Foundations Practice Guide
Welcome to this practice guide for the Jazz Piano Foundations Course.
Below this video you can download these PDF practice plans, which cover all of the important exercises and drills to master the theory in this course.
The document contains 6 different theory areas. Depending on how long you have to practice, you will either spend 5 minutes or 10 minutes on each of these theory areas.
The benefit of splitting your practice time into small chunks, is that in just 1 sitting, you can cover a wide selection of different theory topics.
Slot 1 – The Major Scales
There are only 12 of these to learn, and they really are the foundation of all future study of harmony. Learning them thoroughly at this stage helps us greatly as we are exposed to more challenging jazz theory and concepts.
- Play scales in right hand – around the circle, then pick randomly
- Play scales in left hand – around the circle, then pick randomly
- Play scales hands together – around the circle, then pick randomly
- Interval ascending & descending – 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths
The key exercise is to be able to play all 12 major scales in 5 minutes. Start with just the right hand and aim to hit all 12 keys in 5 minutes. Then focus on the left hand and again aim to hit all 12 keys in 5 minutes. Then the next step is to play them both hands together.
The “drill variations” such as the interval drills are alternate exercises that we can experiment with once we have mastered the core exercise.
Perhaps we could spend 5 minutes just on 1 interval such as 3rds, and take this around all 12 keys. Then the next day we could pick a different interval. Remember this is a gradual process.
Slot 2 – The Minor Scales
We know that every major scale has a relative minor scale. If we want to find the C Natural Minor Scale, we simply play the major scale from a minor 3rd up. A minor 3rd up from C would be Eb major, and if we play the Eb Major Scale from C to C we get the C natural minor scale. This relationship works in every key.
Now the natural minor scale can be played over minor chords, but there are other scales which give in my opinion much nicer colours and flavours.
- Play natural minor scale – associate with major scale a major 3rd up
- Play the Dorian mode – natural 6 gives you the Dorian colour
- Play the Melodic minor mode – natural 6 & 7 gives you the melodic minor, or jazz minor colour
Slot 3 – Triads
Memorising all 12 major and minor triads are the most important at this stage of your development.
In the Triads lesson in this course we did look at the other types of triads which are diminished and augmented triads. It’s useful to understand what these are and how they are constructed, but learning the major and minor triads is our priority.
- Play major triad moving to minor triad
- Take this up the keyboard chromatically
- Practice the inversions of each major & minor triad
- Arpeggiate each major and minor triad
Slot 4 – 7th Chords
A 7th chord is a triad with the 7th note of the scale added to create 4 note chord. When we get to the 7th chord and beyond, our chords start to sound rich and jazzy.
- Play the 5 types of 7th chord for each key
- Drill through the inversions of each chord
- Notice the relationship between dim7 chords a minor 3rd away
Slot 5 – Diatonic 7th Chords
Diatonic means “belonging to the key” and remember a key is effectively a scale and so diatonic chords, means the chords of the scale.
- Pick any key and play the major scale
- Analyse the notes of the scale numerically
- Build a 7th chord of each degree of the scale
- Learn and memorise the quality of each scale degree…
In every major key, the diatonic 7th chords share the same quality… 1 & 4 are always major 7th chords, 2, 3 & 6 are always minor 7th chords, 5 is always a dominant chord, and 7 is always a minor7b5 chord.
Slot 6 – The Major 251 Progression
This is the most important exercise so far. Pretty much every jazz standard contains a 251 in some form and so when you know this progression in all keys, you will be better prepared to read from lead sheets.
- Pick any key
- Find the 2, 5, & 1 chords, and play them in root position
- Turn them into 3 note voicings
- Play the 251 in Type A (3rd on the bottom)
- Play the 251 in Type B (7th on the bottom)
- Strip the 251s down to just the 3rd and 7th in your left hand
- Visualise the voice leading of b7ths dropping to 3rds
Remember To Play The Jazz Standards
For the remainder of your practice time, we must watch the recommended jazz standard lessons on this plan. They can be found in this course, and also the (Beginner Jazz Standard Arrangement Course)[https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/beginner-jazz-piano-arrangements/].
