amateur musician

Why taking up the ABRSM jazz piano course has expanded my musical horizons and got me ‘feelin’ groovy’.

Michael Taylor reports:

I am passionate about learning to play the piano. Some might say (my family in particular) that I’m obsessed with it. But that’s not so surprising since I’m 'forty something' and while there’s always been a piano in my life I only started taking classical lessons three years ago. I’m making up for a lot of lost time. Working towards ABRSM classical piano exams (I’ve just passed Grade 6) has been an incredibly rewarding experience and I’ve really enjoyed getting to grips with the theory, but, if I’m really honest, I have never been able to enthuse over any of the Boards selected exam pieces. I have a lot of respect for them and appreciate why the AB would pick them but, I just get much more excited over Jools Holland and Billy Joel than Ernest Block or Frank Bridge. It’s simply a matter of taste. Choosing which piece to learn for the exam at times has been a real struggle. Picking one you can live with is critical because which ever piece you choose you are going to play it hundreds of times over and over. I’ve often thought how much more satisfying it would be if you could put all that energy into learning a favourite piece of piano music

With these thoughts in mind I decided to explore the ABRSM Jazz Piano Syllabus. I’ve always enjoyed listening to Jazz and find it fascinating that so much of the ‘pop‘ we hear today has it roots firmly embedded in the style . First port of call was the Associated Board’s website where I discovered the Jazz Piano Syllabus was launched in 1999 in recognition of the importance of the genre in modern times and to define a set of standards for the early stages of learning. Exams are available through grades 1-5.

Next stop was to purchase the Grade 1 piano syllabus and a copy of ‘Jazz Piano From Scratch’ written by Charles Beale which is the official AB jazz piano course accompaniment through all five grades. Immediately I was delighted with the exam pieces. The notion of impressing the examiner with my rendition of the Duke Ellington number ‘Perdido’ or comparing my version of ‘Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t (Ma’ Baby)’ to that of the Nat King Cole Trio was thrilling. In higher Grades there’s Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bart Howard’s ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ amongst the standards and even a Scott Joplin rag.

The course accompaniment was equally impressive. Chapter One starts with the simple and yet mind blowing concept that ‘Jazz begins and ends as rhythm’. Thinking of the keyboard as a drum kit with an extensive choice of pitch was a revelation. So obvious and yet it had never crossed my mind before.

The book moves through rhythm, pitch, and chords in the first 6 chapters and then moves on to more complicated rhythm skills, melody and harmony and ‘playing standards’ through chapters 7-12. The final 5 chapters offer comprehensive assistance in preparing for the exams and there is an accompanying CD with lots of musical examples of the various points discussed in the text.

One thing to be aware of. ‘Jazz Piano from Scratch’ is exactly that and not in any way piano from scratch. You will need some level of understanding of music theory to get the most from this book and ideally you should be a proficient player already.

That aside I would definitely recommend the course especially to adult learners who have ‘hit the wall’ at Grade 5 or 6 classical piano but would like to keep learning and broadening their experience. Also, you do get a sense of the course being real fun! I mean it is fun! Hats off to the AB as this is a real achievement on their part. Let's face it, from an adults perspective, AB generally appeal more to the masochistic streak in us all rather than the party animal. I’m smitten and intend to work my way through the entire Jazz piano course. Cool Daddio!

For further details on the ABRSM Jazz Piano course visit www.abrsm.org.uk