Jazz Piano Music: 8 Great Song to Learn
Tue, 10/20/2015 - 9:18am
click here for free samples of our jazz piano lessons with George Whitty!
As I travel around the world doing jazz piano clinics and workshops, one question I’m often asked is: “what tunes should I learn?”
That’s a really broad question. I’d like to narrow it down to 8 jazz piano tunes that are a big part of the standard repertoire you might encounter at a gig or a jam session, and also are tunes that I’ve most enjoyed sitting down and playing over the years, inspired by some killer performances of said tunes that sort of launched me off.
SO in no particular order, here are 8 jazz piano tunes I get a huge kick out of playing, along with the performance that inspired me to learn them and gave me something to shoot for. Usually there’s something cool about the harmony that propels the tune forward, and a really well-turned melody that’s got something unusual about it:
"Someday My Prince Will Come"
Jazz Piano Lessons with George Whitty Now Available
Tue, 10/06/2015 - 3:09pm
“It’s really just such an ideal format, and I’m really pleased to be here as the new professor of jazz piano.” - George Whitty
At last, the wait for jazz piano lessons with George Whitty is over! This is an exciting day for ArtistWorks and we couldn’t be more proud to have George on board as part of our online faculty.
George got the bug to play jazz piano at a young age. He was just 14 years old when he wrote a letter to the great Chick Corea asking him “are you really making up those notes? It seems impossible….” Eventually through some good teachers he was able learn the important improvisation concepts and has made jazz his career for the past 30 years.
George Whitty on Influential Jazz Piano Players: Part 3
Mon, 10/05/2015 - 11:50am
Duke Ellington:
Here’s the pianist who I most credit, through his writing and playing (and the brilliant writing and arranging of Billy Strayhorn) with really putting “jazz” music on the harmonic footing it’s been on ever since. A lot of what Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn did utilized tools that had been used before, some all the way back to Bach (a II-V progression, for example), but in their hands it reached its ultimate expression as a very particular sound, an instantly recognizable jazz sound.
And to hear Duke play piano is a true study in orchestration.
George Whitty on Influential Jazz Piano Players: Part 2
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 4:47pm
Herbie Hancock
Here we have somebody who I would say is probably the most influential pianist of the last 50 years, and one of our all-time most extraordinary musicians.
Everything that came before him, from the jazz world to the classical world, all came together and then got kicked up several quantum leaps in Herbie’s hands. He was a child prodigy, playing with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 11, and didn’t get into jazz until early in high school, but ouch, the way he took to it from there.
Playing with people like Donald Byrd and Oliver Nelson shortly after turning 20, he joined Miles Davis’s quintet at the age of 23. Which is pretty ridiculous considering the wealth of piano talent that was out there. But right from the very start you hear that this is something incredibly special.
I’ve often thought that Herbie is the ultimate expression of the human potential:
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