Question about Levine's Jazz Piano Book suggested tunes
hello,
for anyone in progress or who has completed this book,
do you think one should learn every suggested tune, one or two, or what?
i guess i rushed by learning 2 or 3 tunes on each chapter, for the reason that i want to go out and play!
any thoughts?
for anyone in progress or who has completed this book,
do you think one should learn every suggested tune, one or two, or what?
i guess i rushed by learning 2 or 3 tunes on each chapter, for the reason that i want to go out and play!
any thoughts?
There are 17 comments, leave a comment.
i've never read the book, but i would suggest you learn 20 or 30 tunes and sit in with some folks and/or try to get a gig somewhere. practicing is essential, but playing out is how to get good at it:)
don't let learning tunes get in the way of going out and playing. if you go somewhere where you have a chance to sit in, let them know what tunes you are strong with and most people at sessions will be cool enough to play something you feel good about.
this goes for any playing "out there". don't let what you know or don't know get in the way of playing. never turn down a gig, regardless if you think you can do it. the best place to learn, as the good doctor said, is on stage.
if once you're doing a gig or out there playing, the things you need to work on and the things you know well will become quite apparent very quickly. especially if you record your playing and listen to it later- that's key.
last but not least, don't forget the tunes you've learned. put them up on youtube and play along until they are second nature. the tunes i remember the most are the ones i play the most. others i get rusty on and some that i knew well at one point i can't play at all without music (though they come back pretty fast.)
this goes for any playing "out there". don't let what you know or don't know get in the way of playing. never turn down a gig, regardless if you think you can do it. the best place to learn, as the good doctor said, is on stage.
if once you're doing a gig or out there playing, the things you need to work on and the things you know well will become quite apparent very quickly. especially if you record your playing and listen to it later- that's key.
last but not least, don't forget the tunes you've learned. put them up on youtube and play along until they are second nature. the tunes i remember the most are the ones i play the most. others i get rusty on and some that i knew well at one point i can't play at all without music (though they come back pretty fast.)
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 10/24/2011, 10:03
i am just not sure if i am ready to play gigs(that have something to offer to the audience). my question was more about how to approach practicing this specific book.(the jazz piano book, levine)
i've always heard that the book is more of a reference than a method...but like i said, i have not read it. it came out long after i was began playing gigs.
that being said, i think it all depends on your goals. some tunes are more common than others. scot makes a great point about not letting the number of tunes you know get in the way of getting out to play. if someone asks you to play a tune you don't know, just say "man, i haven't played that tune in years!" :)
that being said, i think it all depends on your goals. some tunes are more common than others. scot makes a great point about not letting the number of tunes you know get in the way of getting out to play. if someone asks you to play a tune you don't know, just say "man, i haven't played that tune in years!" :)
ah, how to practice the book.
here's how i do all piano books:
go through them as fast as possible, from cover to cover, playing everything, reading everything, just getting through the book.
this is important because once you start working on a section you might never get through the book.
once you get through the book from cover to cover, you will have a very good idea of what the book has to offer and what areas of the book you want to spend more time getting into.
that's how you practice the book. learning tunes is something you'll do forever. i usually try to pick up a new tune a week. it makes up for whatever tune i happen to forget that week.
here's how i do all piano books:
go through them as fast as possible, from cover to cover, playing everything, reading everything, just getting through the book.
this is important because once you start working on a section you might never get through the book.
once you get through the book from cover to cover, you will have a very good idea of what the book has to offer and what areas of the book you want to spend more time getting into.
that's how you practice the book. learning tunes is something you'll do forever. i usually try to pick up a new tune a week. it makes up for whatever tune i happen to forget that week.
