After playing keyboards for over 50 years it hit me that the worst thing we do kids (beginning piano students) is to teach them the regular old C major scale. If we would teach them the C minor scale first, all the other scales would be much easier to play. The C minor scale is basically the same shape as the hand. Much easier than the C major scale.
Due to the chromaticism in jazz, the first three fingers do most of the work. Practicing the chromatic scale, the so-called bebop scales and approach note figures using mostly three fingers is a game changer.
Many jazz pianists sound like they're just going through the motions in their solos, and sometimes in their accompaniments too. Is it so uncool to show a little passion? We hear clever, but detached music ideas in a sort of decadent, emotional vacuum, so each pianist sounds rather like the last pianist who played the same licks in another order on another recording, seemingly without feeling them. The more esoteric it becomes, the more it all sounds the same. You have to be a great musician to keep contemporary jazz sounding fresh. Fortunately, Noah is a great musician. I still believe, however, that we lesser pianists are often better off playing less tricky stuff, but playing it from the heart, when we're actually giving a performance. What I like about Noah's videos, is he helps us to push the boundries in our practice time. Once in a while we might actually use some of this in a performance too, and meaningfully. But let's not forget to play from the heart as well!
Thanks, Mike! This is a really nice and thoughtful comment and I appreciate it. I also couldn’t agree more! I think that preparation in the practice room gives us the ability to integrate new vocabulary into the realm of what playing from the heart means for each of us. Or rather, playing “effortlessly” as Kenny Werner might put it.
It's incredible how open the fingering becomes in jazz, as opposed to in classical music. There are so many choices. I know I use some common scale fingering (that helps on the longer runs) but most of the time I play in stumbling ad hoc clusters, using my thumb sparingly, so it's in reserve for a sudden plunge, so to speak. Sometimes I close my eyes and let my fingers lead me without any visual preconceptions - RH especially. It's funny how the hands/fingers can be so much cleverer (than our eyes are) at finding paths. Also, I notice that guitar bassists use different fingerings from one another too. There's more than one path!
I’ve been teaching myself. As a trumpet player for many years picking up piano and wanting to solo on it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever picked up
Hey Noah thanks you so much, I have always been concerned about fingering in learning Jazz piano and nobody ever explained it to me the waY YOU DO IN THIS VIDEO.
Thanks for the helpful tips. Of course fingering techniques has to be the deepest lifetime rabbit hole for us keyboardist to travel in a good way usually. There's closed in reaches diminished sixth reaches normal 5th 7th and Octave reaches and extended regions like tents and pivoting Etc exaggerated as I say the rabbit hole goes deep. It's ironic that Hannon himself injured his fingers permanently trying to come up with fingering techniques even though his written book was a Monumental fingering instruction book.
I'm a little late to this particular party, but I'd still like to chime in. In most of the scales and arpeggios, etc. you learn in the right hand, the Bb/A# key is always played with the fourth finger, and for good reason. In the left hand, owing to the fact that it is a mirror of the right hand, the fourth finger should always be played on the F#/Gb key. Because Bb is the topmost of the three black keys on the piano in RH, and Gb is the bottom-most of the three black keys on the piano in LH. It's always good to think of these mirror relationships. Charles-Louis Hanon didn't think this way when he devised his fingering system: he was "teaching little fingers to play" and made things as simple as possible for young students, so that scales always started with the thumb in the RH and the pinkie in the LH whenever possible.
Thank you for this video! Wish I had watched this sooner! How do navigate lines that use a lot of black keys? For example, you're descending in your right hand from Bb - Ab - Gb and you're wanting to land on Eb in a pentatonic or bebop line situation. I really enjoy your videos! Thanks!
I got to a place over years of practice where I just figured out what was comfortable for me and did it. And since everyone is different, it's not necessarily straight forward or logical. As it happens for me starting on 2 or 3 and ending on 4 does work out for me. Nonetheless since scales and arpeggios are areas that I remain relatively challenged by, I'll be studying this over the Christmas holiday and seeing whether or not I can apply the techniques. It's another excellent tutorial. Thank you Noah
What do you think of this fingering for chromatic scales ? Right hand ascending starting on C: 123451234545 and repeat; right hand descending same fingering - if starting on C 1545432154321. Left hand ascending starting on C is 543215432121 repeat; descending (starting on C) 5121234512345 repeat. What I like about it is A) there are only 3 hand positions per octave (2 moves) as compared to anything with a traditional thumb tuck involving at least 4 positions, 3 thumb tucks per octave, if you want to use the same fingering on every octave and not a 2 octave pattern before repeating; B) you can use the same fingering on every octave; C) when striking with a given finger on the left hand there is a single unique corresponding finger in the right hand - for example left thumb is always right pinky. The obvious disadvantage is that you can’t do a legato thumb tuck as with classical fingering. You need to jump the hand instead. Unless I do each way for years I can’t tell which approach is better. I’m very comfortable with the 1234545 fingering in right hand ascending, so I think it’s mostly a question of whether I can eventually get the hand jumps to the new thumb positions to be quick and seamless and not lead to uneven accent. If you think this is a bad idea, what fingering do you use for chromatic scales, or does it vary?
