I really enjoy the sound of 7th and 9th cords and I’d like to work on trying to get better at playing them.

But right now I’m struggling with trying to figure out the best way to play these chords.

What do you guys suggest?

This is what I’ve come across.

Left hand root and guide tone

Right hand 7th and 9th

Or

Left hand root and 5th

Right hand 3rd, 7th 9th?

All help is welcomed

I'm an intermediate jazz piano player who's been inactive for a while but getting back into playing. I've got a lot of general educational material like The Jazz Piano Book (Levine), Frank Mantooth, etc. (Yes I've checked out the pinned book list)

What I'm finding more useful lately is more targeted material, focusing on a specific area like pentatonic patterns, block chord etudes, diminished licks, etc. The big books give you an overview but not a lot of practical practice material. (Yes, I know how to transcribe and invent my own exercises, but written material has its place, for me anyway)

Jazz Lesson Videos has a decent selection of PDFs like this, I've gotten a few and they're useful and reasonably priced. Curious if there are any other sites or digital resources people would recommend for more specific material of this nature.

EDIT: mainly interested in digital resources like PDFs for cost and convenience

I'm working on playing by ear, i.e. being able to translate the aural image of a standard in my head onto the piano in real time.

The main method I'm using to improve this is transcribing, also playing along to records in real time. Both these are helping.

I have a question about picking out melodies in this context. I can do stepwise movement and movement by thirds pretty much flawlessly now. Larger intervals tend to be more hit and miss, particularly because the sound of them changes depending on the harmonic context.

There seem to be two approaches to getting good at these bigger interval leaps which feel doable to me. One is to relate the melody note to the current key centre. I find this fairly easy until the key centre changes! The other is to relate the melody note to the current chord, which I find harder at the moment, but which I can see would make surviving a change of key centre easier. My question is, are these two approaches equally important, or should I focus on one more than the other? The ultimate goal is to be able to hear anything in my head and play it accurately, straight away.

I'm writing a piece about McCoy Tyner and his legacy and I had the thought of posing the if you could have dinner with Jay-Z what would you ask him equivalent here for the late great Jazz pioneer

Idk why this breaks community Guidelines. It's a jazz centric reharm and fits the time frame.

Anywho. Rest in peace my goat. Thanks for being the one and Only Optimus Prime.

thought this was a really killing solo, from the Charles Lloyd era. free pdf in the description:)

Marcus Miller, Herbie Hancock, and an all-star supergroup tear through a blistering live performance of "Tutu" at the Hollywood Bowl during "Herbie Hancock Celebrates Miles Davis" (August 2026).

Written and produced by Marcus Miller for Miles Davis's legendary 1986 album, "Tutu" remains one of the defining fusion anthems in jazz history. Watch this masterclass lineup trade solos and redefine the groove live in Los Angeles.

Band Lineup:
Herbie Hancock – Keyboards / Synths
Marcus Miller – Bass
Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums
Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone
Terence Blanchard – Trumpet
Julian "J3PO" Pollack – Keyboards

⁠#MilesDavis #HerbieHancock #MarcusMiller #VinnieColaiuta #KennyGarrett #JazzFusion

Hi I don't play piano but do play guitar, learning jazz at the moment. Id like to start piano to help with learning theory and visualizing some lines i might transcribe. Im looking for a method book focused on jazz/pop that isn't too "heavy" for someone with no classical background. I have this idea most piano players have some grounding in classical technique and that a book like Levine's will assume that. What would be the best way to approach this if I'm not aiming to play the piano particularly well but mostly as an aide in learning some theory/lines/voice leading. I'm thinking i need first some good sight reading exercices and to develop my left right hand independence and at the same time, slowly at first but still id like to dip my toes pretty fast in jazz. One thing idk if a book like levine would cover is basic fingerings for all the major scales and harmonic/melodic minor etc.

I might have the chance to play in the house band of a blues jam my friend is working to set up, and I’m wondering if yall have any tips for playing authentic blues piano. I feel like even though I know a ton of jazz theory, the simplicity of the blues can be its own deceptively difficult challenge. And please don’t tell me just to play the blues scale or the pentatonic scale, i know that good blues playing goes way deeper than that.

Thanks and much love.

Getting back into practicing with this short movement, you might have fun with it too. Happy practicing everyone!

Hi! For ref I have not done much digging but I am trying to learn piano again after quitting classical piano when I was a kid and now I’m trying to get into jazz piano. I know the notes and someeeee of the scales. My hope is to be able to improvise in the future and like play jazz (yeah) but I’m not really sure where to begin or like what kind of practice routine I should have for jazz specifically.

Any tips are appreciated!

I tend to struggle with these kind of songs open to any advice, thank you!

A spontaneous and rough around the edges rendition of my favourite tune. I feel like I have the most freedom when playing this one, despite the flubs in this performance.

With the progress in AI, is there anything out there that's able to automatically transcribe music, especially piano parts? I have no problem picking up melodic ideas but harmonies are a pain in the arse. I can spend literally one hour on one bar, because while I detect overall colors easily the chords often sound like inextricable blobs and I'm unable to extract the details. Sometimes even the upper voice gets lost to me depending on what the other instruments are playing. I really don't have the kind of ear that's able to pick things apart quickly. It doesn't help that I'm mainly interested in early-ish jazz, say 40s-60s, and while I love the old sound it's not exactly crystal clear.

It’s been around 2 years so far and I feel good where I am now compared to when i I started. I feel I can make some good ideas. However, there are some major weaknesses I have, including hand independence and overall technique. I know i can do better than this, which is why I wanted to hear your opinion on how I can grow from here

This tune is so much fun, I love how the first few bars are so open to whatever interpretation you want. I personally really like to open up the a min and c min chords to a whole new world of possibilities by just playing anything and everything. Like herbie hancock says; just play starting somewhere that is wrong and make your way to it being right.

Tips and advice are welcome!

An intimate piano small ballad with a little jazzy twist that you guys might enjoy and find relaxing. In it I tried to capture that sense of coziness and comfort that comes from having no worries troubling our minds, knowing everything will be well and alright and we'll always be surrounded by those we love—a feeling that I rarely get to experience now that I'm older.

This tune makes it really hard to not sound repetitive imo, but it’s also so much fun to practice the most altered minor 2-5 licks and just do whatever you want over the changes.
Tips and advice are welcome!

I don't know if I'm progressing anymore. I started playing piano 4.5 years ago. Teaching myself. I don't know how to find a jazz piano teacher in my area. So I've been in an online program that has lots of resources. I thought I could spend some time practicing comping chords, some time practicing improv, some time learning tunes. But I feel like I do all 3 things poorly. And when I get a tune to a good place, if I put it down for a bit, I need to pick it back up again to get it back to where I was when I put it down. Maybe I should just do comping for the next 3 months. See if doing nothing but that gets some improvement. I just get a little bored when I try to do one of these things to the exclusion to the others. idk.