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via Udemy |
Go to Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/learning-giant-steps-for-the-jazz-pianist/
Certainly! Here's a comprehensive review and recommendation for the Coursera course "Learning Giant Steps For The Jazz Pianist": --- **Course Review: Learning Giant Steps For The Jazz Pianist** If you're a jazz pianist eager to conquer one of the most challenging tunes in the jazz repertoire, "Giant Steps" by John Coltrane, this course is an excellent resource to guide you through the process. Taught with clarity and depth, the course breaks down the complexities of "Giant Steps" into manageable, step-by-step exercises that make learning both achievable and enjoyable. The course features four engaging videos, downloadable PDFs, visual graphics of musical examples, and detailed text explanations. Notably, the final video includes practice backup tracks at various tempos and styles, allowing for versatile improvisation practice. This makes it suitable for players of different skill levels and encourages experimentation and musical exploration. One of the standout aspects of this course is its focus on developing music as a language. It emphasizes subconscious mastery—so much so that playing "Giant Steps" becomes instinctive, freeing you to improvise with emotion and storytelling rather than mindless licks. The instructor advocates for a melodic, musical approach rather than simply running scales and licks, helping students to interpret the tune in a more expressive and meaningful way. The step-by-step structure ensures that learners understand each component thoroughly before moving on, making the complex progressions feeling more accessible. The course also promotes slow, musical practice, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and emotional connection in improvisation. **Pros:** - Clear, organized, step-by-step instruction - Focus on musicality and storytelling - Practice tracks for versatile improvisation - Visual aids and downloadable resources - Encourages subconscious playing and emotional expression **Cons:** - No formal syllabus or detailed course outline - Might require some prior jazz theory knowledge for optimal understanding **Would I recommend this course?** Absolutely. Whether you're a beginner or an intermediate jazz pianist, this course offers valuable insights and practical exercises to help you finally master "Giant Steps." Its emphasis on musicality and subconscious learning makes the process enjoyable and fulfilling. Plus, the approach is applicable to other jazz standards, making this a worthwhile investment in your jazz journey. **Final Thoughts:** If you're serious about improvising confidently over complex chord changes like "Giant Steps" and want to develop your musical voice, this course is a fantastic choice. Get ready to enjoy the learning process, develop your musical intuition, and ultimately, have fun playing jazz! --- Feel free to ask if you'd like a more tailored review or additional details!
Giant Steps by John Coltrane has always been considered as a difficult tune for jazz pianists to understand, learn and play. Of course, adding to the complexity is that the tune is usually played very fast. I think, what we really need is a simple, step-by-step approach to studying this tune... then developing the tune into our subconscious. Once this tune is totally subconscious, we should be able to freely improvise on it.This lesson on Learning Giant Steps contains four videos, downloadable PDFs, graphics of examples, and text. Video #4 contains backup tracks for your practice. You can practice soloing over Giant Steps in different styles and tempos. Have fun learning Giant Steps.The best way to study jazz improvisation is to develop music as a language. It is the subconscious which plays the music. You have to learn each step-by-step exercise completely and automatically. You learn to play beyond thought and thinking. Think how you speak your language(s). You speak without thinking of the language. The same is true for music. The bottom line is to have a blast playing music.I give you an organized step-by-step approach to playing jazz improvisation. The key here is that the steps are step... by... step. You have to learn each step completely. Once that is done, improvisation is easy.This course analyzes Giant Steps in "flows". The flows are learned completely. I then suggest that you start playing slowly and musically. This is a melodic approach to playing Giant Steps.Playing Giant Steps should not sound like endless licks and scales. I believe that it should be musical. In order for it to be musical, the improvisation should "tell a story". It should be emotional. It should be interesting.Start today. You will love it!