Hal Leonard Jazz Preludes For Piano

Essential Information About This Book

• 15 short and effective preludes to quickly approach the basics of jazz language on the piano.


• Original writing by Phillip Keveren, designed for pianists coming from a "classical" background.


• Essential jazz styles in miniature formats: waltz, ballad, 12-bar blues, fusion, and more.


• Chord symbols and performance notes to guide phrasing, accompaniment, and the jazz spirit.

Summary of This Book

This collection offers 15 concise preludes, conceived as a natural bridge between traditional piano technique and the codes of jazz piano. Each piece goes straight to the point: a clear rhythmic idea, a distinctive harmonic color, and an immediately identifiable character. The goal is to familiarize the student (or the self-taught pianist who can already read music) with the stylistic reflexes of jazz, without getting lost in long or overly dense forms.

Included, in "miniature" versions, are several pillars of the jazz repertoire and styles: the smooth momentum of a jazz waltz, the breathing of a ballad, the structuring energy of a 12-bar blues, as well as more modern atmospheres close to fusion. This variety allows working on key concepts such as pulse, accents, syncopation, voice leading, as well as how to make chords sound with a more "jazzy" touch.

To support the work, performance notes are provided for each prelude: they guide interpretation (articulation, dynamics, swing feel, balance between left and right hands) and help adopt the correct rhythmic placement. The presence of chord symbols is a major asset: it facilitates harmonic analysis, encourages reading from chord charts, and opens the door to personal variations (voicings, embellishments, small introductions, endings, or beginnings of improvisation). An ideal resource to develop a freer playing style while remaining firmly guided by the written music.

Technical specifications

Musical Genre

Jazz, Blues, Soul

Publication

Sheet music

Composer	Phillip Keveren	Genre	jazz sheet music
Instrumentation	piano