ISBN: 979-8-950930-20-1
The Gary Marks Piano Method, Book II: Jazz Improvisation Techniques for Piano
1990
Learn chord and scale theory, improvisation, and how to play songs - without reading notation.
Piano Method Book II and Audio: $15.00
The Piano Method Book II is in PDF format, 212 pages
Each chapter is accompanied by an audio component in MP3 format.
Following your purchase, please fill out the contact form here to receive your audio download.
Jazz Improvisation Techniques for Songwriters
Piano Method Book II continues from Book I, going deeper into piano improvisation and jazz improvisation techniques for players who already understand chords and scales and want to go further. Where Book I builds the foundation, Book II expands your improvisational vocabulary with chord substitutions borrowed from jazz harmony, and ways to develop a personal improvising style rather than lean on memorized licks and chordal patterns. As in Book I, every lesson is taught by theory, ear, and feel. All five dimensions of learning are placed in context: tactile, visually looking at the keyboard, audial, theoretical, and emotional.
What Book II Covers
Jazz-influenced chord voicings and substitutions; advanced scale choices for improvising over altered chords; building longer improvised passages; turning improv piano ideas into finished songwriting.
At 212 pages, Book II is substantially longer than Book I and assumes the fundamentals are already in place. The techniques come from jazz, but the goal throughout is songwriting and improvisation while playing in any style. Most importantly, Marks's teaching method encourages every player to find a style and sound of their own.
Should I Start With Book I or Book II?
Start with Book I if you are new to improvising at the keyboard; its 119 pages build the chord-and-scale vocabulary that Book II assumes you already have. Move to Book II once free play inside a small set of chords and scales feels natural, and you are ready to push into jazz-derived substitutions and longer improvised passages.
Both books share the same teaching method and the same goal: improvising and writing songs without needing to read notes.
Private Lessons with Gary Marks
Both method books come out of the same teaching practice Marks still uses today. Private lessons are available for advanced students only, on a mutual audition basis, from wherever you live, as long as you have a full-sized keyboard or, better still, an acoustic piano. The method on the page is the same one he uses in his private lessons.