Performing

What Is Cocktail Piano?

Firstly, What Isn’t Cocktail Piano? As a cocktail pianist, I find it interesting how a simple phrase like “cocktail piano” can lend itself to so many opposing interpretations. Many individuals, including pianists themselves, have a number of different ways of expressing their personal definitions of “cocktail piano.” To be totally candid, I don’t agree with …

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The “Sus”pended Piano Introduction

A Very User-Friendly Piano Introduction This piano introduction can serve you well in a variety of interesting ways. It can work very nicely whenever you want to create an impromptu introduction for a ballad that starts on the I chord. Naturally, the chord that has the strongest tendency to resolve to the I chord is …

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Creating An Effective Piano Arrangement

How’s The Conversation Going? Performing an effective piano arrangement can be compared to meeting an interesting person for the first time. How do you imagine the conversation would progress? Is it likely that this new acquaintance would know your entire history within the first three minutes of chatting? Probably not. If it went that way, …

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Jazzy Piano For Beginners

Me… A Beginner? Playing Jazzy Piano? Yes, you read that right. You might refer to yourself as a beginner when it comes to playing piano. However, the word “beginner” is relative. If you’re playing piano at all at this point, that means you have at least some technical ability going for you. That’s all it …

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The Greatest Cocktail Piano Tip In The World Revealed

The Best Cocktail Piano Tip Ever: It Works Like Magic Can there really be one cocktail piano tip that supersedes all others? I mean, really, when you consider all the techniques and strategies that one has the potential to master – chords, chord voicings, piano fills, improvisation, left hand accompaniment patterns, arpeggios, walking bass lines… …

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Cocktail Piano Intros: The Diatonic Surf

Cocktail Piano Intros: In A Pinch? Creating cocktail piano intros is an art in itself. The more you have in your “bag of tricks” the better. Sure, it pays to practice and know, at least to a point, how your arrangement will go. However, sometimes you might find yourself in a spot where you get …

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