Playing the jazz standards is the more enjoyable side of learning jazz and it is where we apply the theory. The jazz standard studies are a core part of the PianoGroove learning method so ensure you are working on both the theory drills, and the recommended standards.
Lesson Downloads
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Jazz Piano Foundations Practice Planner File Type: pdf -
Major Scale Diatonic 7th Chords File Type: pdf
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12 Major Scales Worksheet File Type: pdf
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36 Minor Scales Notation File Type: pdf
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Triads Notation & Worksheet File Type: pdf
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7th Chords In All 12 Keys File Type: pdf
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Major Scale Fingerings File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
In a minor 251, the 5 chord will be an altered dominant chord. In this lesson we apply altered dominant chords to the major 251 progression.
Upper structure triads are complex sounding altered dominant chords. They will add texture and sophistication to your playing.
Extended chords create a richer and more complex sound than triads and 7th chords and are used to create more interesting progressions.
Practice Tips
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For more inspiration and ideas check out the related forum thread for this lesson where you can find additional drills and exercises submitted by our students and teachers.
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Follow this plan until you are comfortable with the theory exercises. This will take time so don’t expect it to happen overnight.
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Always remember that mastering these exercises is a gradual process that you will take over many months or even years.
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Don’t worry about getting them 100% right now, because when you practice other more advanced jazz theory, you will always be revisiting and refining your knowledge in these foundational topics.
- When playing jazz standards, take the time to identify each note of the chord, say to yourself "that's the 3rd", "that’s the 7th" etc… and gradually you will build an awareness of where everything is located.
Hello, where are the transcriptions for the songs you list?
On the right side of Pro Member Dashboard there is a link to the transcriptions titled List of Jazz Standards
pianogroove.com/transcriptions-scores-midi/
Hayden, when did you add the Foundations Practice Guide? I had finished this course a while ago, and just saw it in discussion. It’s really fantastic, just what I needed to help pull things together and establish a routine. Sometimes I play along too much with the standards and use it like a crutch…unable to play without following along with the video, but this will really help to ground my knowledge of the underlying theory and take me back to revisit how well I know what I think I know…
Hi There!
Yes I just added this lesson after requests from students in the forum, you can read more here: pianogroove.com/community/t/practice-schedules-ideas-suggestions-please/1561 – if you have any specific feedback/ideas/suggesstions to make these practice plans/lessons better, then don’t hesitate to let us know. The feedback and ideas in the thread have shaped this whole initiative which is awesome…. I want everyone to be part of the direction of PianoGroove.
We will be adding one of these for every course on PianoGroove so that our students understand how to drill and practice the exercises.
It is good to indulge in the jazz standards, they are the vehicle in which you can apply the theory – so I recommend you split all of your practice time into 50% Theory 50% Jazz Standards.
Thanks for letting me know about this, the lesson took me a while to plan and edit because of all of the graphics, and I’m delighted/excited to do this for all courses now that I know our students get value from them.
Cheers,
Hayden
The video makes this look like a really useful result – I can’t see the download link though!
Hi Grahame,
You must be logged-in to access all of our theory lesson downloads and supplements.
Fill out one of the contact forms on the site and I will email this one over to you.
Cheers,
Hayden
I have practice enough on my previous years to get down this foundations…yet i have discovered a few tips…im 100% Suporting the Idea of a total round up and the end of each course. .like this lesson ..it can br a game chances for your students learing journey.
Great, I’m glad you like the idea Ivan… this same thing will be added to each course on PianoGroove. Cheers! Hayden
section 2 minor scales – should this not be the major scale a minor 3rd up (ie Eb is a minor 3rd up from C?)
Hi Jordyn,
Good question!
Every major scale has a relative minor scale. There’s different ways you can find the relative minor, this should help to explain:
If you take a major scale, such as C Major, go down a minor 3rd from the root, which is A. Then play the C Major Scale from A to A and we have the A Natural Minor Scale.
In the lesson above, I explained the ‘opposite approach’.
I said that to get any minor scale, move up a minor 3rd from the root, and play the major scale. For example, if we want to play C Natural Minor Scale, we move up a minor third from the root C – this gives us Eb, and then play the Eb major scale from C to C.
