Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Volume 1: Jazz Piano: Keyboard/Piano Book & 2 CDs

Pianists often feel like an afterthought in jazz pedagogy, handed horn-player books with little adaptation. This edition changes that by centering keyboard voicing, comping patterns, and the realities of playing both melody and harmony simultaneously. Pairing it with stereo-separated CDs that remove the piano track gives students real working conditions from day one.

This is improvisation stripped to its essentials: simple blues changes, fundamental scale choices, and the immediate feedback of playing with a working rhythm section. There's permission to start small here. You're not trying to sound like anyone yet; you're learning how sound works.

Beginning jazz pianists who need a structured entry point into improvisation, and jazz educators working with students who have classical training but no prior experience with chord-scale relationships or comping. It's equally valuable for intermediate players who learned from horn-centered methods and want material tailored to how piano actually functions in the rhythm section.

• Study the left-hand voicing examples before soloing over the tracks. These patterns become the foundation of your improvised comping once you step away from the written page.
• Start with the slower practice tempos on the second CD. Rushing through tracks at full tempo obscures the harmonic relationships you're trying to internalize.
• Listen to how the bassist and drummer lock together on the play-alongs. Your left hand serves the same function; watch the rhythm section, not just your own hands.
• Sing the scale/chord relationships you're learning before playing them. This ensures you understand the pitch logic, not just the fingering pattern.

Use this as the core text for a jazz foundations class or as structured self-study material for students in a jazz combo who need to build comping confidence. It works well in the first semester of a jazz program when all players, regardless of primary instrument, benefit from understanding the same harmonic vocabulary. The two-CD setup also makes it practical for assigned practice outside of ensemble time.

• Scale/chord relationships and appropriate note choices for given harmonic progressions
• Jazz voicing and left-hand comping patterns in traditional shells and extensions
• Reading chord changes and building solos that follow harmonic logic
• Listening comprehension of walking bass and swing rhythm section feel
• Rhythm section communication and playing to a click with acoustic musicians