Oscar Peterson: Jazz Exercises & Etudes for piano

[Stefan011]

Hi,

 

I would love to practice some jazz piano, but I have no jazz teacher around neighborhood. Classical teacher agreed to teach me some etudes from jazz book. What do You think about this one? Or is there any better source on this level? (as a father of three pre-school children I have only about 15 minutes a day for practicing, so it cann not be super hard).

 

Thanks!  

[Montunoman 2]

I love Oscar Peterson so much but hate to say, I’m not a fan of his book. I found it so dry, not much in it interested me. It’s been  years since looked at it, so maybe I should check it out again. 
 

i do highly recommend Dave Frank’s “ Joy of Improve”. It’s a book of etudes based of blues , standard changes, and Hanon style exercise. The audio clearly demonstrate all the etudes, and some valuable insight into strengthing your ear, among others things are covered. 
 

No jazz teachers in your area? No problem, get an online teacher! Keyboard Corner member Harry Likas is a great jazz piano teacher. 

[Docbop]

Dave Frank is a great online teacher too!   

 

http://www.davefrankjazz.com/

[CyberGene]

I’d recommend a theory book. My favorite one is The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine. Once you have at least a basic understanding of the typical harmonic language of jazz and the chord-scale relationship (especially the very well explained melodic minor and others) you will have a lot to work out on your own rather than relying on notated exercises. 

[ElmerJFudd]

You can learn a lot from listening, transcriptions and transcribing.  
 

Oscar Peterson Omnibook is available in paperback and on kindle if that’s of any interest to you?  It’s a very large transcription collection.  I almost bought it last time I was in the shop, but delayed for other priorities.  But thanks for reminding me! Back on the wishlist it goes.  
 

 

[Stefan011]

Thank You all!

 

The Joy of Improv looks really interesting. I am little affraid of online teaching thou. There is a lot of details (touch, techniqe, rhytm) that can be distorted via online communication. Do You have any experience with it?

 

I would not dare to touch Oscar Peterson Omnibook 🙂 This is the thing (I think, mine is an old copy from library):

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oscar-Peterson-Exercises-Minuets-Etudes/dp/0634099795

 

Theory books are great, but my main goal is to be able to play easy to intermediate jazz pieces with classical teacher.

 

 

[Stefan011]

33 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

You can learn a lot from listening, transcriptions and transcribing.  

Yep! That is the best way. But it is time consuming metod requiring time and concentration. And I have none of it at the moment. 

[ElmerJFudd]

35 minutes ago, Stefan011 said:

Yep! That is the best way. But it is time consuming metod requiring time and concentration. And I have none of it at the moment. 

 understandable! 

[Docbop]

1 hour ago, Stefan011 said:

Yep! That is the best way. But it is time consuming method requiring time and concentration. And I have none of it at the moment. 

 

Just remember what your mother told you....  take smaller bites and chew your food completely.   

 

Just take a few bars or a phrase, the key is what you do with it afterwards, that could done over hours, days, weeks, to really understand and absorb.  Sometimes it's about transcribing something you again because you've grown since you last transcribed it and you'll hear different things and more details this time.      

[GovernorSilver]

1 hour ago, Stefan011 said:

Yep! That is the best way. But it is time consuming metod requiring time and concentration. And I have none of it at the moment. 

 

I like this page.  3 iconic solos to learn, with Soundslice for easy looping and slowdown of the selected audio.  

 

To paraphrase a certain song, the goal of learning the entire solo may seem a million miles a way, but a few notes a day translates to a few steps closer to that goal.

[octa]

I’ve only been at it for a couple years but here’s another vote for Mark Levine’s jazz piano and theory books. 

Open Studio, Dave Frank, Ruslan Sirota, Kent Hewitt, Glenn Zaleski, “JazzSkills”, Aimee Nolte and Isaac Raz are just a few of the many YouTube folks/channels with tons of great info. 

[Joe Muscara]

I can't recommend the Open Studio material highly enough. And consider how much you have access to considering the price when you compare how much private lessons can cost. They're pushing their Black Friday sales prices to the end of today.

 

A lot of people really love Jazz Piano for Beginners and Jazz Chords for Beginners.

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

P.S. The OP book is okay, Frankly, it can be kind of hard to discern what he was going for. I'm not sure if he expected the student to know, or he didn't realize he should have been more explicit in some cases. (Should this swing or should it be played straight? I've seen videos of people playing his minuets in the first book like classical minuets. Was that what he intended? )

 

As far as jazz books, I like the three books by Tim Richards. They are very accessible (the first one is blues but it's foundational). I've also heard good things about Jeremy Siskind's books, but I don't know them myself and I don't know if they're more intermediate or advanced.

[Nathanael_I]

2 hours ago, Joe Muscara said:

I can't recommend the Open Studio material highly enough. And consider how much you have access to considering the price when you compare how much private lessons can cost. They're pushing their Black Friday sales prices to the end of today.

