Tedd Firth Interview: The Inner World of Piano Improvisation

Here's my interview with the pianist Tedd Firth, on the subject of my book The Inner World of Piano Improvisation, which you can find on Amazon.
You'll hear Tedd share his musical wisdom as he talks about his experiences as accompanist to famous vocalists such as Michael Feinstein, as well as teach us about the art of vocal accompaniment and piano improvisation at the highest level.
Be sure to visit Tedd Firth at:
www.teddfirth....
0:10 Welcome Tedd!
0:15 The Inner World of Piano Improvisation
0:27 Tedd's musical career
2:12 Tedd's musical training
3:22 Getting started in New York City
4:10 Tedd's approach to accompanying vocalists
5:34 The influence of Keith Jarrett
7:35 The "Orchestral" vs. "Pianistic" viewpoint
9:17 How Tedd began improvising
10:57 An Errol Garner story
12:04 Learning improvisation in the early days of jazz
12:30 The value of self-teaching
14:13 Creative problem-solving
17:47 Thinking "outside the box"
20:13 Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock
24:38 Influence vs. imitation
26:35 Developing your own style
27:03 Checking out the earlier eras of jazz
27:43 Creating musical intros
28:17 Performing with Barbara Cook and Marilyn Maye
32:57 How learning jazz has been changed over the years
35:25 Working with Michael Feinstein
39:58 How a song's lyrics may (or may not) influence our musical interpretations
45:00 A Gerry Mulligan anecdote
46:35 Maintaining a musical consistency
48:29 Tapping into "flow"
48:41 Soloing within the vocalist's musical concept
50:43 Tedd's album "Starting Now"
53:07 The joy of sharing ideas with another pianist
53:20 Enjoy the journey, and "let the music flow!
Take your LH playing to the next level with my free ebook: Jazz Piano Left Hand Techniques: keyboardimprov...
Here are some more Free Jazz Piano Lessons for you at the KeyboardImprov website: keyboardimprov...
Thanks for joining me on this musical adventure, and please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this video with your musical friends.
If you'd like to start my full video course, you'll find it here: keyboardimprov...
For Zoom and Skype lessons, please email me at [e-mail].
Enjoy the journey, and "let the music flow!"
Ron

[@chriswhitepiano]

A great interview, Ron! I'd love to see more of these. It's nice to hear two pianists who are interested in vocal accompanying chat.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks Chris! I've already reached out to someone else about doing the next interview - more to come!

[@randymcclanahan5087]

This was great Ron, Thanks! I listened to in in Marrakesh, Morocco. Interestingly, there is a jazz bar next door in a hotel where Winston Churchill liked to eat when in town. Small world, and jazz is appreciated all over the world. Let the music flow!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks for watching, Randy, and it sounds like you're having a wonderful adventure. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[@danielroth2000]

Great interview, with wonderful insights. Particularly enjoyed Tedd’s answer about what he does when the music isn’t flowing. Great stuff!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks Dan - I was interested in Tedd's answer to that question as well!

[@williamschendel8805]

Great idea, Ron: two thoughtful, articulate people talking about their shared skill. How about doing a complementary conversation - with a thoughtful, articulate vocalist who works with an accompanying pianist?

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

I'm glad you enjoyed this, Will, and thanks for the great idea!

[@stephenthompson1899]

Teddy played bones in his HS symphonic and jazz bands.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

I'll bet he sounded great!