We then have the C Natural Minor Scale.
It’s basically 2 different ways to get the same result.
Hope that makes sense, any other questions just let me know 🙂
Cheers,
Hayden
Thanks for the rapid reply and clearing that up, I think you’ve made a typo though because you’ve wrote, “we simply play the major scale from a major 3rd up. A major 3rd up from C would be Eb major” I haven’t been playing long so i got confused and thought what I’d learnt so far was all wrong ha.
My pleasure Jordyn and thanks for spotting this…. I have corrected the typos above.
Apologies for the confusion and if I can help out with anything else you are working on, just let me know 🙂
Cheers!
Hayden
awsome cheers. The site is great by the way I’m going to work my way through the foundations material see how i get on.
This is very helpful Hayden – thank you ! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it Natasha.
We just added the same PDF plan for the Chord Extensions Course, you can see there are now 4 lessons at the bottom: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/extended-chords-voicings/ – These exercises build upon what has been covered in this lesson.
Soon we will have an updated site design to break down each course into sections such as “Theory Studies”, “Jazz Standard Studies”, & “Practice Exercises/Drills”.
Cheers!
Hayden
Hi Hayden. I’m trying to get through this practice guide and doing pretty good I think. Is there a lesson I should be following simultaneously on how to actually play a jazz standard? thanks
Hi Eoin,
Yes this lesson teaches you how to read lead sheets: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/how-to-read-lead-sheets/
And then watch all of the jazz standard lessons in this course: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/extended-chords-voicings/
There are many other jazz standard lessons on PianoGroove, but start with those ones.
Cheers,
Hayden
very kind of you to respond Hayden, thanks so much
Hey Hayden,
When should I move on from these lessons drills? In addition, I noticed that there are also more drills for my next set of lessons (extended chords). Should I append them to the existing set of lesson drills (jazz foundations)? How should I practice moving forward?
Thanks
Hey Dokko!
I answered a similar question in the forum here: pianogroove.com/community/t/1-jazz-piano-foundations-practice-planner/1955/7
The basic premise is don’t feel confined to a single course, experiment with 2 courses, or even 3 courses at the same time. For your specific question, I would recommend that you work on the practice plans for the Foundations Course, and the Extended Chords Course together. Perhaps alternate them each day.
If you feel that some of the concepts are ‘beyond you’ – don’t fret about it… the full understanding will come with time. At the start of my own journey playing jazz piano, I didn’t understand everything I was playing. However, playing these interesting sounds pushed me to want to learn more, and I found this to be a very effective motivational tool.
Hope this helps and any other questions just let me know.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden,
Is there any way to improve Sight-reading? I am very poor at this? IS there any way to train your mind to improve coordination?
pls help.
regards,
Hi Shantanu 👋
Good question!
The best way to improve sight reading is simply to sight read more often.
With lead sheets, we are almost exclusively dealing with the treble clef, and so that makes sight reading lead sheets much easier that classical scores, for example.
When written down, jazz chords and voicings are difficult to read. Jazz music is not meant to be written down. Traditionally, jazz music was passed down by ear. The rhythms and voicings in jazz are very difficult to read from paper.
One of the goals with the PianoGroove Course is to free students from notation, so that we understand harmony numerically. That’s why I place such an emphasis on learning scales and chords numerically.
If you want to improve your sight reading of 2 clefs – treble and bass clef – then spend a little time each day sight reading classical scores. That would be my best recommendation.
The other recommendation would be to pay more attention to learning scales and chords numerically which will give you less reliance on notation.
It depends on which route you want to go down, and what your goals are in terms of the type of music you want to sight read. Sight reading is a good skill to have, but always remember that to play jazz in its truest form, we do not need to read from paper. We must understand and internalise the theory, and listen to lots and lots of recordings so that we have the rhythms, the feel, and the phrasing ingrained within us.
I hope this helps, and further questions let me know.
Cheers!
Hayden
I am just now learning the triads. One of the ways I’ve been thinking about how to learn to visualize them is to think of the relative keys of the C Major scale.