I like to just play 1st five notes of scales with one hand , for every note for two octaves , does that even help . I know it makes remembering scales easier .
Thank you for the lessons. Could you please do one demonstration, quite a bit slower. At the end of each finger pattern. I found them hard to follow especially since I watch your channel on a tiny cell phone screen. Thank you
Holy f***! “If you start with a black key, start with the 2 or 3 finger and land the white key with your thumb”. Years of head scratching solved at the 2 min mark.
Love the video! I've always been a fingering-nerd...There's only a few topics I never get tired of discussing: Star Trek, how fat and lazy my cats are, House MD, and piano fingerings! 😂
Thanks for this Noah, a subject that few teachers actually will delve into. As you said, advanced planning and good habits are the key. In particular passing four over thumb has always been a challenge to make sound smooth. As you were talking about the arpeggio fingering it reminded me of Chico Marx. He managed to solve the fingering problem with a lot less fingers!! He did it all with his wrist, an would play multiple note sequences with just his thumb or pointer or any finger actually. While it isn't swing or heavy 'bop, it was still pretty amazing! Check this out: ruclips.net/video/pbUrsot6oeY/видео.html
![7 Awesome Tips and Exercises For a Better Left Hand [Jazz Piano Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gd2bfOR2ARU/mqdefault.jpg)
![7 Awesome Tips and Exercises For a Better Left Hand [Jazz Piano Tutorial]](/img/tr.png)
you finger marvelously sir
After playing keyboards for over 50 years it hit me that the worst thing we do kids (beginning piano students) is to teach them the regular old C major scale. If we would teach them the C minor scale first, all the other scales would be much easier to play. The C minor scale is basically the same shape as the hand. Much easier than the C major scale.
Thank youuuu i am waiting this video since i am learning jazz you are great
Due to the chromaticism in jazz, the first three fingers do most of the work. Practicing the chromatic scale, the so-called bebop scales and approach note figures using mostly three fingers is a game changer.
Many jazz pianists sound like they're just going through the motions in their solos, and sometimes in their accompaniments too. Is it so uncool to show a little passion? We hear clever, but detached music ideas in a sort of decadent, emotional vacuum, so each pianist sounds rather like the last pianist who played the same licks in another order on another recording, seemingly without feeling them. The more esoteric it becomes, the more it all sounds the same.
You have to be a great musician to keep contemporary jazz sounding fresh. Fortunately, Noah is a great musician. I still believe, however, that we lesser pianists are often better off playing less tricky stuff, but playing it from the heart, when we're actually giving a performance.
What I like about Noah's videos, is he helps us to push the boundries in our practice time. Once in a while we might actually use some of this in a performance too, and meaningfully. But let's not forget to play from the heart as well!
Thanks, Mike! This is a really nice and thoughtful comment and I appreciate it. I also couldn’t agree more! I think that preparation in the practice room gives us the ability to integrate new vocabulary into the realm of what playing from the heart means for each of us. Or rather, playing “effortlessly” as Kenny Werner might put it.
It's incredible how open the fingering becomes in jazz, as opposed to in classical music. There are so many choices. I know I use some common scale fingering (that helps on the longer runs) but most of the time I play in stumbling ad hoc clusters, using my thumb sparingly, so it's in reserve for a sudden plunge, so to speak. Sometimes I close my eyes and let my fingers lead me without any visual preconceptions - RH especially. It's funny how the hands/fingers can be so much cleverer (than our eyes are) at finding paths.
Also, I notice that guitar bassists use different fingerings from one another too. There's more than one path!
I was just going to make that point
You must've read my mind. I'm getting back to the keyboard and have always struggled with this. Thanks, man!
Thank you for this tutorial ❤️
I’ve been teaching myself. As a trumpet player for many years picking up piano and wanting to solo on it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever picked up
Awesome to hear you're teaching yourself! Keep it up. Yeah learning a new instrument is really difficult
@@NoahKellman thanks for the encouragement!
Hey Noah thanks you so much, I have always been concerned about fingering in learning Jazz piano and nobody ever explained it to me the waY YOU DO IN THIS VIDEO.
Thanks for the helpful tips. Of course fingering techniques has to be the deepest lifetime rabbit hole for us keyboardist to travel in a good way usually. There's closed in reaches diminished sixth reaches normal 5th 7th and Octave reaches and extended regions like tents and pivoting Etc exaggerated as I say the rabbit hole goes deep. It's ironic that Hannon himself injured his fingers permanently trying to come up with fingering techniques even though his written book was a Monumental fingering instruction book.