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 10/25/2011, 09:22
thanks! this seems a very good idea. i have lost much time in books that didn't offer much in the end.
can i just pick up on what scot said "go through them as fast as possible, from cover to cover, playing everything, reading everything, just getting through the book."
for mere mortals, does this mean (in your opinion) that once you can "muddle through" a tune or exercise in a book, you should move on, or only move on once you have "mastered" that tune or exercise?
for mere mortals, does this mean (in your opinion) that once you can "muddle through" a tune or exercise in a book, you should move on, or only move on once you have "mastered" that tune or exercise?
that's what i'm saying- when you can muddle through a tune, move on. move on at even less than the "muddle through" stage. if you spend time mastering or muddling a tune, sometimes you'll never get through the book. but if you rush through, trying to play everything, going through songs once or twice, reading everything,playing all the examples, by the time you get to the end you will know a few important things.
you'll know what parts of the book you really connected with. the parts that gave you musical ideas that made you excited about playing them. these parts you should revisit for sure.
you'll also know what you need to work on and you can revisit those parts as well.
but the best thing of all is that going through the book like that, you will gain skills, knowledge, and other piano stuff that you didn't have before, just by going through it. stuff that will come back to you even if you never read the book again.
give it a shot, it will work.
you'll know what parts of the book you really connected with. the parts that gave you musical ideas that made you excited about playing them. these parts you should revisit for sure.
you'll also know what you need to work on and you can revisit those parts as well.
but the best thing of all is that going through the book like that, you will gain skills, knowledge, and other piano stuff that you didn't have before, just by going through it. stuff that will come back to you even if you never read the book again.
give it a shot, it will work.
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 11/07/2011, 09:04
cool, thanks. i will.
actually with regards to this this particular book, seeing that the chapters are very much about 2 handed arrangements, there is much to learn by applying each chapter to as many tunes as possible. if you do that for the chapter on shell voicings, yu will get pretty good at finding shells. the suggested tunes are not easy. countdown, giant steps, rainy day. those are not easy tunes but playing shelles on them is not particularly hard.
levine's book should be just one type of things you do for your practive. 20 mins a day type of thing.
levine's book should be just one type of things you do for your practive. 20 mins a day type of thing.
hi alex and everybody else,
this is my first post on this forum (so hello to everybody!).
i agree with scot's advice in regards to going out and getting some musical experience asap. you don't have to know every tune to go out and hit a jam session. just know a few tunes very well.
in regards to the levine book i think it would also greatly benefit you to learn 1-2 tunes in all 12 keys instead of learning the 5-10 he recommends. i feel like you'll grasp the "big picture" concept better when you take a tune through several keys.
by the way i run a free jazz lessons website. i'm not making money from it, just doing it because i love it. if you are interested please check the site out. i have a lot of chord lessons and many other jazz lessons on there (some inspired by the levine book). https://www.freejazzlessons.com/
thanks everybody and i look forward to sharing with the community!
this is my first post on this forum (so hello to everybody!).
i agree with scot's advice in regards to going out and getting some musical experience asap. you don't have to know every tune to go out and hit a jam session. just know a few tunes very well.
in regards to the levine book i think it would also greatly benefit you to learn 1-2 tunes in all 12 keys instead of learning the 5-10 he recommends. i feel like you'll grasp the "big picture" concept better when you take a tune through several keys.
by the way i run a free jazz lessons website. i'm not making money from it, just doing it because i love it. if you are interested please check the site out. i have a lot of chord lessons and many other jazz lessons on there (some inspired by the levine book). https://www.freejazzlessons.com/
thanks everybody and i look forward to sharing with the community!
i second what freejazzlessons said- really learn 1-2 songs in 12 keys so that you can jam in each key. once you do that, learning other songs in 12 keys is way easier. in fact, after you have a few tunes down in 12 keys, switching keys in most tunes is something you can "just do". crazy how easy it gets.
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 11/11/2011, 10:22
freejazzlessons- i should mention that you need to put a link to ljp up on your site if you want your link on the links page here. thanks!
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 11/11/2011, 10:30
i agree with scot completely. there are common harmonic formulas (chord progressions) and most tunes will have at least some elements of them.
check out things like the montgomery ward bridge and contrafacts. that should give you a place to start.
i just emailed my webmaster scot about the link. i know we're planning on doing a whole recommended link page in the next month. thanks again!
check out things like the montgomery ward bridge and contrafacts. that should give you a place to start.
i just emailed my webmaster scot about the link. i know we're planning on doing a whole recommended link page in the next month. thanks again!
ha! a new one to me. my dad used to refer to rhythm changes as sears-roebuck changes:)
hi dr. whack. yes, i've heard of the sears-roebuck changes too! here's some more info on the montgomery ward bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/montgomery-ward_bridge
btw scot...i just added a link to the site on my site. thanks again!
btw scot...i just added a link to the site on my site. thanks again!
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