The Jazz Piano Step-
by-Step Course
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WELCOME
Welcome to The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course!
As your instructor and guide on this incredible musical journey, I am thrilled to have
you join me in exploring the captivating world of jazz piano. My name is Gjermund
Sivertsen, and I have poured years of dedication and expertise into creating this
course, ensuring you have the most enriching and comprehensive learning
experience.
Over three years, we will embark on a personal journey together, delving into the
depths of jazz piano mastery. This course culminates in five years of preparation and
eight years of meticulous creation. I have yet to leave any stone unturned in crafting a
curriculum that will take your playing to the next level.
Within the upcoming pages, you will find the full table of contents for the entire
course, offering you a glimpse into the wealth of knowledge and skills that await you.
From understanding jazz theory and harmony to developing improvisational skills and
mastering complex techniques, each module has been thoughtfully designed to build
upon the previous one, ensuring a steady and fulfilling progression.
What sets The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course apart is the opportunity for personal
growth and transformation. Throughout this journey, you will develop your musical
abilities and embark on a profoundly personal exploration of self-expression and
creativity. Through the keys of the piano, you will discover your unique voice and
unleash the true power of jazz music.
By staying committed to this course, you will reap the benefits of consistent learning
and practice. I will be your mentor, offering guidance, encouragement, and insights
every step of the way. Thank you for trusting me to be your guide.
So, you can fasten your seatbelt as we embark on an extraordinary musical
adventure. The next three years will be transformative in your musical journey, filled
with inspiration, discovery, and growth. The keys are at your fingertips, waiting to
unlock a world of jazz piano possibilities.
Get ready to let your creativity soar and create musical magic at the piano.
Welcome to The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course!
All the best,
Gjermund Sivertsen
STAGE 1 : UNDERSTAND
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1
PART 1, THE METHODS, is about smart ways to learn to get the
best results possible.
01 GETTING STARTED
We are getting started learning the new
concepts for learning jazz.
02 SWING AND HARMONY
How to listen to jazz, what swing is, and more on
alterations and practicing.
LET's IMPROVISE
03 Deep listening, Ragtime and Stride, improvisation,
the "All-in Principle"
HOW TO TRANSCRIBE
04 Improvisation over Blue in Green (Chord changes),
the altered scale, the blues scale, working on the
"Inside-out" principle, and other productivity tips.
TWO NEW SONGS
05 Diminished chords, II-V-I everywhere, licks and
tricks, how to reach the 10th, thinking like a
musician, + a lot more
THREE TYPES OF CHORDS YOU
06 SHOULD KNOW
The Red Garland style, three types of chords you
should know, analyzing the tunes, B voicings part 2.
07 WORKING WITH LEADING NOTES
Leading notes, what they are, and how to use
them, more about how to think like a musician,
more tune analysis, arranging a tune.
JAZZ STANDARDS
08 About jazz standards, why they are essential, and
why we should consider them now. More analysis
of the tunes we are working on, as well as more
on arrangement
VERTICAL LINES
09 How to play vertical lines, more on the new tune
C# diminished pattern, how to practice the jazz
scale, adding maj7 and 6/9 chords when
arranging a tune, composing an ending of a tune.
ROOT
10 Duke Ellington, Lempr Skrenkr Part 3, dealing with
strange sounding chords, D dim scale, playing the
arranged tune with bass and drums,
+ a lot more...
STEPPING STONE 1
PART 2
PART 2, "SCLAP," means Scales, Chords, Licks, and Practice.
11 SCALE VOICINGS
We'll repeat the voicings from part 1, D dim scale
pattern, diatonic-based impro-lines on Lempr
Skrenkr, copying Gjermund's version of his tune .
12 PRACTICING SCALES
Moving out of our comfort zone, the jazz method
for practicing scales, improvisation over II-V-I
progressions, using the dim patterns.
AUTHENTICITY
13 How to be authentic (what it means to jazz
musicians), more on improvisation over II-V-I
progressions, more tricks for Alt Ratio 2.
AUTHENTICITY PART 2
14 Authenticity part two, more improvisation and
vertical lines, improvising over II-V-I progressions
using "outside" lines, more work on the latest tune.
THE ONE THING - PRACTICE
15 Practicing one thing only and how it can help us
out, using the voicings in a jazz waltz, about
concerts, more on our long-term project.
