What's That Sound, Charlie Brown?

Tue, 12/19/2017 - 10:25am
Written by ArtistWorks

Linus, Lucy, Charlie, Snoopy- gather round! ArtistWorks Jazz Piano instructor, George Whitty, has a seasonal tune that'll be music to your cartoon ears. 

George is getting his ArtistWorks school into the holiday spirit by teaching a familiar beat: The Charlie Brown Theme Song.

New Section: Electric Piano & Keyboard Concepts

Fri, 09/22/2017 - 4:57pm
Written by ArtistWorks

new section for jazz piano

This is a new section added to the learning section where George is going to cover some key concepts when playing jazz piano in a digital setting such as a keyboard or electric piano. 

jazz keyboard lesson on funk soloing

In this first lesson on Funk Soloing, George lays out some ideas to help you effectively solo with taste and an understanding of the different mechanics of using this style of sound in a band setting.

jazz keyboard lesson on rhodes comping

The Fender Rhodes electric piano sound is the focus of this lesson. How to effectively paint your ideas in this style tone and how to best fit it into the context of a band. As with the last lesson, this one has backing tracks in all 12 keys to help you practice improvising the techniques demonstrated.

jazz keyboard lesson on the hammond b3

The familar sound of the Hammond B3 organ is deconstructed in this lesson. George will share his ideas and demonstrate the best and most tasteful use of organ sounds in jazz improv. This lesson also features a footpedal overlay so you can see how the volume and use of vibrato and/or the Leslie is integrated to bring the sound to life. 

Working with a couple musical geniuses...

Sun, 09/17/2017 - 3:45pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty

Or is it Geniii?  Hey everybody:  a few notes on some things I have coming up, and one in progress!  Just finished five days in Portland, OR, working with Gino Vannelli on his new CD, and am again reminded what an incredible musician the guy is.  We did a CD 20 years ago called “Slow Love”, and I was really struck by the depth of his writing, producing, singing, mixing, you name it.  That one took a LONG TIME, as we did almost the entire record in Logic on the computer, programming drums, bass, keys, guitars, horns, strings…I even took a nice little “harmonica” solo on a sound we built out of our own samples in a Kurzweil K2000.  Great record, and 20 years later we picked up right where we left off, but older and wiser. 

Gino’s writing has as much really cool harmony in it as anybody can fit into a contemporary song;  this CD is a kind of “Americana” one, with a small band featuring slide guitar, piano, percussion, pedal steel, harmonica, and some string sections.  But it’s as sophisticated as it gets, yet incredibly friendly to the ear. 

New Lessons: Quickstart Guide to Jazz Piano

Tue, 07/11/2017 - 2:43pm
Written by ArtistWorks

beginner jazz piano lessons

There's a new section to look out for in the Learning area that's designed for beginner players: "Quickstart Guide to Jazz Piano". If you're new to playing jazz, this is the best place to start. It's a series of seven lessons, here's what's covered: 

1. Introduction

George explains how he can make jazz accessible to anyone by providing a path that teaches you how to get started improvising.

2. Our First Tool: The Pentatonic Scale

George teaches the first tool to improvisational freedom in a very simple scale. He starts by framing the stylistic difference of jazz to other styles of piano before getting you started learning a collection of "can't miss" notes. Over a backing track he demonstrates how this scale sounds in context and gives examples on how to start using it to break into the world of improv on your own. Backing tracks in 3 tempos are provided to aid your practice and experimentation.

3. Time & Feel

In this lesson George breaks down the subtlety of going beyond just thinking about the notes choices you make, but exploring how you play them to get them to sound like great jazz. You'll learn how to get that authentic jazz feel from your phrasing, and how to work with timing to add importance to the notes you want to stand out in your phrases. Backing tracks in 3 tempos are provided to aid your practice and experimentation.

4. Expanding on Our First Tool

George expands on the Pentatonic Scale: why it works, and how to think about the note relationships that are happening depending on the chords you play over. He also breaks down different contexts this works in and teaches an exercise to help you remember these concepts.

5. Practice Exercises Using Our First Tool

In this lesson George runs through a series of practice exercise patterns over a slow backing track to help you continue to intuit how this all works. He also shows you how to break out of predicable patterns to start phrasing and making it sound like jazz.

6. Bringing in the Left Hand

George expands on how to fill out the sound with some left hand comping to add harmony. He breaks down the concept of using guide tones to inform how to make note choices and where to place them in relation to the beat. Using a backing track to demonstrate, he then teaches some very simple left hand chords to get you started making great jazz harmonies combining both hands.

7. Taking the Next Steps

Final thoughts on what was covered in this lesson series and a review of the key takeaway points. These concepts are a fantastic first step to being able to improvise freely and comfortably with a great jazz feel. After going through these you'll be on your way to becoming a jazz piano master (or at least ready for Levels 1-5 of the curriculum).