Hi Noah very interesting explanation as usual thank you very much
This is a very useful video
I'm a little late to this particular party, but I'd still like to chime in. In most of the scales and arpeggios, etc. you learn in the right hand, the Bb/A# key is always played with the fourth finger, and for good reason. In the left hand, owing to the fact that it is a mirror of the right hand, the fourth finger should always be played on the F#/Gb key. Because Bb is the topmost of the three black keys on the piano in RH, and Gb is the bottom-most of the three black keys on the piano in LH. It's always good to think of these mirror relationships. Charles-Louis Hanon didn't think this way when he devised his fingering system: he was "teaching little fingers to play" and made things as simple as possible for young students, so that scales always started with the thumb in the RH and the pinkie in the LH whenever possible.
Hey Ken thank you for this, excellent food for thought 🙏🙏
Magic fingers
Thank you for this video! Wish I had watched this sooner! How do navigate lines that use a lot of black keys? For example, you're descending in your right hand from Bb - Ab - Gb and you're wanting to land on Eb in a pentatonic or bebop line situation.
I really enjoy your videos! Thanks!
Thanks Noah :)
I got to a place over years of practice where I just figured out what was comfortable for me and did it. And since everyone is different, it's not necessarily straight forward or logical. As it happens for me starting on 2 or 3 and ending on 4 does work out for me. Nonetheless since scales and arpeggios are areas that I remain relatively challenged by, I'll be studying this over the Christmas holiday and seeing whether or not I can apply the techniques. It's another excellent tutorial. Thank you Noah
Noah!! Thanks!
Love this 🔥
What do you think of this fingering for chromatic scales ? Right hand ascending starting on C: 123451234545 and repeat; right hand descending same fingering - if starting on C 1545432154321. Left hand ascending starting on C is 543215432121 repeat; descending (starting on C) 5121234512345 repeat. What I like about it is A) there are only 3 hand positions per octave (2 moves) as compared to anything with a traditional thumb tuck involving at least 4 positions, 3 thumb tucks per octave, if you want to use the same fingering on every octave and not a 2 octave pattern before repeating; B) you can use the same fingering on every octave; C) when striking with a given finger on the left hand there is a single unique corresponding finger in the right hand - for example left thumb is always right pinky. The obvious disadvantage is that you can’t do a legato thumb tuck as with classical fingering. You need to jump the hand instead. Unless I do each way for years I can’t tell which approach is better. I’m very comfortable with the 1234545 fingering in right hand ascending, so I think it’s mostly a question of whether I can eventually get the hand jumps to the new thumb positions to be quick and seamless and not lead to uneven accent. If you think this is a bad idea, what fingering do you use for chromatic scales, or does it vary?
Thank you for the knowledge share Noah
You’re welcome, Mark! 🙏
I like to just play 1st five notes of scales with one hand , for every note for two octaves , does that even help . I know it makes remembering scales easier .
What are some other you tubers that are good for more beginner type material?
Dan the composer is really good
Thank you for the lessons. Could you please do one demonstration, quite a bit slower. At the end of each finger pattern.
I found them hard to follow especially since I watch your channel on a tiny cell phone screen.
Thank you
THANK YOUUUUUUUU
Holy f***! “If you start with a black key, start with the 2 or 3 finger and land the white key with your thumb”. Years of head scratching solved at the 2 min mark.
😃 glad it helped
This is the cool version of Toby the HR guy
Love the video! I've always been a fingering-nerd...There's only a few topics I never get tired of discussing: Star Trek, how fat and lazy my cats are, House MD, and piano fingerings! 😂
😂hahah thanks Marcus!
Star Trek ey? We’ll have to have that chat sometime
@@NoahKellman Wait...is this something we never figured out? I literally went on a Star Trek Cruise in 2018! 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for this Noah, a subject that few teachers actually will delve into. As you said, advanced planning and good habits are the key. In particular passing four over thumb has always been a challenge to make sound smooth.
As you were talking about the arpeggio fingering it reminded me of Chico Marx. He managed to solve the fingering problem with a lot less fingers!! He did it all with his wrist, an would play multiple note sequences with just his thumb or pointer or any finger actually. While it isn't swing or heavy 'bop, it was still pretty amazing! Check this out: ruclips.net/video/pbUrsot6oeY/видео.html
Yes, and Art Tatum was great at this. He never forgot that the first three fingers are always the strongest and fastest ones.
7kr
N🐏🐽🐷🐆🦁🐱🐅🦄🐏🐽🐗🐷🍢🍘🍪🎂🍩🍲🌭🌭🌮🍱🍚