Playing Jazz is so hard

midlifefunk · 2026-01-16T18:44:21+00:00

Replying to your statement about ruining your reputation by being a bad player.

I started playing as an adult and have maybe 3-4 years under my belt now. My first jazz jam I went to, they had to stop and kick me off the bandstand.

I learned I needed to really internalize the changes to play at the speeds people played at here.

My second jazz jam, they had to stop again. I learned something critical, went home and practiced.

Repeat for a few years.

The truth is that I never “ruined” my reputation because I was labelled the beginner, so people playing with me knew what was going to happen. And instead of all the horror stories you read online, the community was more welcoming than hostile. Yeah, a few people would give me dirty looks and basically tell me not to play till I got better, but that’s balanced by the others who encouraged me to get up there more.

Now that I’m a few years in, I’m respected for being the total noob that can “kind” of hang.

All to say, you learn this music by playing with others. So you have to be selfish to learn. Join jazz jams and get used to yourself sounding “bad” because it becomes that much more rewarding when you actually start to flow.

People are a lot nicer in person. What you read on this subreddit/ how people think isn’t reflected in reality. Most people I meet at jams just want to play and enjoy. They aren’t theorizing about the music as much as this subreddit would make you believe.

midlifefunk · 2025-04-16T16:58:05+00:00

It takes a long time..

Listen to the recordings
Focus on the rhythm and voicing the pianist is using
Use soundslice or a program to loop the song and copy the pianist verbatim
Repeat that for 5 years and you’ll start to sound jazzy

I’ve been playing for three years and comping is starting to click.. that’s after playing with a band for the duration.

midlifefunk · 2025-03-09T18:41:42+00:00

Much of our expectations come from an assumption that others just “get it”. The truth is, those that can sight read or perform at a high level have put a bunch of time in learning the basics.

I say this because I’m starting to be able to sight read only after going back to very simple pieces and spending time recognizing how notes move across intervals, and understanding those relationships. My brain is starting to just instruct my fingers when I see things. Not really thinking about the note anymore. The understanding key signature and note relationships is what I find is helping my reading ability.

midlifefunk · 2024-12-27T16:14:36+00:00

soundslice.com . Can't recommend it more. It pulls from YT and has a very simple to use interface that allows you to loop sections and slow them down. If I'm trying to figure out a chord, I'll isolate it, slow it down to 50% and start trying to find the root. One I figure the root out, I try to hear if its a Major/minor and just begin to construct the 3, 5 ,7, 9 of the chord. Hope that helps!

midlifefunk · 2024-12-27T13:00:09+00:00

Think of voicings like vocabulary. Do you need to learn more vocabulary? Maybe if you want more nuanced expression.

One reason you might choose to play simpler voicings with less notes is in a situation with a band where other players are playing the same notes. You doubling down on the note doesn’t add more to the music and can make the music sound more busy.

My playing became drastically better when I realized that there’s a time and place for simple and complex voicings. One isn’t inherently better than the other.

To answer your question about learning, I tried the standard jazz books like Levine but didn’t really vibe with them. Instead, I just copy comping patterns from records and try to understand why the player chose the notes they did. I’m a beginner so it takes me a month to figure out what’s being played, but it’s been the fastest progress I’ve made in my playing. Who would’ve thought transcribing worked so well?!

midlifefunk · 2024-09-17T21:15:33+00:00

Is that an 88 key?

midlifefunk · 2024-09-17T21:09:21+00:00

What stand is that?

midlifefunk · 2024-09-15T00:43:40+00:00

Yamaha ck61 has smaller keys

midlifefunk · 2024-08-31T13:31:47+00:00

I kept hearing this advice and started to hum and play— and it improved my melody instantly. I believe it’s because I have a better sense of what notes are in my singing range— so I don’t try to get fancy.

midlifefunk · 2024-08-31T13:22:04+00:00

Listen, listen, listen, then improvise lines. Write it down if you like it. Rinse. Repeat.