We know C Major is all white keys, so I can quickly reference in my head C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am should all be only the white keys. Bm is the exception because for the C Major Scale it has a flat 5 due to it being the 7th scale degree.
Then from there we know that the fifth of those triads is always a white key, so their minor major counterpart should only have one black key for the third interval. Cm, D, E, Fm, Gm, A, all have a black key for the third. B will have two black keys this time, for same reason as mentioned before.
As for the black keys… I’m still trying to come up with a good system lol.
Hi Hayden!
Great lesson series!
I was wondering how important it is to learn the scales/arpeggios over different octaves or different time signatures. And at what speed do you propose to practice them?
Hi Rein,
Glad you enjoyed the lesson.
As a starting point, try to visualise and construct the scales and arpeggios over 2 octaves. That will give you very strong foundations for further harmonic study.
I would then recommend moving onto our courses on “Extended Chords”, “Rootless Voicings”, & “Altered Harmony”.
Personally, I think it would be more enjoyable and rewarding for you to expand your understanding of jazz harmony, rather than spending excessive time on playing scales all the way up and down the instrument. I question how much you would use this in actual performance.
Regarding speed… this depends on your goals. If you have a desire to play fast, then it would be a worthwhile exercise for you. But always make sure you can play the scales and arpeggios slowly and in control before increasing the tempo. Otherwise we will be building on weak foundations.
Have fun practicing this stuff!
Cheers,
Hayden
I can
see the pdf for the practice plan but I don’t see the pdf for the scale fingerling, where is it?
Hi Idan 👋
Check out this forum post which references a useful website for scale fingering:
pianogroove.com/community/t/major-pentatonic-fingering/2277
If I can be of further assistance let me know.
Cheers!
Hayden
Thank you for the quick answer. Another question, how can I complete all intervals in all keys in the major scales drills in five min? Really doesn’t seam possible to complete the whole drill in only five minute, same goes for the minor drill, plying 12×3 scales plus the up and down, intervals and patterns just doesn’t seem like a 5 minute exercise, thank you.
Hi Idan,
The drill variations just provide some alternate things to experiment with once you have mastered the main exercise, which in this case is playing through all 12 major scales in 5 minutes.
If you want to take the exercise further, then perhaps one day, spend the whole 5 minutes playing a few intervals or a specific patterns through all 12 major scales. Don’t fret about getting though every variation in every key in 5 minutes.
These plans have been designed to provide some general guidance and inspiration, as oppose to a regimented, set-in-stone, plan to follow. Ultimately, we all have different ways of learning, but having a rough plan to follow is certainly an asset as a beginner.
See this forum post where I talk about the most important elements that must be mastered before moving on to the next practice plan: pianogroove.com/community/t/1-jazz-piano-foundations-practice-planner/1955/29
The whole of that forum post contains useful information… i’d recommend reading over it all 🙂
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Hayden
A couple of questions:
– For the minor scales – do we need to do the intervals thing as with the major scales – ie 3rds, 4ths, etc, or is just finding the scales and playing them enough? It says ‘intervals, patterns’ – perhaps that’s the answer? In which case which minor scales should we do the intervals for? All of them for all intervals? That’s quite a lot of time I would think
– How much range should we be playing each exercise for? For intervals – is covering all notes of the scale over 1 octave enough? For triad/7th inversions, do we just cover all the inversions once, or should we go up for a couple of octaves? Same with arpeggios I guess.
thanks.
Hi Richard,
Regarding the intervals and minor keys, see my reply to Idan’s comment below.
Also check out the related forum post where I highlight the essential parts of this plan that should be mastered before moving on: pianogroove.com/community/t/1-jazz-piano-foundations-practice-planner/1955/29
Regarding range, I’d say 2 octaves is sufficient for the purpose of the exercises which is to be able to visualise inversions and scales outside of root position.
Playing up and down the whole range of the keyboard would certainly not do any harm, but I think your time would be better spent moving onto the next course on Chord Extensions. I think this would also give you a greater sense of progression.
Hope this helps and remember to read through the associated forum threads: pianogroove.com/community/c/practice-inspiration/practice-plans
Cheers,
Hayden
Where do I find the correct fingerings for each of the scales?