JAZZ STANDARDS BY EAR 1
16 How to practice jazz standards using a very handy
method, how to play outside, A new 13 voicing,
Autumn Leaves chord changes.
JAZZ STANDARDS BY EAR PART 2
17 Continuing from the last time about jazz
standards by ear, Lempr Skrenkr improvisation by
using outside lines, accompaniment using the
voicings.
MINOR VOICINGS
18 About minor7 voicings and how to make them
sound cool, the altered scale, Autumn leaves
accompaniment, about motivation and negative
self-talk, a new tune: Minor Lanka Ala LA.
THE ALTERED SCALE
19 The altered scale and how to use it, make the
melody-line swing, Minor Lanka Ala LA (Tune) with
the band, the altered scale using vertical lines,
New swing tune: No Par King Wrhwalwha
IMPROVE AND IMPROVISE
20 Introduction to free impro exercises, why
improvisation needs to be practiced, adding fills
to our tune, making a tune that is not swung into
swing, more melodic minor scales and minor
chords. + A lot more...
STEPPING STONE 2
PART 3
PART 3, Bebop and Beyond
21 BEBOP
Bebop exercise 1, a new chord with (b9) at the
top, our bebop tune with play-along track, a new
ballad: The Ninth Flat in The First Floor
22 MORE BEBOP
How to play the bebop tune with chords, Blues for
Svardahl analysis, more on how to play the new
ballad, more on free improvisation.
PATTERNS
23 Patterns of jazz, rhythm changes, free impro part 3
with new elements, analyzing the blues part one,
more on our current ballad
WHY YOU'LL WIN
24 Why you'll win, a brief overview of upper-structure
voicings, rhythm changes, using upper-structure
voicings, free improvisation 4 with new
paramethers
25 ONE THING PRACTICE 2
More on practicing one thing only, rhythm
changes and how to solo, more ear training, free
improvisation with new patterns
COMPOSING A SOLO
26 How to compose a solo and why it is beneficial,
more about vertical lines, using upper-structure
voicings over the B part of rhythm changes tunes,
more on the ballad and blues tune
PRACTICING A SOLO
27 How to practice the solo you created in lesson 26,
arpeggios in the key of C and Db, a trick to add
when you play over any dim7 chord, how to think
when you play on up-tempo tunes.
NESTING
28 The concept of nesting, turnarounds, A/B
voicings descending, Seing You For Lounge (new
tune), and bebop nesting.
KEEPING TRACK
29 How to keep track, turnarounds with band, A/B
voicing descending, Seing You For Lounge part 2,
and Bebop nesting part 2.
SIMULATE
30 A new tune: Winter Spine (Similar to
Summertime), 4th voicings, recap of STAGE 1,
how to simulate and fake when we don't make it,
Seing You For Lounge MIDI version, + A lot more...
STEPPING STONE 3
STAGE 2 : EXECUTE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 4
PART 4, STANDARDS, is about how to best play over any jazz
standard from the real books.
31 FOURTH VOICINGS AND STANDARDS
Night And Day, Winter Spine and fourth voicings,
arpeggios, more turnarounds, the concept of
simulating.
32 NIGHT AND DAY
How to play over the chord changes of Night and
Day, Seing you for lounge analysis, another
version of fourth voicings.
UPPER STRUCTURE VOICINGS
33 How to play upper structure voicings, using the
pentatonic scale, more on improvisation around
Night and Day, improvisation over Winter Spine, and
analysis of Seing You For Lounge
THE LOUNGE STYLE
34 A brief overview of the amazing lounge style,
more on our current tunes.
AS TIME GOES BY
35 Playing over the chord changes of the tune As
Time Goes By, using pentatonic outside tricks for
Winter Spine, more improvisation an analysis of
our tunes.
STRIDE JAZZ
36 How to play the "jumpy" stride jazz style, an
introduction to Modal Jazz, the modality hack, So
What/Impressions chord changes.
TRICKS TO THE STANDARDS
37 Tricks to add to most jazz standards, the modality
hack part two, arranging Modal Verntrl (new
tune), more stride, impro exercises on phrygian
to lydian
WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE
38 What is this thing called love? more tricks to play
over "Modal jazz," Modal Verntrl - a suggested
solution.
ALL THE THINGS...
39 Playing the chord changes over All The Things
You are, adding bebop lines and other impro
ideas to the main tune, more on ear training over
jazz standards.
...YOU ARE!
