Learn This Killer Samba & Bossa Nova Technique for Jazz Piano

Have you ever listened to bossa nova or samba tunes and wondered how to achieve that sound in your own playing?

I'm going to explain to you a technique that will immediately improve your ability to employ these feels in your own solo piano playing. This is a technique that I personally use all the time whenever I am playing a bossa or samba tune without a band.

There are a few different pieces to learning this concept:

1. First, you'll want to solidify your left hand feel. I'm starting by alternating between two maj7 chords one half step apart (Fmaj7 to Gbmaj7). You can play this pattern in intervals of fifths or major sevenths, and the rhythm is explained in the following video.

2. Secondly, you'll want to focus on the right hand pattern. This can be a bit trickier, so let's split our hand into two parts: the bottom three fingers (1, 2, 3) will be playing chords, while the top two fingers (4, 5) play melody notes. To practice this, try leaving out the chord fingers and playing a melody on top of your left hand pattern.

3. Now, it's time to add in the middle chordal piece to this pattern. Essentially, what you want to do here is fill in some more of the chord tones depending on what notes your left hand is playing, and intersperse them with the bass line so that you achieve some syncopated rhythms. Feel free to get creative here!

I highly recommend you practice this technique with a metronome and slowly build up your tempo and control until both hands feel comfortable playing with each other.

Once you have a good grasp on the pattern with only two chords, try arranging one of your favorite bossa tunes in this style: keeping the melody in your upper fingers, comping with your inner right fingers, and keeping that bass groove in the left hand.

This is a really useful rhythmic pattern that you can apply to a lot of tunes, and is especially helpful to know when you are playing solo piano.

For a more in-depth tutorial on this technique, check out this video:

How to Transcribe Licks Effectively

Should you transcribe?

I hear this question asked all the time, and the answer isn't quite as simple as you would think.

In today's lesson, I'm going to leave you with a simple, 4-step process that is going to make transcribing 100% worthwhile for you.

Here's a breakdown of the most efficient way to transcribe in four easy steps:

1. Choose your favorite lick(s) from your chosen recording.

2. Internalize that lick by visualizing and hearing it in your head, note for note.

3. Learn to play the lick on your instrument.

4. Practice molding the lick to fit different chord changes and progressions.

I've spent countless hours transcribing not only through memorization, but also through writing down transcriptions as sheet music. The above is what I have found to be by far the most effective method for truly integrating new jazz vocabulary into your playing, and it will save you a TON of time.

Whether you're working on bebop, modern jazz, neo soul, or really any genre of music, this method will work for learning to really hear what you're working on and it will greatly speed up the vocabulary integration process.

Check out the full video tutorial here

The Right Way to Use Diminished 7 Chords for Jazz Piano

How do you use diminished chords & harmony in a way that actually sounds good?

In this jazz piano tutorial, we answer that question.

Using the diminished sound can be a surprisingly tricky piece of the jazz piano equation. Here are some exercises that will help you quickly improve and advance your chord progressions and technical skills!

So how do you feel about your confidence with diminished chords and improvisation?

I have to admit— it took me a really long time to get it down.

Let's put an end to that lack of confidence! Check out the full lesson here:

P.S. I've been having a blast chatting with you all on strategy calls!

These are short zoom calls that you can actually book completely free with either myself or one of our Neo Jazz Coaches (who I trained and are awesome musicians and people).

If you need a little help clarifying your next steps for how to improve your skills, you can schedule a quick call with us and we'll discuss your goals, what's holding you back, some next steps you can take, and whether it makes sense for you to join any of my programs.

Worst case scenario, you'll leave the call with more clarity about what you need to work on and how to approach it. Best case scenario, maybe we can work together in some capacity!

Schedule your free call here.