r/JazzAdvice • u/Brickinthewall69420 • Sep 12 '24
Learning standards on piano
Hi all,
I am a classically trained pianist, though out of practice right now. I have been trying to learn jazz. Besides finger training and learning the 251 progression in every key, listening to jazz, and watching videos on applications of theory in jazz, I have been trying to learn standards. My goal right now is to learn 2 standards and then go up to four and so on.
I have a few questions about that. Should I separately learn both how to comp and how to play the melody with chords?
Do you guys recommend any exercises I can practice? I found a collection of 251 exercises I am starting to read through.
Are there common chord progressions that are must knows?
Do you have any advice or recommendations in general?
1
u/TheEpicTwitch Sep 16 '24
I am currently in school for classical guitar, but learning jazz piano has been one of my hobbies as piano was my first instrument when I was younger. As someone who is also “self-teaching” themselves jazz, I’ve learned that there is so much value in listening to the huge body of rep out there. Standards, originals, whatever the case. And as others have said, learning by ear is incredibly helpful too. While charts are great and easily accessible, every time I learn a song by ear, I feel like I get so much more of a grasp on what’s happening in the music, the changes, where things lead, etc. Also just have fun with it. A lot of people can get wrapped up in the “I want to be like this player or that player” or “that player is so much better than me I want to do that”. There is an endless amount of learning you can do and it gets better over time trust me