40 Rhythm exercises, walk-through of our
improvisation over the chord changes of All The
Things, copying how Gjermund played
STEPPING STONE 4
PART 5
PART 5, MASTERS, is about copying from the masters and
sounding like them so that we can better evolve our personal
voice while having the foundation in place.
41 ALAN BROADBENT
We will start listening to and learning from Alan
Broadbent, block chords, G pentatonic scale,
block chords over II-V-I, rhythm exercise 2
ALAN BROADBENT 2
42 We will continue copying the solo as played by
Alan Broadbent, block chords part 2,
polyrhythms, tricks to use to better play block
chords
HERBIE HANCOCK
43 We will study Herbie Hancock and his way of
playing, more on block chords (drop 2), playing
block chords on jazz standards, more poly rhythm.
HERBIE HANCOCK 2
44 We will continue copying the solo played by Herbie
Hancock and analyzing his solo, we will play in 5/4
and learn a new tune in 7 and 5 called 75 Renls.
BILL EVANS
45 We will study Bill Evans and his way of playing,
new methods for how to copy and make our own
play-along tracks, more on the odd tune, and
more on A/B voicings in Bill Evans style.
BILL EVANS 2
46 Bill Evans lines, double diminished chords, jazz waltz
basics, a new 13 voicing, more on the Bill Evans style.
KEITH JARRETT
47 The "style" of Keith Jarrett and what we can learn
from it, the only eight scales we need to practice,
jazz waltz extended, more on the concept of double
diminished chords.
KEITH JARRETT 2
48 More analysis of how Keith Jarrett played so
freely, about letting go and how to improvise for
hours and hours.
OSCAR PETERSON
49 The style of Oscar Peterson at home we can
utilize some of his ideas into our playing.
THELONIOUS MONK
50 How Thelonious Monk played jazz, with an
emphasis on how to become an original musician.
+ A lot more...
STEPPING STONE 5
PART 6
PART 6, EXECUTE. In this part we will execute some of the ideas
we learned from PART 5 in combination with what we learned
thus far in the course.
51 SUM
You will learn the concept of playing jazz piano in
four different and essential ways, YSTIM (new
tune), the concept of moving alterations, playing
the piano with a saxophonist (DUO).
52 THE PATH
Rootless voicings and ways to play them over
YSTIM, inserting poly-rhythm, scale recap, YSTIM
played with a band, a new improvisation exercise.
THE GOOD IDEAS
53 Grabbing the good lines from the masters and
using them in our new tune, iRealb / Play-along
tracks and how to build your repertoire, YSTIM in a
trio and as a solo pianist.
GOING FAR
54 How we can play walking bass lines, a new tune
"Have You Met Mr. Svekk," how to make it REALLY
SWING.
GOING FURTHER
55 The Db melodic minor scale and runs (and how to
use them in the tune), "Have You Met Mr. Svekk"
as played in a trio.
NEVER STOP
56 About playing in a band, "Have You Met Mr. Svekk"
as if we were playing in a band, how to "trade" with
a drummer, the Eb melodic minor scale and runs
WHAT WOULD MASTERS HAVE DONE?
57 How to play fast tunes and what can we learn
from the masters, implementing "fast tricks," a
new up-tempo tune: "Lonna Dee," playing
harmonic lines underneath a soloist.
TRIO
58 How to play in a trio, learning and adding fast
tricks 3-4, more jazz standards where you can
add the fast tricks, Lonna Dee in a trio setting.
THE LINE
59 Playing fast and slow, the line- what it is and how
to find it, Lonna Dee with the band, and more
essential fast tricks we'll implement.
EXECUTE
60 We will summarize what we have been through in
lessons 1 to 59 and ensure you are prepared for
the OPTIONAL "audition" before PART 7.
+ A lot more...
STEPPING STONE 6
STAGE 3 : MASTERY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 7
PART 7, IMPROCOMP, is a milestone in the journey of
developing your unique voice. In PART 7 we will improvise a lot
and compose a lot.
61 COMPOSE ANOTHER SOLO
We will spend time composing our second piano
solo. The concept of composing is very beneficial
to develop our own voice. (And very fun too)
COMPOSE ANOTHER SOLO PART 2
62 Analyzing Gjermund's ideas for his solo
composition over Autumn Leaves, more on the
essential scales, how to extract your ideas and
practice them.
COMPOSE A BALLAD
63 Gjermund will show you how he composed one of
his ballads and how you can do the same, how to
practice, and tips on how to transcribe yourself to
understand better what you are doing.
