, D, C 4. Do the same with arpeggios

[@lukegregg5944]

@@WalkThatBass Is playing all the block chords up and down each scale/key something you'd recommend?

[@dangerousasmilk857]

can i listen to moondog?

[@greob]

I'm susprised you don't really mention practicing in a band (backing tracks don't really count, do they?)

[@WalkThatBass]

Haha, yeah, I was more thinking about solo practice in this video I suppose. But yes, playing with a live backing track (AKA a band) is also a great idea :)

[@mil-fpv4931]

Id rather listen your improvising 3:42 than 99 prosent of the radio or the tv "music".

[@LionHeartNet]

Appreciate Video! Excuse me for butting in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you researched - Riddleagan Smart Hands Remedy (do a search on google)? It is an awesome exclusive guide for learning piano fast minus the normal expense. Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my buddy at last got cool results with it.

[@b00i00d]

leave AC/DC alone!

[@kaivrock]

If it’s an English guy doing these, you know you’re in for a lot of talking

[@pesto12601]

Lol.. and then.. I'll be 90 years old and won't actually be able to play a song yet. No thx...

[@deldia]

Why is that the quintessential exercise if it only covers white notes?

[@milanvasic1931]

You can play it in *every single scale*

[@deldia]

Milan Vasic but it’s an exercise not a theoretical tool.

[@iNinja91]

It is implied that you play the exercises in all keys.

[@toddperry9860]

Boring, zzzzzzzzzz

[@johnsimms9067]

Too much chat, not enough music!