Bachelor in Advanced Jazz Piano

You will be able to analyze, curiously reimagine, and perform songs in the advanced jazz piano styles covered in this course. A special emphasis will be placed on aspects of solo piano performance, group performance, chord voicings, creating lines, left hand/right hand independence, Afro-Latin influence on jazz improvisation, Black Gospel influence on jazz piano, learning jazz repertoire, reharmonizations of the melody, and development of a “danceable beat.”

Weekly advanced jazz piano classes will focus on four key foundational elements of jazz piano. You will first listen to specific repertoire from albums to internalize the feeling, groove, and contextual importance of the “song of the week.” Secondly, you will seek to gain a theoretical understanding of that material which will allow you to accompany and perform with others in a more fluid/transposing manner. The third component of this course will be repetition of concepts over a specific system that Kevin Harris calls the GRID, which will allow you to play newly learned concepts in a more intuitive play-along manner. The fourth component of weekly classes will consist of expanding newly learned concepts in more creatively melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic directions.

An emphasis on listening and learning repertoire in the African-American style of vocalizing, moving, and dancing will also be a key interactive component of learning in this course. Singing, clapping, and moving to the beat are all cultural elements that have formed the foundation of countless styles of American music. From blues, rock, jazz, R&B, disco-house, neo-soul, and hip-hop to their unquestionable influence on international electronic music, J-Pop and K-Pop, we’ll cover the foundations of all of these styles from a pianistic perspective. By the end of this course, you will become familiar with calling tunes in a session/gig scenario. You will also become more familiar with rhythmically locking in with the beat, having steady time, and being able to utilize certain pianistic patterns that are appropriate for the style of music being played. As a result, you will not only develop new approaches to reinterpreting repertoire in the styles of pianists covered in this course but you will also be able to lock in with members of any band you perform with!