Jazz Piano For Beginners || Tutorial #4: improvising over a chord progression

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All the basic piano chords in one epic tutorial:    • All the basic piano chords in one epic tut...  

How to work out the chords to a song on the piano:    • How to work out the chords to a song on th...  

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In the fourth tutorial in my Jazz Piano for Beginners series we're starting to look at improvising over a chord progression - one of the fundamental skills of jazz piano. In this lesson we're looking at a simple, looped chord sequence in the key of C major which, importantly, includes a ii V I progression.

As well as covering some basic chord theory, I incorporate a number of different scales into the improvisation, including major, major pentatonic, blues and a little bit of Phrygian mode.

I also talk a little bit about piano licks or riffs. Licks are really useful and important in improvisation - they're distinctive little snippets of playing that fill a fixed bit of time or a defined harmony, and which you can drop into a jazz solo to create particular effects, get from one place on the piano keyboard to another, or just to give yourself time to think about what to do next.