Listen, practice, and play along with Herbie’s solo performance of Sonny Rollins's standard, a classic example of rhythm changes.

Listen and Learn: "Oleo"

Teaches Jazz

Herbie Hancock

Meet your instructor, legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock. For Herbie, music is more than the notes you play. Learn how to open your mind—and ears—to the real story.

Introduction

For Herbie, music is more than the notes you play. Learn how to open your mind—and ears—to the real story.

A Human Approach to Music

Don't let improvisation intimidate you. Herbie’s approach starts with the simplest of ideas: Listen, then react.

Improvisation

Herbie taught himself to play jazz by playing along with his favorite records. Learn how to use his methods to accompany the music you love.

Learning by Listening

Countless jazz tunes are built around one of two simple harmonic patterns. Practice Herbie’s licks and improv ideas, and discover new opportunities to use them.

The Two Basic Jazz Forms

Herbie breaks down the fundamentals of piano playing.

Piano Basics

Build speed and strength in your fingers with the exercises that have helped Herbie most.

Piano Exercises

Playing alone means you’re free to play any way you want. Learn how Herbie breaks the rules of melody, rhythm, and harmony to infuse his solo performances with creativity.

Improvising Alone

Have you ever thought about music as a series of images? Herbie shares techniques that will push the boundaries of your improvising.

Expanded Improv Techniques

Herbie brings some guests to help demonstrate how musicians communicate while playing.

Jam Session: Improvising Together  

Where do songs come from? For Herbie, they start to take shape in life experiences. Here’s how he turns memories, impressions, and emotions into music.

Composing

A song is never finished. Even after you’ve recorded it, there’s still room for it to evolve. In this chapter, Herbie challenges you to give old compositions a contemporary edge.

Recomposing, Rearranging, Reinventing 

Herbie brings in a rhythm section to break down two versions of his classic tune. They also accompany a synthesizer solo steeped in the sounds of funk and the blues.

Jam Session: Two Approaches to “Watermelon Man”

Herbie shares advice from his years of composing and collaborating with the icons of jazz.

Working As a Composer  

There’s a near-infinite number of ways play chords on your instrument. Learn some of Herbie’s go-to approaches, and let them spark your own experimentation.

Chord Voicings

Playing a new set of chords under a classic melody is one of Herbie’s favorite ways to study harmony. Explore the new possibilities he finds in Thelonious Monk’s classic tune.

Case Study: Reharmonizing “’Round Midnight”

Jazz players don’t just learn from other jazz players. One of Herbie’s harmonic touchstones is the French composer Maurice Ravel. Learn how to add some of Ravel’s sounds to your bag of harmonic tricks.

Ravel's Creative Harmonies

Herbie’s approach to harmony was built over years of experimentation. Let these ideas inspire your own harmonic exploration.

Expanding Your Harmonic Horizons 

Herbie performs one of his most famous compositions alone at the piano. Listen and practice along to learn about how to play ballads and use the sus4 chord.

Listen and Learn: “Maiden Voyage” 

Herbie has tips for grooving deeper and feeling more comfortable playing in strange and complex rhythms, from swing to funk.

Rhythmic Musicianship

Herbie brings the rhythm section back to break down the groove of one of the Headhunters’ most complicated numbers. Play along and find the downbeat for yourself.

Jam Session: Rhythm in “Actual Proof”

Herbie followed an unlikely path to jazz, and it’s been a wild ride ever since. His story serves as an inspiration and a testament to what you can accomplish when you let passion be your guide.

A Musical Life

For his final solo performance, Herbie chooses one of his most popular compositions. A study in bluesy playing, it showcases the possibilities you can find in simple structures if you stay open to the moment.

Listen and Learn: “Watermelon Man”

Herbie offers his parting words and a bit of music as a thank-you for joining him.

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Listen and Learn: "Oleo"

About the Instructor

Herbie Hancock