How to Play Piano in a Big Band: Keyboard/Piano Book & CD

This book cuts through the gap between jazz theory and real big band playing. Dobbins gives pianists concrete tools for comping, voicing, and responding to the ensemble around them, not just rules about what sounds "jazz." The included CD grounds everything in actual sound, so students hear exactly how these concepts land in context.

Practical and grounded. You get insider knowledge about what directors and bandmates actually need from a pianist, paired with recorded examples that let you hear the difference between generic playing and authentic big band style. It feels like learning directly from someone who knows the bandstand.

Pianists and keyboardists with basic jazz vocabulary who are preparing to sit in a big band or jazz ensemble for the first time. This is essential for students transitioning from jazz combos or classical training into the fuller texture and ensemble demands of large jazz settings.

• Listen to how the rhythm section sits together before diving into complex voicings; lock your comping to what the bass and drums are doing first.
• Record yourself playing along with the CD tracks and listen back with fresh ears; you'll catch rhythmic habits and tension points that aren't obvious in real time.
• Study the suggested voicings in context, then transpose them through different key centers to build muscle memory and flexibility.
• Leave space in your comping; not every chord needs filling. Sometimes the most stylistic choice is knowing when to lay out.

Use this as a prerequisite guide before students join your big band, or assign it to pianists in early rehearsals so they understand their role in the ensemble architecture. It's also valuable for jazz combos looking to expand into big band repertoire during the spring concert season.

• Comping patterns specific to big band context
• Upper-structure voicing and reharmonization
• Rhythmic coordination with bass and drums
• Listening and responding to ensemble in real time
• Transposition and harmonic flexibility
• Big band style and idiom recognition