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Improviser's Roadmap

• 1. Listen to Jazz Recordings

• 2. Train your Ear

• 3. Start with the Blues

• 4. Imitate Your Heroes

• 5. Memorise 10 Tunes

• 6. Top 10 Practice Tips

• 7. Learn the Music Theory

• 8. Build Your Vocabulary

• 9. The Most Useful Skill You Can Have in Music

• 10. All The Things You Can Do

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• Functional Ear Training (FET)

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• Get Some Bebop Into Your Playing #1

• How To Improve Your Sight Reading

9. The Most Useful Skill You Can Have in Music

The number one skill that will help you to get much much more out of music is ... learning to play some piano. I say 'some' here acknowledging that you may already play another instrument well and you don't intend at this stage in becoming an accomplished pianist. Or you may be a complete beginner to improvising and jazz and the piano - in which case I hope the following advice convinces you to have a go.

Five major reasons to play piano:
1. Visually it is the easiest fingerboard to remember and thinking about scales and chords as 'shapes' means playing them comes far more easily than on say guitar or saxophone
2. You can play both harmony and melody together which makes it ideal for learning new tunes or writing your own songs
3. It's easier to practise eartraining as you can see the keys and hear intervals / chords / voicings as you play and you can accompany yourself as you sing
4. It isn't physically hard to play notes on the piano, unlike some wind instruments that require an established embouchure, a new approach to breathing and steady air support (initially anyway)
5. Headphones can be plugged into most keyboards, so you can practise / compose / eartrain any time without disturbing others

Where to start:
Complete beginners to piano
Duncan Lamont: Play Chords in 15 Minutes
(You don't need to be able to read music to use this book)

Tricia Woods: Easy Soloing for Jazz Keyboard
(A friendly method that shows you correct fingerings and starts at the beginning with theory)

Some piano skills or other instrument knowledge
Michele Weir: Jazz Piano Handbook
(Written by a vocal teacher who is also an accomplished pianist, this is a comprehensive way to get into piano playing for all musicians)

The Intermediate level musicians (and non-pianists) who want to progress fast
Phil DeGreg: Jazz Keyboard Harmony
(Of immense value to 'theory monsters' who want to be challenged by exercises in voicings and progressions in all 12 keys - used by mainstream pianists)

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Final point:
When you are practising, use a time-keeping device to help you lock in the rhythm. Here is a free metronome you can use - in fact, you can download this to your computer too (instructions are given on the page): http://www.seventhstring.com/metronome/metronome.html