Hi Peter 👋
Check out this forum post which references a useful website for scale fingering:
pianogroove.com/community/t/major-pentatonic-fingering/2277
If I can be of further assistance let me know.
Cheers!
Hayden
The Jazz Foundations is SUPER! At first glance even if one may already know the major and minor scales – the input you give is so useful and even if I play along as you demonstrate the inter relations of the minor scales to jazz improvisation – I would find myself bookmarking the lesson and going back to it even if I have watched it already (it helps me remember the usefulness of the scale degrees in jazz playing) – Ive only started watching and this is already one of my favourites!!! 😀 Huge Thanks for these wonderful lessons!
Hello Hayden!
Regarding practicing the intervals of 3rds, 4ths, etc…Should I practice these with both hands? Because in the video you play only with your right hand., And besides, I’ve tried playing the intervals with both my hands separately and it takes way longer the 5 mins. So, should both the hands practice intervals or just the right hand like your showed in the video?
Thanks,
Yair
Hi Yair,
I would recommend practicing the interval drills in the right hand only.
Being able to visualise these intervals is useful for harmonising melody lines. For example, we can play the melody line of a jazz standard with 3rds or 6ths and it sounds great. I do this in many of my jazz standard arrangements, here’s a couple of examples:
pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/the-christmas-song/ – notice that I harmonise the descending melody line with 3rds in my right hand.
pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/my-funny-valentine-lesson/ – I harmonise the melody with 6ths for the C Section.
Also when improvising, we can create improvised melodies and patterns using our knowledge of intervals. We use our right hand for both of these things and so that is why I recommend to just practice with the right hand.
My opinion is that your time would be much better spent progressing onto the next courses rather than drilling intervals in your left hand.
I recommend that students study these 3 courses all together.
Jazz Piano Foundations: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-piano-foundations/
Beginner Jazz Arrangements: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/beginner-jazz-piano-arrangements/
Chord Extensions: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/extended-chords-voicings
Hope this helps and any further questions let me know.
Enjoy the lessons!
Hayden
Hey Hayden!
I’m trying to follow the practice plannner, but while practicing on the major scales I’ve noticed that it took me 17 minutes while the planner says it should take me only 5 minutes. It’s really beyond me, how 5 minutes of practice could include left hand, right hand, both hands and intervals 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 and all this for ALL 12 keys!
And I’m practicing fluently without any stops but at a steady pace. The same applies for the minor scales section. I only have 1 hour a day to practice. Am I doing something wrong here?
Besides, where can I find the two hour practice plan (If some time I WILL have an extra hour to spend?)
Thanks,
Yair
Hi Yair 👋
For that practice slot, the key exercise is to be able to play all 12 major scales in 5 minutes. Start with just the right hand and aim to hit all 12 keys in 5 minutes. Then focus on the left hand and again aim to hit all 12 keys in 5 minutes. Then the next step is to play them both hands together.
The “drill variations” such as interval drills is an alternate exercises that we can experiment with once we have mastered the core exercise.
Perhaps we could spend 5 minutes just on 1 interval such as 3rds, and take this around all 12 keys. Then the next day we could pick a different interval.
You must understand that there is no ’set in stone’ way to practice. These PDF plans just provide a rough outline or suggestion on the drills and variations we can incorporate into our practice routine.
The most important thing is that we are splitting up our time into small chunks and working on lots of different theory areas.
To answer you other question about a 2 hour practice slot:
You can either double up on the time of each, so spend 10 minutes on 6 x theory drills, and then 1 hour playing and applying the theory to standards.
or:
You could do 2 practice plans, for example this one, and also the Chord Extensions practice plan: pianogroove.com/community/t/2-chord-extensions-practice-planner/1924
I highly recommend that students study multiple courses at once.
When you become more comfortable with the Foundation practice plan, you could do 2 days on the Chord Extension practice plan, and then 1 day on the Foundations plan. Then repeat. And you can choose how you want to allocate your practice time based on your progress.
Also check out Christian’s comment in the forum here where he shares his experience with mixing the plans together: pianogroove.com/community/t/2-chord-extensions-practice-planner/1924/14
Read through the comments in that thread and it will give you more direction.
