Introduction

Tim Richards
Tim Richards

Lesson time: (0min 56sec)

Tim Richards welcomes you to Exploring Jazz Piano, covering what's inside: building coordination, improvisation and harmony, plus jazz standards and play-along tracks.

Course preview

This lesson is part of the course Exploring Jazz Piano: Major Triads
Watch a preview of the full course below.

Lesson transcript:

Exploring Jazz Piano: Part One

Hi, this is Tim Richards. Welcome to my course, Exploring Jazz Piano.

Course Overview

In this part one of the course, I will provide you with a variety of techniques to help you improve:

  • Your coordination
  • Your improvisation skills
  • Your knowledge of basic harmony

This course serves as a follow-on to the earlier course, Beginning Jazz Piano. Here, you will find more detail, and we will also look at some jazz standards.

Interactive Features

You'll find interactive sheet music available for you to practice. Each performance generally has two versions:

  • You can remove the piano by using the backing track.
  • It's important that you play along with the tracks as much as you can so you can become the piano player.

Feel free to listen to the recorded performance; use it to inform your own solos.

Resources

Many of the lessons have PDFs attached, so don't forget to download those. They contain important information as well.

Let's get going!

About the instructor

Tim Richards
Tim Richards

Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDaoAs a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end". More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk read more

What's included?

31 lessons (1h 43m)
Advanced video features
Mobile, tablet & desktop
100% satisfaction guarantee
View course info