Why you STILL can't improvise

[@JazzSkills]

Some related lessons: Why you STILL can't play jazz without looking at the music kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoeXk4aLr7V3j9E Get started with jazz improvisation PROPERLY kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWbWoZyIfM5qm5o

[@tomofield]

Do you teach bass players? 😂

[@tomofield]

Fantastic 👏

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Can you teach bass players ? Or are they only trainable

[@denniscrudden488]

So much knowledge is needed to play jazz.

[@JazzSkills]

The main thing is turning small bits of knowledge into Jazz Skills

[@nobodyofconsequence9930]

Wow ! RECOGNIZE. I consider myself a lifetime level oner but when you talked about how the basics can help you recognize where patterns are going and why , it opened my eyes and ears. I now see and hear things I never knew existed . I feel like there may be some hope for me after all. Thank you.

[@JazzSkills]

Of course there is hope for you. Keep going. You will get there.

[@Get_Yo_Life]

You are one of the best jazz teachers on the net. Most people teach Barry’s theories and provide a few applicable examples. They are essentially teaching the theory principles. But none really deal with with how to actually build fluency and make the information work. People will be practicing half step rules and drop voicings in isolation without a solid chord foundation to even build a solo over. When I watch those guys I can see their examples but I have zero knowledge about the tune they are applying the concept to. This doesn’t do anything but nullify the information because I don’t have a container (chords) to put melodies inside of. I found your channel 3 days ago and you are the first teacher on KZbin to change my playing for the best over night. I’ve been studying Barry’s concepts since 2016. I own all 3 dvds and have watched and downloaded every workshop video on KZbin and I still didn’t have a foundation even though I was practicing. I didn’t know that I didn’t know how to put the concepts together and make them work until I found your channel. I also signed up for the fluency course and it has been amazing. I love the practical approach to obtaining skills.

[@JazzSkills]

That's fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing that and welcome to Jazz Skills!

[@georgechristiansen6785]

I'm a guitarist, but still am getting a bunch out of your videos. Totally agree with the idea of mastering the basics of key centers and chord tones and such. Not only is it the building blocks, but it provides the interpretive lens to take other people's riffs and lines and transpose them to other contexts. Someone could make a some money putting together a tune book ordered by level of difficulty and commonalities of chord progressions and such.

[@JazzSkills]

Glad that you're getting so much from these videos. I'm pleasantly surprised that he have so many guitarists who watch.

[@davidgerber9317]

i wish someone like you was around 50 years ago when I started fooling with this stuff. I am finally finding fluency now, but you could have saved me a lot of trial and error time!

[@JazzSkills]

I've been going this almost 30. Where have you been? 😀

[@mahlonstrachan8075]

Please write that book Shawn...I knew there was something missing

[@chriswarren3449]

Thanks Shan. I've done my head in looking at the myriad of free videos taking snippets of jazz technique and trying to make something of them. You've helped me see the context better - the ingredients, the connections, the principles etc. Looking forward to your full free course on learning jazz piano!

[@JazzSkills]

hahaha. Thanks and I'm glad to have helped.

[@ATLS702]

You don’t see chefs in the kitchen standing around talking about what would happen if they added garlic to the dish, they add it and see if the taste pleases them. They can dissect the flavors after the food is made, point being you must cook to learn how to make a complete dish. Learn all the places garlic will enhance a dish (which is so many!) Thank you for your thoughts on recognition as grammar and language. You must speak the language to learn it!

[@DrewLind_]

Self-Assessed Level 2 here. Been working on scales, phrases and Maj/Min 2-5-1s and other progressions for a while, and I'm definitely seeing easier playthroughs of chord charts. I'm continuing to go through all of Shan's videos to build out my toolbox, and I'm slowly but surely improving!

[@JazzSkills]

That's fantastic Andrew. Well done and keep up the good work!

[@tanaid3207]

This is the most valuable piece of advice on learning the piano you can get. Thank you for your honest approach and explanation.

[@donschneider7953]

...speaking truth to the masses...

[@kylebigourdin3661]

Inspiring, clear, insightful, and actionable. You have refreshed my confidence, and stoked my desire to continue forging this long but rewarding path. Thank you 🙏

[@JazzSkills]

I wish you the best with your improv!