If you need any more help or guidance just let me know.
Cheers!
Hayden
Hayden,
Thank you very much for your quick and elaborate reply! You keep to amaze me with your detailed answers. I’m so glad I’ve joined this mysical journey with you!
The video player keeps crashing/freezing. Using a powerful imac, no issues with video players on other sites. What to do?
I thought you were including fingering for all scales?
Hi Bruce 👋🏻
Check out this forum thread: pianogroove.com/community/t/major-pentatonic-fingering/2277
You can find fingerings for:
– major scales
– minor scales (natural, melodic, and harmonic)
– blues scales major and minor pentatonic scales
– bebop scales
– the 7 modes of the major scale the altered mode which is a mode of the melodic minor scale/jazz minor scale
– and finally quite an impressive selection of “exotic scales”
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Hayden
I see the downloads for scales, but no fingering anywhere. Where are these?
Hi David,
Check out this website which lists fingering for all types of scales: http://www.pianoscales.org
Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Cheers!
Hayden
Hi, great content, thank you. Is there a pdf where i can find the fingering for the scales?
Hi Nelson,
Check out the PDF called “Major Scale Fingerings” in the Downloads section of this page.
The cheat sheet contains major scale fingerings for 2 octaves for both hands. There are also some useful groups to remember which makes this information easier to remember.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hey Hayden,
Really benefiting a lot from the course so far. One question on practicing the fundamentals – do you recomend we also practice diatonic 7th chords in minor keys as well? And if so, am I correct that the pattern (accounting for harmonics on the 5) is minor b5, dom, minor, for the 2,5 and 1, and dom, major, major, for the 7,3 and 6? Or anything else to watch out for when practicing diatonic 7th chords in minor keys?
Thanks a lot,
Clif
Hi Cliff 👋🏻
Apologies for the late reply here and good question!
At this stage I would recommend to just focus on the diatonic 7th chords in major keys.
In the upcoming course “Mastering Left Hand Voicings” we explore the minor 251 progression, the harmonic minor scale, and its associated diatonic 7th chords. Here’s the course: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/left-hand-voicings/ – and here is the specific lesson on the Minor 251 Progression and the Harmonic Minor Scale – pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/minor-251-progression/
Minor Harmony is much more complex than major harmony. There are 3 different minor scales and we can use the diatonic 7th chords from each scale to access different minor colours and flavours. I talk about this in the following forum threads:
pianogroove.com/community/t/the-natural-6-13th-over-minor-chords/
pianogroove.com/community/t/practicing-minor-scales/
One of the main benefits of learning the diatonic 7th chords is that we can then use these chords to create improvised introductions and endings. Check out these 3 lessons and major and minor key introductions:
Major Key Intros: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/1625-436251-progressions/
Minor Key Intros: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/minor-introductions-1625s/
Solo Piano Intros: pianogroove.com/bossa-nova-lessons/creating-solo-piano-introductions/
As a priority, learn the minor 251 progressions and then afterwards explore the diatonic 7th chords if you want to delve deeper into minor harmony.
I hope that helps Cliff, and if you have any other questions here just let me know.
Cheers,
Hayden
Yes, that does help – I’ll keep that all in mind as I move forward. Thanks for getting back to me on this!
Best,
Clif
Hi,
I have a question about the arpeggiating exercises, is there a correct order of fingering for those or should i just play however I find more comfortable?
Hi Murilo 👋🏻
Good question!
I play either 1-2-3 or 1-2-4.
So that’s:
– thumb – index finger – 3rd finger,
or
– thumb – index finger – 4th finger.
If I start the arpeggio with the root on the bottom, I usually use the fingering 1-2-3 and if I start in the 1st or 2nd inversion, I find it more comfortable to use 1-2-4.
When playing jazz standards, it’s common to have a right hand triad in its 1st or second inversion – particularly when playing upper structure triads/ – and often I will then arpeggiate the triad up the keyboard.
Check out this lesson for more information: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/what-are-upper-structure-triads/
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Stay safe and enjoy the lessons!
Cheers,
Hayden