Piano Lessons

Classical piano is generally taught with reading of notation, aided by your sound memories of music you have heard. In Jazz, similarly, you can learn lots by ear with assistance from reading notation. My methods are designed to suit the individual, following their musical ease and keeping musical material just a nose ahead of their current skills.

The origins of jazz in America started with work songs sung by the African slave culture, although later historical jazz greats also often used notation. Reading music can lead you through the classics and through to impressionist music and blues, which were platforms from which I jumped out to the jazz medium. Reading can also help while learning to play jazz and to improvise.

I have made a speciality of assisting players to improvise on their instrument, (not necessarily piano). For jazz that can often begin with playing the blues - this method starts simply and moves on at the rate of the student's own progress.

I remember a student of my 10-week course, Jazz Fundamentals that I taught in Sydney in the 80s who told me she'd learned more about chords in those weeks than in a year of more formal study in Theory of Harmony.