It can be hard to practice jazz piano! Due to the complexity of jazz piano, there are so many things we can practice. It can only be overwhelming! At least it is overwhelming if you don't have a good system in place for how to practice and what to practice.

Many years ago, I invented a system that I've been using ever since. It is also the system that I teach all of my students. Here is my video from YouTube on how to practice jazz piano:

Practicing jazz piano can be hard. Not only do you have to think way different than if you were playing written music, you have to come up with a way to practice. Playing music from a script (such as classical music) is a breeze compared to what it is like to learn jazz piano.

I’m not saying that playing classical music is easy. There are multiple challenges, such as technique, rapidity, intepretation etc.

However: Learning music from a script is in a nutshell a lot more straight-forward than learning how to play jazz piano. You probably know what I mean. In classical, you need to break it down to small pieces. For example: A piece of music contains 100 bars. Now, all you need to do is to start small with bar 1-4. Then practice this until you get it. Once you get it, move on to practice bar 5-8. Then repeat the process. In the end, nest bar 1-4 and 5-8 and play them as one. Do similar until you can play the whole thing fluently. I’ve done this many times. However: Playing jazz piano is, if not more demanding technically, a lot more complex!

I used to find it hard to know exactly how to practice to get any progress. My teachers, whom all were good jazz pianists, did not seem to have a good method for how to practice to get great results.

This led me to invent my own system that I used myself for many years as a student of jazz, and I’m still using this system today. I also use this system when I’m teaching one-by-one, as well as the whole Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course is created with this system in mind.

THE PROBLEMS:

Over the years, I’ve found that both me and my students seem to struggle with the following three problems:

1.     Many people practice without a proper plan : People are easily distracted.

2.     It is easy to start a project without finishing it.

3.     When playing jazz piano, it is really hard to know exactly what to practice to improve.

THE SOLUTIONS:

In my experience, the best solutions to the problems on the previous page, are the following:

1.     Make a plan

a.      Overall plan. (Including questions like why do I play jazz piano? Or: Where do I want to be in a year from now with my music?

b.     Detailed plan. (Including: What scales, chords and tunes should I focus on. What about improvising? Who should I copy?)

2.     Always finish a project before you move on to the next project. Logically as it seems, it is hard to do this. (At least, I’ve struggled with this in the past). To finish a project, you should consider deciding the desired outcome. In other words: What will the current project look/sound like when completed? For example, you are going to copy a solo by Bill Evans over Waltz For Debby. Then: Decide for instance that you will be able to play three rounds of his solo in 100% tempo, both together with the original recording and alone or jointly with a play-along track.

3.     If you find it hard to know exactly what to practice to improve, make sure you get some help. A good jazz piano teacher, live or online can help you get clarity and knowledge about what it is smart to work on to improve your playing. If you already know why you want to play jazz piano in the first place, it will be even easier to work with the piano teacher.

THE SYSTEM:

In order to get a complete practicing-routine, I’ve found that it is most effective to add three ways to practice:

1.     THE 25-50-25 METHOD

2.     THE ONE-THING METHOD

3.     THE JUST-PLAYING METHOD

EXPLANATION 1: THE 25-50-25 METHOD

The first 25 = 25% of your dedicated time you should spend on warm-up exercises. For example: Practice a scale or a chord for 15 minutes if you plan to practice for one hour.

50 = 50% of your dedicated time you should spend on your main-practice. It means you spend the next 30 minutes (provided that you want to practice for one hour) on moving on with your current project (or start a new one). For example: If my current plan is to learn three rounds of a Bill Evans solo, all I need to do is to move forward in this project for 30 minutes.

The last 25 = 25% of your dedicated time you should spend on “free-play.” Here you improvise, experiment, and have fun. Also, if you get ideas while you do your main practice, then you can execute those ideas now in your free-play session.

Warning: When you practice for one hour using this method, the time flies!

EXPLANATION II: THE ONE-THING METHOD

To rapidly move a project forward, it is smart to dedicate your focus to the project for 100% of your time. For example: If my plan is to learn three rounds of a Bill Evans solo, I do this for 1 hour straight (or two or even three. Remember to rest at least 7 minutes for every hour).

EXPLANATION III: THE JUST-PLAYING METHOD

As jazz musicians, it is essential to explore new things and develop our own “voice.” If you don’t do this, you probably have missed the essence of jazz: To become an innovator. You have to explore and do your things to become a jazz pianist. A session of “JUST-PLAYING” is just this. What you should do then is to practice for one hour straight (or more) where you explore new ideas. Now the focus should be on creating new things. You can spend the hour on composing, improvising, or play new ideas that come to mind. Notice: Be intentional while you do this and stay focused.