[@bassmann5129]

Thank you for sharing ...Your truth sets me Free...you make Jazz seem learnable..I'm 74 ..a bass player all my life and I'm thinking about joining your Journey!!

[@saturnsabyss]

I don't know if you know how helpful this is! Being self-taught and not knowing how to improvise, you completely called me out for only learning songs I enjoyed, not taking much away from them without knowing what to analyze and moving on to the next tune.

[@JazzSkills]

Happy to help! I hope that this is a the start of your fluency journey. I wish you well with your playing.

[@rehhn3313]

Honestly this is the jazz channel Ive been looking for you make things less complicated without talk about scales,modes. For instance I'm writing a a song in Gminor and i look up how to improve on a minor and i get all of this complicated and overwhelming information. You make more easy and fun your approach is a lot better than other jazz channels on you tube. i want to thankyou for the great work your doing for the jazz community and keeping Dr Barry Harris memory and methods alive as well as your own.

[@JazzSkills]

Thank you so much and welcome !

[@davidpauker]

Magnificent insights here! I will be signing up for your developing fluency course real soon!! Brilliant!

[@JazzSkills]

I look forward to welcoming you!

[@marshwetland3808]

I guess I'm on the right track because I can get in a state where I'm working through the minutiae as you're doing around the 20-minute mark. Wish I could do it longer, but after half an hour or so my brain is sooo tired. Thanks for your advice, including the ever popular slowly and in time.

[@videomarknet]

Every single course I bought is telling me WHAT I should do to finally master improvising ....but this is the first time someone is explaining to me WHY I should do it!

[@oshada]

Super video! I was struck by how learning tunes without understanding the basic building blocks is exactly like just cooking from recipes

[@barryo5158]

Great stuff Shan! It took me many years to figure out the points you’ve laid out here. It took a great teacher to get me there in the end and then it happened very quickly. I’m a guitar player who discovered Barry Harris way back when which made me decide I had to play piano too. I really think putting more emphasis on those few little harmonic building blocks of standards is a missing element in a lot of teaching. Like you stated, there really isn’t that many and they become easily recognizable. I think through tunes in these blocks like for example on no particular tune, “one go to the six, two five to one, two five to four and back to one, two chord dominant, two five to one and turnaround, etc.” Thank you.

[@JazzSkills]

Thank you Barry. It's interesting to hear about your experience. We have several guitarists on Jazz Skills who also play piano. I feel that guitarists are the cousins of piano players 🙂

[@zs-jazz]

Shan, this is the most useful lesson for me. Big thanks! I read what you say in subtitles and listen at the same time. Please publish something as donation link, it will be a pleasure to give for you a modest gift.

[@JazzSkills]

I'm just pleased it helped you.

[@madking5553]

Love this lesson! I’m a piano player turned guitar player but this is really grounding advice.

[@sethchrisman1645]

Fantastic video. Thanks!

[@alexisrojero535]

Mr.Aebersold has good books!!!

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

I do enjoy your perspective. It's very refreshing. Great lesson as always.

[@JazzSkills]

Thank you. I appreciate your kind comment.

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

@@JazzSkills Oh thank you - I have run these patterns through a few keys and this is now in my practice routine for the next month or so. I struggle to find creative ways to practice scales and this lesson has really landed with me. Knowing how to practice is crucial.

[@synckeys]

Hope you will create a video about improvising using arpeggios.

[@JazzSkills]

There's something along those lines that will be posted but normally combined with scales.

[@CHYPCAR]

Shan - Your Jazz Skills system is definitely the Holy Grail for any aspiring jazz pianist but aren’t you giving away a bit too much for free with this lesson? If jazz piano wannabes don’t sign up after seeing this they’ll be throwing away a golden opportunity (that I grabbed with both hands a year ago!)

[@JazzSkills]

Thank you so much. I don't know but I hope people get some value from this lesson. A lot of players have struggled too long!

[@brettprice527]

I don't think so. Shan's videos like this that share the secrets are what caused me to sign up to his website

[@CHYPCAR]

@@brettprice527 you and me both :)

[@michael-solomon]

why should jazz be gate kept behind on paying courses

[@brettprice527]

@@michael-solomon its not gate keeping to offer a well made jazz course using knowledge that youve gained over multiple decades. Its recouping some of your investment and helping others.

[@vertepresto]

It's actually classical music, the way it should be taught.

