Not Just Another Jazz Book, Book 1: Piano Book & Online Audio

These pieces carry the warmth of a smoky afternoon and the energy of a good-natured jam session. Rags snap with ragtime precision while blues tracks settle into a lazy groove; the lighter swing numbers feel like you're part of something larger than yourself.

Early intermediate pianists ready to move beyond classical technique into jazz phrasing, comping, and the feel of playing with others. This works equally well for students discovering jazz for the first time and those returning to piano after years away.

• Spend time with the practice tempo recordings first. Lock in your sense of swing and pocket before moving to performance tempo; the rhythm section won't wait for you to find the groove.
• Listen to the bass line voicings in each track. They'll show you where the harmonic weight sits and help you understand when to comp lightly and when to lock into thicker voicings.
• Record yourself playing along with the accompaniment, then listen back without playing. This reveals timing issues your ear misses in the moment.
• Treat the blues selections as vehicles for learning improvisation, not just reading exercises. The repetitive harmonic structures are forgiving enough to experiment over.

Open a jazz-focused recital with the more energetic selections (City Lights, Rip-Roaring Rag) to establish the mood, then use the ballads and blues pieces to show range and deeper musicianship. The variety also makes this ideal for mixed-level studio classes or as supplementary repertoire throughout the year when students need a break from their classical assignments.

• Reading swing notation and understanding triplet-based feel
• Jazz comping and rootless voicings
• Blues form and 12-bar harmonic structure
• Rhythmic independence from a rhythm section
• Listening for and responding to ensemble counterlines
• Pedal control and voicing clarity in jazz contexts