How do you do this on piano when playing jazz?

Tips on playing Jazz piano?

• I've been playing piano for a few years now and i'm really good at writing and improvising sad songs (i've written over 20 songs of about 5:00 - 10:00 minutes in length) but i'm struggling with jazz piano. I have written some in the past but it is very difficult for me to work it out as easily and i want to try and be as good at writing jazz songs as sad songs. - By jazz i mean slow jazz, like cool jazz. - I have never taken lessons and i don't intend to so anything about technicals would by unhelpful to me Any tips would be appreciated, thx

• Answer:

  The first thing you need to learn is: Jazz is in the performance (the way it is played), NOT in the writing (what you are playing.) For instance, one of your best "jazz compositions" could be massacred by an inept pianist and not sound anything like jazz. Or a well-trained classical pianist might read the manuscript very strictly and if it is not carefully annotated it will sound very straight, legit and not jazzy at all. See what I mean? Tips are very few for someone who is "struggling with jazz piano" and doesn't intend to take any lessons. But it is not an impossible task. 1) You must immerse yourself in listening to good jazz pianists. YouTube is a great free site, but there are others that also allow you to search for "Piano Jazz". There are many artists representing a huge variety of styles. I recommend Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Deodato, Antonio Carlos Jobim (one of the best jazz composers in the world), Vince Guaraldi (another of the best jazz composers), George Shearing, Errol Garner. Brad Mehidau. There are MANY others, but this will get you started on a variety of styles. 2) Listen to jazz performances of songs which are represented by non-jazz versions and decide "what is the difference"? For instance their are many recorded versions of Beatle songs ("Eleanor Rigby" and "Here, There and Everywhere" for example), Broadway hits ("Memory", "Send in the Clowns", "That's What You Get when you Fall In Love") and pop hits ("You're as Right As Rain", "My Cherie Amour", "Time After Time" (both songs with that title), many others...I have to leave! 3) Decide how you are going to perform a song-- not how someone else would.