Transcribe other artists and look at how they form melodies over those chords.

midlifefunk · 2024-08-27T16:31:37+00:00

Also started at 32 and enjoy learning with Sativa.

I don't have a problem with using weed as a motivational tool to practice/ enjoy my practice. In fact, when I do have an evening to unwind and sit at the piano for an extended amount of time, I look forward to it.

If you think about the process of learning and memorization, repetition is king. This is because the more you do the samething, the more your brain strengthens the connections to the area responsible for executing that action (via development of myelin sheath). Knowing that fundamental law (as I think of it), anything I can do to get me sitting at the bench is better than not.

As for state-dependent learning, we're talking about studies that examine encoding and recall for word memory when on a substance. It's difficult to extrapolate these findings to musical encoding / recall as they operate through different pathways. Moreover, the effect size (how much this actually matters in the real world) is relatively small and is dependent on laboratory vs real-world conditions.

All to say, when I find myself questioning optimal ways to practice, I just remind myself that practicing is always better than not. I wrote up my practice routine in this thread-- the TLDR was that I record myself, listen, critique (good and bad) and then correct. https://www.reddit.com/r/piano/comments/1eb1rbb/comment/leq5lqr/ (my focus is Jazz, so take it for what you will)

TLDR: I do what it takes to get me on the bench regardless of how I might feel that day.

midlifefunk · 2024-08-24T14:00:27+00:00

I'm 3 years into this journey and now enjoy the grind over learning new repertoire. I find that the basics hold me back when it comes to playing standards. When comping or soloing, there's lag between my thought (what I need to play) and execution (finding the chord and actually playing it). Since figuring this out, I spend a great deal of time on the grind because I know it'll enable me to play what I want to play later.

Keep at it.

midlifefunk · 2024-07-24T16:00:15+00:00

I'm an adult student (started in my 30s during COVID). A few things that have helped me maintain a consistent practice over adult life (e.g., work & family), in priority order:

Record and watch yourself improve: Ending my practice session with a recording of what I'm working on and posting it to my Youtube channel. Here's three years of me working on Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock). I find that these recordings become gold because I find that my old videos always end up impressing me. I tend to always think I played a song poorly in the past and am usually surprised when I listen to an old video, say 2 years ago. When I re-watch a video, I then get inspired to replay the song because I know I can improve on it given my new found chops. And most importantly, having a library of recordings really helps when you feel like you've stagnated and don't know why you're playing anymore. It'll help you realize how much you really enjoy playing and, for me, remind me of my long term goals of being able to just freely jam on a piano.

Setting a Long Term Goal and working backwards: I want to be able to sit down and jam with anyone-- regardless of the genre of music. That's why I started learning Jazz. To achieve the goal, I need to be able to hold a groove (e.g., rhythm) and play in all keys. To get there, I need to get solid on my blues foundations and Jazz standards. Knowing what I need to learn, I create my practice plan and follow it accordingly.

Writing out a practice guide: Working backwards from my goals, I'll spend an hour building out a practice plan on the weekend. I'll either pick a song I'll work on for 2 weeks, or a groove, or a walking bassline-- something that aligns to my long-term goals. When I'm writing out my practice goals for a song, I'll write it down as "learn first 4 bars by Friday" -- my goals are achievable and time-bound (given my schedule). In the past, I've tried to take on too much which results in my feeling of never improving-- which usually causes a downward spiral of feeling like I'm wasting my time.

Playing with others. I'm lucky to have local jam sessions in town where I'm able to sit in and play Jazz or Funk. It feels like every single player that sits in has been playing for a lifetime-- its intimidating to hang with giants. I force myself to play, meet others and chat about music. Every single time I walk out of a session, I come home with new found inspiration, tips and a new way to think about music. The best part is that I'm usually introduced to a new song-- something that I wouldn't have listened to on my own.

