Reddit mentions of Jazz Chord Hanon: Private Lessons Series (Musicians Institute)

> I have a good foundation in classical theory, and have a pretty basic understanding of jazz harmony, but what are some additional steps that I could take to improve?

I tend to tell people to start with this book. Mark Levine's "The Jazz Piano" is a great book and the most common recommendation, but I think it's a bit too dense and daunting to people transitioning from a classical background and not yet accustomed to being given a single example and then told "now just go play this progression in all 12 keys without music... then look up tunes and apply the concepts."

It's also not a book you can easily work out of without the guidance of a teacher. I think people who recommend it are often taking for granted their level of knowledge in the subject and not realizing how unapproachable it is to a fresh learner. Start with the Mark Harrison book and then move to the Levine book after you've gotten a primer.

>For example, what are some good beginner/intermediate piano performances I could transcribe?

Don't start with jazz. Start with nursery rhymes and traditional tunes you're already familiar with. Burt Ligon makes this suggestion in his Jazz Theory Resources book. If you can't transcribe Mary Had a Little Lamb, you can't transcribe most jazz performances, especially the intense ones. A good understanding of theory will really help you ear so that you're not just making blind guesses at things.

With simple children's songs, you can instantly apply your own theory knowledge. For many, you probably don't even need to listen to a recording. Just sit down and write out a lead sheet of something like Alouette or Twinkle Twinkle, or America. If you find that you can't hear the harmonic progression (I, IV, and V) of those, you certainly aren't going to be able to jump into jazz transcriptions.


I mean... you could, but I feel that people waste far too many hours taking that approach without the theory to help inform what they are hearing. When I hear a #9 chord, I know what it is because I know how it functions. It stands out to me and I'm not sitting down plinking at keys trying to guess the notes of the chord. I think "That's a dominant with a #9 coming from ii and going to I. I'm in X keys, so it's X7#9."

Once again, people who already have a solid grounding in jazz theory and a backing in ear will tell you to jump straight into transcription because they are taking for granted a huge amount of their own knowledge and not keeping in mind the numbers of steps behind them you might be.

>Are there any decent books of common jazz phrases?

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. I guess you mean like licks or comping patterns or something? Start with the one I mentioned above to actually learn the language so you know how things work. Once you do, you can grab transcription books, or make your own transcriptions. If you get a little backing in the theory you can steal ideas you like left and right very easily.

>How do you feel about using a real book?

It's useful, especially for applying concepts (like those in the Mark Levine book) to real tunes when your ear can't get there. Some would argue that you should evolve to the level where you never need a real book (relying entirely on your ear and memory) and that might be a fine goal, but it's a lofty one. Don't let the ultimate high end goal of very experienced players strongly discourage you from taking the steps you need to get there.

>What are some technical exercises I could practice?

Probably the most important starting exercise is in the "Intro to Jazz Piano" book I recommended... 3-7 voicings. They are written out in that book, but eventually being able to play them for ii-V-I in every key while just reading a lead sheet (you can scrawl your own) would be a good goal. Then applying that concepts to tunes is a good next step.

For a lot of pure technical stuff, you could look at some John Valerio books. I'd recommend this one as a pure technical manual. It's aimed at developing the type of facility that you might need to be able basically get anywhere from anywhere the way improvising pianists need to do when they can't always plan out every fingering.

This one is slightly more directly practical conceptual stuff for comping and realizing lead sheets which might be a better place to start considering improvisation at this point should be very little of your focus.

There's also Jazz Chord Hanon which I'm very uneasy recommending. It might provide you a lot of the technical facility used in jazz, but without any of the context. It doesn't make you actually know what you're playing and why. It might help your playing, but I think the John Valerio books would be a much better option as would just making up tons of your own exercises. However, the Hanon could be useful in just letting you find and clean up some technical limitation on your part.

There's also the companion book to Burt Ligon's theory book (Comprehensive Technique for Jazz Musicians), but this one is quite high level and deep in the weeds. Also, since it's not a piano specific book, you might want to be more comfortable working in abstract theory concepts before you jump in, but it's an absolutely magnificent book.