Interested in jazz piano lessons?
Although improvisation and chord theory should be applied to all piano lessons, learning jazz piano is an excellent way to develop this understanding, taking your theory knowledge to another level. Playing a range of styles, such as swing, bebop or stride, you will advance your understanding of musical theory learning how to play jazz piano songs you’ll love whilst creating melodies through improvisation and applying them to jazz chords.
Jazz piano lessons with PLUK
If you want to discover the secrets of jazz piano, then you’ve come to the right place. We have 3 piano schools in Bristol, Brighton & Hove and Manchester. If you contact us, we’ll put you in touch with a headteacher who will connect you with one of our experienced teachers, who are based all over the UK, are carefully chosen because they are lovely people and very knowledgeable in the intricacies of learning jazz piano. I can guarantee that we’ll be able to match you with an experienced jazz tutor who can provide you with the goals and techniques you need, to achieve the results you’re looking for in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
Jazz piano requires dedication and hard work but with great results it is a rewarding journey indeed. Imagine walking up to that grand piano in the restaurant and tinkling out a little Ray Charles. But whatever your goal is, learning music is most successful when done together with others. To learn how to play jazz piano alone can seem a little frustrating as you get to grips with new terminology and a musical language.
Learning a new skill, like jazz piano, can feel like a one-person mission. Our welcoming musical community offers students and teachers alike a supportive platform to share your musical journey. At PLUK we believe that if we find kind piano teachers and provide them with great support, sharing our communal experience, that they’ll deliver you excellent piano tuition.
Online jazz piano lessons
Alongside our dedicated piano schools in Bristol, Brighton & Hove, Manchester and London we are fully set up to teach jazz lessons online.
We’ve been teaching online for over a year settling on a common standard for all of our teachers. We all use a minimum of a two-camera setup providing numerous viewpoints from which to analyse and improve your technique.
You’ll need a laptop or desktop computer and a mobile phone. These can be set up quickly at either end of your keyboard.
Using the two camera setup gives us an unrivalled view of your technique so you can start to make improvements in your playing from the start. We can show you how to achieve your jazz piano goals with greater accuracy and you can play in the comfort of your own home.
The first lesson is free, to see whether online jazz piano teaching is the right choice for you. And if for any reason, your online piano lesson is not going well, we’ll offer you another free lesson so you don’t miss out.
Please contact us to book your first free piano lesson either online or face to face.
Jazz language
Learning jazz piano, and music in general, is a lot like learning a language. By learning how to recognise our already present understanding of questions, responses, volume control and the use of pitch, we can illustrate how these characteristics are often transplanted onto the musical framework to similar communicative effect.
These characteristics of linguistic expression are innate. Even very young children, who are pre-speech, will most certainly understand the difference between a friendly voice and an angry one. Similarly with the concept of recognising a question. Using pitch alone, we can imply a requirement for someone to respond with an answer. This is to say nothing of the ability for us all to recognise rhythmic regularity and irregularity patterns. These cues can be found throughout the entire history of music not just in the realms of jazz piano.
In this way, we can use these common qualities to comprehend the linguistic rules that apply to music.
What will I learn?
Coming from a classical background, you may feel that jazz piano would be a challenging switch. Classical and jazz offer a variety of differences in approach. Everything from phrasing to rhythm. However, it's important to remember that jazz is a branch on the tree of “Classical” music.
Although the differences between Mozart and Oscar Peterson can make the two genres seem like polar opposites.
But don’t despair, your dedicated jazz piano teacher will help you progress and achieve your goals.
The possibilities of improvisation and jazz chords will bring a new freedom and joy to your playing. Your experienced teacher will help you with basic principles like the circle of fifths so you start making progress fast.
If you want to unlock the secrets of playing jazz piano, the key is excellent tuition. You’re never too young or too old to get started and mastering skills like improvisation will help you improve your technique, whatever you prefer to play.
Piano tuition reviews
"Piano tuition playing songs I enjoy to play."
"Jazz piano lessons, I can’t believe it. It’s tricky but I’m making progress and enjoying myself too."
— Joanne, - Bristol, UK
"Progress at last"
"I really wanted to improve my jazz piano scales and chords. I’ve got some great exercises and am able to play a fair number of jazz pieces now. Looking forward to being able to play out somewhere! At some point!”
- Steve, London, UK
“Loving the piano lessons”
“I’ve been enjoying my lessons greatly. After playing by myself using youtube for ages I really value the guidance my piano teacher provides. Always looking forward to the weekly lesson and, when lockdown ends, to spreading my jazz wings in a venue near me.”
— Jenny, - Brighton & Hove, UK
Some commonly asked questions:
Is jazz hard to learn?
Jazz piano isn’t easy to master, but nothing is! However, you will be able to play the music that you’ll enjoy very quickly. Much quicker than you’ll expect. On average, I can expect a student of mine, who is a beginner, to be able to improvise using jazz piano scales and chords within 1-10 lessons. Working with a dedicated jazz piano teacher, we will help you recognise and achieve your goals in the most efficient way possible. We will help to motivate and structure your learning by choosing pieces that will compliment what you know and offering you exercise, techniques and pieces which will develop your skills and understanding of jazz piano.
Can children learn jazz piano?
There are limitations relating to age. When learning jazz piano, we will often teach chord theory at an earlier point. This can be physically a little demanding on a very young child as it requires holding down more than one note at the same time. Kids who are under 9 might want to look at developing their ability to move their fingers independently and manage the weight of the piano keys. Our jazz piano teachers can definitely help with this.
Will I learn jazz chords and jazz scales?
Jazz chords and scales are chords that are also found in classical music. Composers such as Debussy, Ravel and Rachmaninov to name a few have many examples of jazzy chords.
How much experience do I need?
Having taught lessons to students who are seasoned musicians and complete beginners, neither would be a restriction.
How much are jazz piano lessons?
Jazz piano lessons are the same price as our other piano lessons and start from £35 per hour.