[@JazzSkills]

Absolutely right.

[@brettprice527]

Yup. Many jazz musicians despised the word jazz and called the music American classical.

[@cursedswordsman]

true. I feel like modern jazz pedagogy is closer to how the great composer must've been taught.

[@davidgrimaud5337]

Great video! Speaking as a 2.5. 😊

[@rebeccaw6147]

Thanks. And then do that little lick in every key, right? :) What I would like to see is a lesson on improving hand separation. I'm a horn player starting piano and I basically have to do quarter and half note lines at 60 (or less) to be able to separate rhythms well, especially if I work at sightreading. It is SO slow. I want to play simple chords in left/or bass lines and improvise in right. Simply is fine to start. But it is really hard for me to do anything but a chord on 1, etc...thanks

[@nukiolbartes6279]

Hey Shan!! Nice video as always. Do you think to be able to sing the note we play help us in general?

[@JazzSkills]

Thank you! I do believe that's helpful in playing notes that we hear, yes.

[@nahblue]

Have you made some video on the topic on how to practice feeling the form, every four bars or how many, so that one can improvise without being lost? Thanks

[@JazzSkills]

It's not something I've made a lesson about yet but I'll consider it. Thanks.

[@obisraelngawani1373]

I have questions, when people like cory henry, chick corea, jesus molina, bill evans etc seat at the piano and start improvising, have they memorized what they are improvising, or it comes naturally? and to reach that level should I memorize my licks, patterns and scales etc. and improvise over different chords?

[@DanLaDue]

any videos of yours for level 1s that you'd recommend ?

[@JazzSkills]

That's more of a step by step approach than I can do here so I keep it for members of Jazz Skills in a course format, with tools, assessments, videos, tasks and help from me.

[@Stewartaj2010]

The frustrating part is once you get fluent improvising in a key besides C...whenever you go back to C you accidentally hit notes from the other key lol.

[@rik-keymusic160]

My problem is overwhelm… i hear and see so many great videos from kids who play misty in 10 different styles 😅 some might be able to do that i al keys but playing just one style in one key is already a challenge… i kinda feel insignificant when i hear stuff online. 🤷

[@JazzSkills]

I hear you. It doesn't matter how good you get, there will always be someone on another level. I'd say that we all feel the same. I encourage my students to compare how they used to play to what's happening now rather than to other people.

[@vibratoking7825]

I'm still kinda new to piano and am better as a listener of jazz than a player (lol). I feel that the more you practice the better you get. Even if you "sound terrible", you learn from what you don't like and what you do like. Its one thing to play scales over a simple 2-5-1 chord structure but its not really improvising. Sometimes we just have to experiment, which is true experience

[@TheVikingquest]

I just don't understand what u mean with this. How do u mean what u call rank 2 players should be able to improvise without learning songs first. U claim that 45000 persons all do the same faults. Maybe that is just it. It is not faulty to go about learning improvisation the way they do it. U have to do this, albeit faulty process, in order to learn. I think u misunderstand pedagogics from a rather blatant position as a negative teacher being in a position u loathe or something - u also seem to lack understanding of theory and practice in a broader sense and most definitely how humans learn in accordance to this... how we are.... It Is also clear, no to u apparently, that humans learn by doing mistakes and that that Is almost fundamental in learning anything new; like a child learning to tie their own shoes for the first time and In a sense almost have to fail by doing things incorrectly in order to find a workable solution. It almost like u yelling; for gods sake why can't u understand this, just improvise - u should be able to tie your own shoes in 3 different ways just by looking at other people doing it. Im an adult and if I payed u for a lesson I would scream to u give me my fxxxx money back. I rather learn 100 jazz standards with no improvisation than listen to u go on and on how bad people are at learning. Also: Yes people also want to learn songs they like. I think u misunderstand the importance of improvisation - to most people that is just noise and that music died out in popularity a long time ago. Left in it are apparently only weird people who downgrade peoples admirations of what is proper standards for a reason - they sound great, convey meanings outside of scales and remind people of a past time, or loved one, now altered forever. Playing improve scales is horrible to listen to for anything but trained musicians and I can't remember a time I ever heard miles Davies being requested on radio. I will now make sure your channel dont come up in feed anymore. Those that can't do, teach. Watching u certainly confirms this.