Meet James Beckwith

Introduction

Hey, how's it going?

I'm James Beckwith, a pianist, composer, keyboard player, and producer from England, now living in London. Today, I'm here at Rock School to take you through jazz, funk, pop, and some reggae pieces.

My Background

I suppose I was asked to do this because I've been a jazz pianist for over ten years professionally. Here's a bit about my journey:

• Education: I studied at Leeds College of Music in the north of England, where I was fortunate enough to write a big band piece that won the John Dankworth Prize for composition.
• Performance Experience: I played in many different groups and bands during my time there.
• Further Studies: I then came to London to do a Masters at Trinity, which helped me get onto the London scene.

Since then, I have traveled the world playing music with my own band and performing in many other ensembles. I also do lots of sessions here in London.

I have my own trio, the James Beckwith Trio, which is currently recording its debut album that will be released later this year. If you're interested, check it out!

Today's Focus

In today's lesson, I'll be covering material based around:

• Jazz: Swing
• Funk: Syncopation
• Reggae: Off beats
• Pop: Smooth piano lines with a pedal

I'm going to show you a real mixture of techniques, alongside tips and tricks to improve your playing.

What You Will Learn

We'll explore:

• Approaches to the more difficult aspects of playing
• General musicianship to help you play better, whether or not you're doing the grades for Rock School

I hope you can join me! We're going to have a lot of fun breaking down these pieces, seeing how I play them, and learning how to be better musicians.