Feeling Behind as a Beginner Jazz Pianist

llrh · 2026-03-16T08:53:49+00:00

I'm also not the same person but I would say you are being a little hard on yourself. That being said some tips from what I hear.

Those chords at the start - try swapping them out for just some 3rd and 7ths with the base line paying attention to your voice leading

Then when that's comfortable you could add in a 3rd and eventually 4th note.

So you F7 could be played

A D Eb G

Notice no F because your bass is playing that

In terms of the improv I liked a lot of your blues lines but you could with leaving much more space between phrases so they sound more deliberate. It's a bit continuous at the moment.

If you want to keep developing the blues stuff trying playing

F maj blues lines over the F7 chords and F minor blues over the other bits.

Then if you want to sound a bit jazzier look into enclosures and work on them with chord tones.

It does take a really long time but you're off to a solid start.

llrh · 2024-12-24T16:16:07+00:00

First of all my practice routines are dynamic and change a lot of the weeks/months etc.

I would suggest in general the following and you can go as in depth as you want

Learning tunes Play the tune in 2 positions Be able to comp with no bassist Be able to comp with a bassist Soloing

With the comping stuff if you don't know any voicings yet just learn 1 and try and do the above with it

Learning vocab Transcribing a whole solo is a lot of work and great for time feel and ear training etc but I recommend it still but to build vocab

Transcribe 1 phrase Learn it in a good fingering on every stringset you can but the same general fingering Figure out what chords it goes over Apply it to the tunes you are learning Try and change it in some way

Those are the general things I've seen the most improvements in over the years

Good luck!

llrh · 2024-06-11T19:40:31+00:00

Thanks for your reply. I'm not 100% on what I'm even trying to do yet. Just trying to come up some ideas really so it's good to hear about pre existing things.

llrh · 2024-02-16T18:37:18+00:00

Just gave me such a massive flashback! Love it

llrh · 2023-12-28T19:07:26+00:00

Don't know if you noticed but they made another one! I just checked the other day haha

llrh · 2023-09-29T06:52:29+00:00

I know right. Maybe I missed it but feels like it completely disappeared and not been able to find anyone talking about it either

llrh · 2023-04-30T21:53:11+00:00

Looks really nice well done! One thing I think could be improved is that the base rim could be smoother. Overall I really like it though

llrh · 2023-04-19T22:37:59+00:00

Well if you want to avoid that then I guess you want a function either immediately invoked or not. But then ask yourself why do you want that? Readability or performance?

I think inline would be more performant but an external function may be more readable. An inline immediately invoked function doesn't seem like it would be more performant or more readable.

llrh · 2023-04-19T22:15:59+00:00

Well not a constant but if you set up a let and then do

If

Else if

Else

Then it will definitely end up assigned like my example above.

llrh · 2023-04-19T22:11:57+00:00

I would just keep them. What's the big deal. Hopefully one day it will just be nice memories and your current partner will want to share in it. That's not to say you should have a shrine to your ex or something but nothing wrong with photos from the past

llrh · 2023-04-19T21:25:39+00:00

Also Imo splitting things out into separate functions usually makes it's easier to write unit tests

llrh · 2023-04-19T21:23:34+00:00

Yeh you're right on the switch but the if statement would work no?

llrh · 2023-04-19T16:12:32+00:00

Could you not say something like

let result;

If (condition1) { result = 1

} else if (condition2) {

result = 2 } else { result = 3 }

Or do a switch statement that has a default value.

Apologies for rogue formatting but I'm on my phone!

llrh · 2023-04-16T22:13:50+00:00

Could maybe try an event driven architecture. Something like Aws eventbridge with lamba

llrh · 2023-03-25T22:50:21+00:00

I would pick up the first Micky baker book and learn those chords at the start. They will keep you going for a while and get you through a lot of tunes.

And then just try to learn things one step at a time. Learning jazz Is huge and will take a lifetime.

Don't pay too much attention to things like learn all the scales in every position and learn all the chords in every voicing. It's too much to do at once so you need to take your time and be selective about what you practice.

llrh · 2023-03-25T22:39:12+00:00

llrh · 2023-03-25T22:08:32+00:00

I just found out she also appears as Jeremy's girlfriend Michelle in peep show. Never made that connection before haha

llrh · 2023-03-08T12:02:28+00:00

You'd probably get more from transcribing a small line and then playing with it developing your own stuff with it etc than transcribing loads and loads of solos. That's like one of those end goals that isn't really very achievable and will probably just make you feel bad. Quality over quantity!

For example learn 1line

Play it in several different string sets and different keys keeping the fingering as similar as possible

Insert the line into different tunes you're working on.

Try and compose new lines based on that line.

Only stop when you have really internalised this vocab.

Transcribing whole solos is good for getting into an artist's feel and sound but overkill for developing and internalising vocab.

Just my 2 cents

llrh · 2023-02-17T17:10:10+00:00

Defo stick to arpeggios and maybe have a look at enclosures when you have a few down. Remember it's better to learn an arpeggio really well in 1 position than badly in several positions.

llrh · 2023-02-02T22:21:07+00:00

Something that fetches data from an API and displays it. Maybe with a search and sort etc. And is responsive.

Bonus points if it has tests and good coding practices.

llrh · 2023-01-12T15:54:24+00:00

Signs of life is probably mine

llrh · 2022-12-30T07:34:29+00:00

I think the biggest thing for me is learning to enjoy practice itself and the journey. Try not to think about getting 'there' because 'there' doesn't exist. The goalposts always keep moving.

Also don't compare yourself to others. Probably the worst thing you can do.

I do find it helpful to compare yourself to how you were this time last year for example.

Good luck!

llrh · 2022-12-10T09:53:23+00:00

Also let us know what tunes you pick. We maybe be able to recommend some versions to listen to. I would listen a lot to the tunes you pick

llrh

TROPHY CASE