 

A lot of people really love Jazz Piano for Beginners and Jazz Chords for Beginners.

 

 

Thank you for this!

[Stefan011]

10 hours ago, GovernorSilver said:

 

I like this page.  3 iconic solos to learn, with Soundslice for easy looping and slowdown of the selected audio.  

 

Thanks! The soundslice looks really interesting.

[Stefan011]

7 hours ago, Joe Muscara said:

P.S. The OP book is okay, Frankly, it can be kind of hard to discern what he was going for. I'm not sure if he expected the student to know, or he didn't realize he should have been more explicit in some cases. (Should this swing or should it be played straight? I've seen videos of people playing his minuets in the first book like classical minuets. Was that what he intended? )

 

As far as jazz books, I like the three books by Tim Richards. They are very accessible (the first one is blues but it's foundational). I've also heard good things about Jeremy Siskind's books, but I don't know them myself and I don't know if they're more intermediate or advanced.

 

This is the main reason I opened the topic. Some notation choices are hard to understand. For example etude 7 from 2nd book is based on I Got Rhythm changes and solo is written in 8th notes. Then it changes to doted 8ths plus 16th. But on Youtube videos, people just continue to play swinging 8ths. It makes sense, it sounds good, but what does the change in notation suppose to mean?

 

Thanks for books recomandations, I will  check it out.

[Stefan011]

It seems, that the video is becoming the main source of jazz education 🙂

 

I am totally ok with it, but after 9 hours working on computer, I just want to turn the thing off and play some jazz pieces or practices to enjoy and keep me in shape at least a little bit. 

[Al Quinn]

21 hours ago, Stefan011 said:

I have only about 15 minutes a day for practicing, so it cann not be super hard).

If I only had this much time per day I think it would be best served by learning something I love that one of my favorite artists played on a recording. Ask yourself why does it sound so good. Apply what you’ve learned to explore and create your own musical ideas. 
 

Jazz great Clark Terry described the process concisely as “Imitate, assimilate, and innovate.”

[jerrythek]

I used to use that OP book for teaching lessons to younger players... it's not a deeply valuable jazz instruction book, but I think it's a great bridge from not having much experience in that area (as you seem to be saying you are) and the deeper, more authentic courses. I think it's fine starting place... you'll pick up some easy blues licks, and get to play some walking bass etc.

 

Jerry

[Stefan011]

18 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

I used to use that OP book for teaching lessons to younger players... it's not a deeply valuable jazz instruction book, but I think it's a great bridge from not having much experience in that area (as you seem to be saying you are) and the deeper, more authentic courses. I think it's fine starting place... you'll pick up some easy blues licks, and get to play some walking bass etc.

 

Jerry

Yep, this is the feeling I got from it and something I am looking for. What "deeper, more authentic courses" would You recommend?

[jerrythek]

There's a lot of good advice already in this thread. Video courses are really great. One of the most famous/recommended books is Mark Levine's The Jazz Piano Book. But a lot of listening, transcribing and practicing is imperative.

 

Jerry

 

21 minutes ago, Stefan011 said:

Yep, this is the feeling I got from it and something I am looking for. What "deeper, more authentic courses" would You recommend?

 

[Stefan011]

16 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

But a lot of listening, transcribing and practicing is imperative.

 

 

100% agree! I would add playing with band to that list. It really makes mistakes hurt and the lack of vocabulary painfully obvious. But it also makes for quick learning curve.

[Stefan011]

And of course recording Yourself. 

[jerrythek]

Yes, I completely agree with both "additions" to the list. The other advice I can give you, is only measure your progress over long stretches of time. Sometime you move forward a little, plateau for a while, or even feel like you've stepped back. But that may be only the day you're checking in, or the week. Give yourself a wider amount of time to assess your progress. 

 

Good luck on your journey!

 

Jerry

[Docbop]

41 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

Yes, I completely agree with both "additions" to the list. The other advice I can give you, is only measure your progress over long stretches of time. Sometime you move forward a little, plateau for a while, or even feel like you've stepped back. But that may be only the day you're checking in, or the week. Give yourself a wider amount of time to assess your progress. 

 

Good luck on your journey!

 

Jerry

 

Yes very important and something that frustrates young players.   When starting you make big gains at regular basis, but the further along you get the smaller the gains and longer the time to achieve them.   This is where patience and dedication are key.

[Pete the bean]

Jazzpianoskills.com has a free weekly podcast.  If you wanna play jazz piano these are the skills you need to get there.  It is great to have a PhD in jazz education to step you through the process.  There are 4 years of weekly lessons you can access for free.  
I have been teaching for 35 years. I am a lifetime paid member of this site.   I am a big fan. The presentation is excellent. Having Dr Bob talk you through each lesson is highly motivating.