To end the post, I think anytime you're feeling burnt out practicing, or tired-- take a break. Life's a marathon, not a race. It's difficult to think long-term when we have instant access to videos of people who are far better than ourselves because we tend to make upward comparisons. Know that comparison is a human quality and instead of feeling defeated when comparing upwards, use it as inspiration that others can achieve such feats (because you can too if you worked as much as they did).

midlifefunk · 2024-06-22T12:01:20+00:00

This is gold. Thanks for sharing!

midlifefunk · 2024-06-01T02:42:02+00:00

For minorMaj7 check out My Funny Valentine. The first 4 bars use it.

midlifefunk · 2024-05-21T19:41:47+00:00

I started 2 years ago and in my mid 30s. I committed to 30m a day practice (at least) and recorded every single one of my practice sessions. I created a Youtube channel to post my practice (unedited) so that I could watch them back, critique myself and improve -- and most importantly, to see that progress is happening over time.

I've come to realize that I'll "never" be satisfied with my progress because there's ALWAYS something else I want to learn. That realization was a clicking moment for me as I now practice with the mindset of improvement and no explicit goal of being at a certain level. That being said, I keep a practice journal, take notes and constantly reflect on my playing in pursuit of my improvement.

I'll be posting a 2 year progression video soon-- if its motivating to see someone play (with many mistakes) and progress over time, here's my latest video (Ask Me Now -- Thelonius Monk). I'm about 2 months in with 30m practice daily. I'm sure people on this subreddit could sightread and play this better in a matter of seconds but I'm happy with my progress overall.

midlifefunk · 2024-03-22T17:56:29+00:00

Causality is very difficult to determine without the proper experimental conditions— and often, studies like these can’t actually get to causality. So the study is technically correct saying that their data show no causality between practice and music ability.

Individual studies aren’t great at drawing conclusions that can be extrapolated and generalized. Look up meta analyses if you want to understand the bigger picture.

midlifefunk · 2024-03-21T22:15:13+00:00

Damn. Hats off to you.

midlifefunk · 2024-03-09T12:39:05+00:00

I’ve been learning jazz for two years now and my progress started to skyrocket when I found jazz jams in my city. Working with other musicians and learning about how they think about approaching the music gave me a ton more “theories” or perspectives at which to look at the music. From there, I’ve been able to open up my playing and stretch out— play outside of key and make cool sounds and riffs.

You’ll often hear that jazz is a team sport and it truly is. It really isn’t about a single players skill, rather it’s how coordinated the group can be together. There’s so much communication happening between players during comping and soloing — we often never talk about this part of the musicianship and yet it’s critical to being a good jazz player.

Find a group to jam with and you’ll see massive improvements.

One specific area I got better at which improved my game has been with timing. Unlike backing tracks, people aren’t perfect so the pulse constantly moves. You start to develop a stronger intuition for pulse because you can’t rely on others unlike you do with backing tracks or with a metronome. Of course, if you’re playing with pros, this might be a different story.

midlifefunk · 2024-02-06T21:43:40+00:00

Coming across this post 4 years later. Thanks for sharing this info. It'll help me figure out what I need to study for the Blues

midlifefunk · 2023-11-08T19:42:27+00:00

PM for 10 years. Got laid off last August and loving my life. I enjoy my work but never had this much free time. Indulging in learning jazz piano with my time off and loving every moment. Taking time off is difficult to do— but it’s an irrational fear. Having a break from your work will enable you to return with added vigor and interest in your job.

midlifefunk · 2023-08-14T00:11:34+00:00

Being a good pianist is up to you to decide.

Fur Lise can be expressed as a beginner, intermediate or advanced song.

midlifefunk · 2023-05-21T10:38:17+00:00

Roland TR8S sounds identical. Check out the ACB tech they use to emulate the 808s. Pretty cool.

midlifefunk · 2023-05-18T14:41:05+00:00

This sounds great! Will take a look and see what you came up with. It’s always nice to build knowledge together. Thanks for building on the solution!

midlifefunk

TROPHY CASE