(To all jazz pianists) How did you learn to play? How old were you when you star

Question:I have played the piano since I was 6. I am classically trained having taken lessons until I was 18. I am a little out of practice, but I have made a new goal to polish up my skills again. I LOVE jazz, and have always wanted to learn to play jazz piano. So, in doing so, what would you recommend as the best approach? Please tell me of your experiences and what I should do.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have played the piano since I was 6. I am classically trained having taken lessons until I was 18. I am a little out of practice, but I have made a new goal to polish up my skills again. I LOVE jazz, and have always wanted to learn to play jazz piano. So, in doing so, what would you recommend as the best approach? Please tell me of your experiences and what I should do.

I learned jazz piano at the same time I was learning classical piano, which was in my early teens.

My recommended approach would be to start with a good jazz music theory book to learn how jazz scales and harmonies are put together. I'd also recommend getting a good "fake book" (containing the melody line and lyrics with shorthand notation for harmonizing the melody) and using that to put the theory you are learning in practice.

Furthermore, I'd recommend getting a good collection of "jazz standard" songs (typically songs from classical musicals) with the piano part fully written out- that way, you can see how the songs in the fake books were originally presented so you have a basis of how to apply jazz harmonies to the fake book arrangements.

And I'd also recommend getting sheet music from some of your favorite artists- Oscar Peterson has a good beginning guide ("Jazz for the Young Pianist") and there are many publications of transcriptions of famous pianists' work (such as Thelonious Monk's compositions) so you can learn from the "great masters".

Finally, use your ears- listen to as much jazz as you can, and see whose music and styles impact you the most. (Earl Hines has a different way of playing than Bill Evans does, for example.) When you hear something you like, try to play it by ear on the piano- don't worry for now about note-for-note accuracy (that will come with practice) but instead concentrate on capturing their pianistic gestures- what are they doing with the left hand, how closely compacted are their chords, how are they using the pedal, etc.

Will some time & practice, you'll start to get the hand of playing jazz!

The best approach to learning jazz piano is to join or start a local jazz band/ensemble.