Jazz Anyone.....?, Book 1---Play and Learn: Piano Acc. (Instrumental) Book & Online Audio

Accessible and grounded. This method assumes you want to play jazz, not study it abstractly. The progression feels natural because it mirrors how jazz musicians actually learn: by listening, copying phrases, understanding the rules, and then bending them.

Beginning and intermediate jazz pianists learning to comp and solo, whether in a formal ensemble setting or on their own. Directors building a jazz program from scratch will appreciate having both the method book and the recorded foundation already aligned.

• Start with the exercises before moving to licks. Students who rush past the foundational work often hit walls when harmonic complexity increases.
• Have students sing or play the recorded licks first without trying to improvise over them. Ear training and imitation are the fastest route to internalization.
• Assign specific mini-charts to different students so rehearsal time focuses on listening to each other's choices, not waiting for everyone to be ready.
• Reference the tracks while students practice at home. The recording keeps tempo stable and removes the excuse that "I don't know what it should sound like."

Use this as your primary text for a beginner jazz ensemble during fall and winter; the structured lessons give you scaffolding for rehearsals without requiring you to design every exercise from scratch. For a school with only a few jazz pianists, it's equally effective as independent study material you assign alongside regular ensemble rehearsals.

• Recognizing and playing common jazz licks over standard changes
• Comping voicings and rhythmic accompaniment patterns
• Reading chord symbols and translating them into playable voicings
• Listening to harmonic movement and responding with improvised lines
• Internalizing jazz swing feel and articulation
• Building confidence in real-time musical decision-making