It’s endorsed by the likes of Jamey Aebersold, James Moody and Dave Liebman, and is praised for its well-designed layout and clear explanations – although some critics have suggested that it places too much emphasis upon chord-scale theory, which may make its concepts less applicable to pre-modal styles of jazz.

The Jazz Piano Book - Wikipedia

But if you've got a few years of jazz piano -- or jazz anything -- experience under your belt then this is a must read. These are the basic building blocks of jazz piano, so it’s important to get them down before moving on to more complex pieces. Mike Cornick has made SIX-handed arrangements of a pair of traditional songs from the West Indies – Jamaica Farewell and Mary Anne – and Yellow Bird from Haiti.

Available in E flat, B flat, C and bass clef versions, it has helped generations of musicians to study the work of Charlie Parker more deeply.

Jazz Piano - ABRSM Jazz Piano - ABRSM

This is best for the pianist accomplished in general technique, who reads music, and wants to explore this genre. First published in 1978, it’s another classic jazz education text that Jamey Aebersold was involved with: he, along with Ken Sloane, transcribed the 60 Parker solos. Each volume has audio files for download, containing between them performances of all 80 pieces, played by Tim alone or with his current trio of Dominic Howles (bass) and Matt Home (drums). It ranges from legends of the swing era like Jimmy Blanton and Milt Hinton, through to 1950s favourites Paul Chambers and Sam Jones, and fusion players like Stanley Clarke.They have a strong focus on performance, including interpretation and embellishment of material, improvisation, playing with characteristic jazz tonal colour, and sustaining an idiomatic groove in a way that reflects the realities of jazz performance. If you’re not an experienced jazz pianist, don’t expect to tackle this book in its entirety, from cover to cover: you’ll come away defeated and discouraged.

Jazz piano book by Mark Levine, review and study guide Jazz piano book by Mark Levine, review and study guide

It aims to summarise the musical theory, including jazz harmony, required by an aspiring jazz pianist. This book comes closer than any other book I have yet come across to giving the student an insight into the art, and needs, of playing modern jazz piano. It can help you to develop your improvisational skills and to understand the unique history of this style of music. The book covers several solo jazz piano styles and topics such as stride, swing, various techniques, and modern jazz piano approaches. Each section contains concise and easy-to-understand explanations of important jazz concepts, as well as useful exercises and etudes.

Improvisation is a key element of jazz piano, and players often use their skills to take the music in new and unexpected directions. This is a detailed guide to single-line jazz improvisation on the guitar, beginning with scale-based exercises. I have divided the 23 chapters of the book into three groups: basic level, intermediate level and advanced level. Many of these songs were originally composed by gospel and blues artists in the early 20th century and have since become some of the most enduring tunes in all of jazz. There are transcriptions here of solos by many of the jazz guitar greats, including Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Barney Kessel, Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Johnny Smith and others.