Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
Rolled chords sound impossible when you hear them and they are not. The reason they come out lumpy is almost never speed -- it is that you start the roll with one finger down and go looking for the other three on the way. Set all four first, then play. Watch my hand in this clip: it arrives over the notes as a shape, and only then does the thumb move.
Try every lesson for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
This is a clip out of my new SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course, built on "Asking You Out" by the Quinn Perry Trio.
"I just get my fingers over the notes first. I don't play the first note until I'm ready for all four. So I transfer it to my thumb and I get my fingers in place. I don't play the first note until I have all four underneath. Get in position and then you can do this."
HOW TO PRACTICE A ROLLED CHORD
- Find the four notes and put all four fingers on top of the keys before a single one goes down. Nothing sounds yet. That is the whole trick.
- Play them by transferring the weight of the hand from the thumb through to the pinky -- you are not striking four separate notes, you are rolling one hand across them.
- Your hand already has enough natural weight to press a key. It does not take force, and force is what makes a roll sound like a stumble.
- Let the wrist rotate and let the elbow come out on every one of them. A locked wrist cannot roll.
- Come up off the pinky at the end of the group. The next group usually starts on that same note with your thumb, and that is your handoff -- transfer, reset the shape, then play.
- Practice it with space in between each group. Give yourself a beat of nothing to get set. Speed is what happens later, on its own, once the setup is automatic.
This habit carries far past jazz -- arpeggios, broken chords, worship pads, anything where the hand has to cover more notes than it has time to find.
WHAT IS IN THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE
This is the sound you have been chasing: the piano on a late night record, warm and unhurried, thick chords hanging in the air, a right hand that wanders off and always lands somewhere beautiful.
PART ONE is the full song, hands together, line by line, from my annotated sheet music with the letter name printed inside every notehead, and my hands on camera from directly overhead.
PART TWO is seven eight-bar chord progressions pulled out of the tune: quartal minor 11 shapes, the stubborn A pedal, slash chords, half diminished, borrowed major 13 color, the Lydian sharp 11, the minor four chord that makes a major song ache. Every bar gives you the chord for two beats and then two beats of silence, and that silence is yours to answer in.
PART THREE is over fifty jazz licks, one over every chord in those progressions: chromatic enclosures, chromatic descents, arpeggios up and walks back down, and the diminished arpeggio off the 3rd of the V chord that resolves by half step into the I. Play-along tracks and printable sheet music included.
Start the Smooth Piano Jazz course on your $1 trial: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
#pianotechnique #jazzpiano #smoothjazz #pianolesson #learnpiano #pianotutorial #adultpianostudent #rolledchords #jazzlicks #pianochords #improvisation #pianoteacher #practicetips
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
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🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
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Rolled chords sound impossible when you hear them and they are not. The reason they come out lumpy is almost never speed -- it is that you start the roll with one finger down and go looking for the other three on the way. Set all four first, then play. Watch my hand in this clip: it arrives over the notes as a shape, and only then does the thumb move.
Try every lesson for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
This is a clip out of my new SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course, built on "Asking You Out" by the Quinn Perry Trio.
"I just get my fingers over the notes first. I don't play the first note until I'm ready for all four. So I transfer it to my thumb and I get my fingers in place. I don't play the first note until I have all four underneath. Get in position and then you can do this."
HOW TO PRACTICE A ROLLED CHORD
- Find the four notes and put all four fingers on top of the keys before a single one goes down. Nothing sounds yet. That is the whole trick.
- Play them by transferring the weight of the hand from the thumb through to the pinky -- you are not striking four separate notes, you are rolling one hand across them.
- Your hand already has enough natural weight to press a key. It does not take force, and force is what makes a roll sound like a stumble.
- Let the wrist rotate and let the elbow come out on every one of them. A locked wrist cannot roll.
- Come up off the pinky at the end of the group. The next group usually starts on that same note with your thumb, and that is your handoff -- transfer, reset the shape, then play.
- Practice it with space in between each group. Give yourself a beat of nothing to get set. Speed is what happens later, on its own, once the setup is automatic.
This habit carries far past jazz -- arpeggios, broken chords, worship pads, anything where the hand has to cover more notes than it has time to find.
WHAT IS IN THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE
This is the sound you have been chasing: the piano on a late night record, warm and unhurried, thick chords hanging in the air, a right hand that wanders off and always lands somewhere beautiful.
PART ONE is the full song, hands together, line by line, from my annotated sheet music with the letter name printed inside every notehead, and my hands on camera from directly overhead.
PART TWO is seven eight-bar chord progressions pulled out of the tune: quartal minor 11 shapes, the stubborn A pedal, slash chords, half diminished, borrowed major 13 color, the Lydian sharp 11, the minor four chord that makes a major song ache. Every bar gives you the chord for two beats and then two beats of silence, and that silence is yours to answer in.
PART THREE is over fifty jazz licks, one over every chord in those progressions: chromatic enclosures, chromatic descents, arpeggios up and walks back down, and the diminished arpeggio off the 3rd of the V chord that resolves by half step into the I. Play-along tracks and printable sheet music included.
Start the Smooth Piano Jazz course on your $1 trial: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
#pianotechnique #jazzpiano #smoothjazz #pianolesson #learnpiano #pianotutorial #adultpianostudent #rolledchords #jazzlicks #pianochords #improvisation #pianoteacher #practicetips
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
Read Google Reviews by Shawn’s actual students google.com/search?sca_esv=5009c1303de011b0&sca_upv=1&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1008US1008&hl=en-US&q=web+piano+teacher+reviews&uds=ADvngMgvgkdrPGdvQSDLpEVP-ZodsumYvHbzDCPdZxu7y1dxdo5qqAYWcbG74nStvB1P7oPuKgMFxvRIzd_DZN3tMyxEyrPXSMvg62M7DhKnaOoXRrvMRlR2qOzpuVB5MFvbzhVxfpnLmeUii_UEMspRA9Sb2_UNlNmYcxD8gSa_9Y-ZrAhmC7PMo4dC-3yAW2NaRCTwbTkIJFF0zACFe0MmWygbXUnSyy4URj5yYn7f6Y92qL5F7C65sP-AwHchpQ_w3yruheB24nu-AvcfFQo-ckINkBqWAeio4R0dm9r8cmVn2A7RlUhPAPOZyHpYJ2DontEmnoCi9_eEmhwW9RpGrsajaR7u8_U58p0eD_M4AQtnaQce2g4_3U4ECJVG1OOQrlRFwR4byywOQYKXK-PF9b_wDOJ4wtlppDpfX1FhULjD2H_jbmF3keFLT-JjbHx5mU1wYAbm&si=ACC90nwjPmqJHrCEt6ewASzksVFQDX8zco_7MgBaIawvaF4-7tVxiqnhHYhqKwDDsP2tv6FAZ1fBoW06Zy-5I4bv_4sVUMNgTvp0JS4qCRvaokEGreiT-RV-opIxhvzKSE6856yE4kgwpddtdtU31HEpdWwEdq8gXg%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1uakreOIAxVxKkQIHU2mGhQQk8gLegQIKRAB&ictx=1&biw=390&bih=657&dpr=3
🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
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instagram.com/webpianoteacher
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tiktok.com/@shawnthewebpianoteacher
