Play Stride Piano Like Jacob Collier
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I was recently scrolling Facebook, and this video popped up with a guy playing stride piano unlike anything I’ve ever heard.
The chords were unbelievably rich.
The reharmonizations were stunningly beautiful.
The runs were glistening and magical.
I thought, “Who is this musical sorcerer?!”
And then I looked at the profile… of course, it was none other than Jacob Collier.
Jacob is an astounding musician — arguably the greatest living musician of our time.
I’ve been a fan of his music for years, but I had never heard him play stride.
You see, stride is widely considered one of the hardest piano styles.
That’s because it’s got massive jumps in the left hand and dazzling embellishments in the right hand.
It’s played at a blistering speed, and craziest of all — it’s completely improvised.
Many of the world’s best pianists can’t play stride, and even the few who do will often specialize in stride only.
And that’s why, when I heard Jacob play it, I was floored.
Not only did he play it at an extraordinary level, he reinvented many aspects of it altogether.
Today I want to show you his video — both to showcase his incredible talent and to break down his techniques.
Because once you realize how simple his tricks are, you’ll be able to incorporate these sounds into your own playing.
The astonishing thing about Jacob’s video is that he achieves the stride sound without the massive technical demands of the style.
He creates exceptional harmonies that sound otherworldly, but when you see my breakdown, you’ll realize that he recycles the same three or so techniques.
And that’s the crazy thing about geniuses like Jacob.
When you break down what he’s actually doing, it’s so simple.
You see, Jacob’s genius comes from his ability to take very basic raw material and get supersized results from it.
It’s like putting $1 in a machine and getting $100 back out.
If you want to accelerate your piano learning, look for the areas where you can get these outsized returns.
That is the secret sauce to turbocharge your growth.
Writer
Jonny May
Jonathan May is a pianist from Southern California who specializes in many styles of piano. At age eighteen, Jonny became the youngest pianist to perform at Disneyland. Each week he entertained thousands of guests with his arrangements of American classics and Disney songs. Jonny has also performed with the Youtube...
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