COMPOSE A MEDIUM SWING TUNE
64 How you can compose a medium swing tune and
make it sound funny, and how you can go about it
to practice your tune well.
COMPOSE AN UP-TEMPO TUNE
65 How you can compose an up-tempo tune that is
easy for you to play (exploring your limits), smart
ways to practice your composition, and more.
COMPOSE A SOLO PIANO PIECE
66 In this lesson, Gjermund will show you how you can
compose a solo piano piece. You'll also learn how
to utilize the dynamics to its fullest potential.
COMPOSE FOR A QUINTET
67 Most good jazz musicians know something about
other instruments and their roles, strengths, and
weaknesses. We will learn all of it and briefly how
to compose for a quintet.
COMPOSED, IMPROVISED,
68 COMPOSED, IMPROVISED
This lesson is crucial since we will go between
composition and improvisation. Improvisation
and composition are two sides of the same coin.
COMPOSE SOMETHING ODD
69 We will compose something odd. In other words,
you will learn how to make music in 5, 7, 11, and so
on. You will also learn a lot about grouping.
COMPOSE FREELY
70 The final composition lesson will teach you how
to free your mind and compose freely. The key is
to have a free mind both when you are
composing and improvising.
STEPPING STONE 7
PART 8
PART 8, ANY STYLE, it's about how to play in multiple jazz styles
and be able to switch between them. It is also about getting
clarity about what YOU like and what you don't like.
71 BOSSA NOVA 1
How to play Bossa Nova with a guitarist (and
band), utilizing the harmonic minor scale,
embodying the Bossa Nova rhythm.
BOSSA NOVA PART 2
72 II-V-I to minor in Bill Evans style and Bossa feel, a
new Bossa tune: Two Five Once, how to play
Bossa Nova as a solo pianist
BOLERO
73 Studying the Bolero style (and playing a nice Bolero
tune), playing as a solo pianist and in a band, and
how to build a story when you create an
improvisation.
NU JAZZ
74 Learning what NU Jazz is, and how to play the style,
working on the tune PentaGin, repeating the
essential pentatonic scales, a deep study on how to
build a solo on just one chord.
ORCHESTRAL JAZZ
75 What we can learn from playing some orchestral
Jazz, even if we are never going to play with a real
symphony orchestra.
SALSA/CUBAN
76 Essential salsa Cuban styles, how to play various
montunos, embodying the Clave, Tombao and
Montuno.
JAZZ WALTZ 2
77 A re-visit to playing jazz waltz, a deeper dive into the
different stylistic elements for playing jazz waltz as
solo pianist, how to play cross-handed.
SMOOTH JAZZ
78 What smooth jazz is and what we can learn from
the style, a brief look into the attitude towards
smooth jazz musicians (thought-provoking)
DIXIELAND
79 Learning about the Dixieland style and how we
can use some of it in more modern Jazz, how to
rag with your left hand, and utilizing A.I. in our
practicing routine.
FUSION AND FUNK
80 How to play fusion and funk, how playing fusion
can make you play (almost) anything, funk
patterns we can use, and some food for thought
about the virtuoso pianists.
STEPPING STONE 8
PART 9
PART 9, MASTERY. The final part of your jazz journey should
always be to sound like you.
When you develop your sound/style grounded in the roots of
jazz, you'll start sounding authentic and remarkable!
PART 9 is different from the other parts, with no pre-recorded
video. Instead, the path will be tailored to your needs.
When you reach part nine, you will get detailed instructions
about how we will work together over the final lessons.
We promise it will be fun, challenging, and optimized for your
specific journey.
QUALITY GUARANTEE
The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course contains much more than outlined in the
table of contents. There are not only more tunes and fun exercises.
Throughout the course, you will learn a lot about improving your thinking so that
you won't get in the way of yourself. You will learn every tips and trick that I
know about that you can use to practice better and smarter so that you can get
the results that you are after.
The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course also comes with a quality guarantee. Never
at any point have I taken any shortcuts to publish something to keep my
deadlines. Therefore, I assure you that the quality you will see in the first lessons
will be equally as high or higher throughout the course.
Lastly, thank you again for signing up for The Jazz Piano Step-by-Step Course.
I sincerely hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as I've enjoyed creating the
course. Happy practice, and Take Care Of Your Music!
Made with ❤️for Jazz Piano
Gjermund Sivertsen
