Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 17 hours ago
Your licks sound stiff because you are playing them at one single speed.
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course -- 51 jazz licks, 7 chord progressions and the full arrangement of "Asking You Out" -- for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
"So you kind of start slow, speed up and slow down... Push it and pull it. So that's what I'm doing. That's what you need to do."
DO THIS AT THE PIANO TONIGHT
- Take any lick or run you already know. Play it once exactly the way you have been playing it, every note the same length.
- Now play it again and do three things to it: start slower than you think you should, speed up through the middle, and slow down into the last note.
- Do not change a single note or a single finger. Only the time changes.
- Play the two versions back to back. The first one sounds like an exercise. The second one sounds like a musician.
- Then try pushing and pulling in different places -- a longer lean on the first note, a rush through the middle, a stretch on the last two.
WHY IT WORKS
A lick played at one speed reads to the ear as information. The same lick with time shaped into it reads as a sentence -- and that is the whole difference between a run you practised and a phrase you meant.
This is also why so many players learn a lick perfectly and still feel like it does not sound like the record. They got every note right and every note the same, and a metronome-flat run is the one thing a real jazz player almost never does. The notes were never the missing piece. The time was.
The best part is that it costs nothing to try. You already own every lick you have learned this year, and each one of them has a second version hiding inside it that you can have tonight without learning a single new note.
WHAT THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE COVERS
- The full arrangement of "Asking You Out," taught twelve bars at a time
- 7 chord progressions with two beats left blank so you improvise over them
- 51 original jazz licks, all written by me for teaching, not looked up
- Live bass-and-drums backing tracks at two speeds so you can play with a band
- Chord spelling and voicing from the ground up, so you understand what you are playing
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
👍 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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Your licks sound stiff because you are playing them at one single speed.
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course -- 51 jazz licks, 7 chord progressions and the full arrangement of "Asking You Out" -- for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
"So you kind of start slow, speed up and slow down... Push it and pull it. So that's what I'm doing. That's what you need to do."
DO THIS AT THE PIANO TONIGHT
- Take any lick or run you already know. Play it once exactly the way you have been playing it, every note the same length.
- Now play it again and do three things to it: start slower than you think you should, speed up through the middle, and slow down into the last note.
- Do not change a single note or a single finger. Only the time changes.
- Play the two versions back to back. The first one sounds like an exercise. The second one sounds like a musician.
- Then try pushing and pulling in different places -- a longer lean on the first note, a rush through the middle, a stretch on the last two.
WHY IT WORKS
A lick played at one speed reads to the ear as information. The same lick with time shaped into it reads as a sentence -- and that is the whole difference between a run you practised and a phrase you meant.
This is also why so many players learn a lick perfectly and still feel like it does not sound like the record. They got every note right and every note the same, and a metronome-flat run is the one thing a real jazz player almost never does. The notes were never the missing piece. The time was.
The best part is that it costs nothing to try. You already own every lick you have learned this year, and each one of them has a second version hiding inside it that you can have tonight without learning a single new note.
WHAT THE SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ COURSE COVERS
- The full arrangement of "Asking You Out," taught twelve bars at a time
- 7 chord progressions with two beats left blank so you improvise over them
- 51 original jazz licks, all written by me for teaching, not looked up
- Live bass-and-drums backing tracks at two speeds so you can play with a band
- Chord spelling and voicing from the ground up, so you understand what you are playing
Get the whole SMOOTH PIANO JAZZ course for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
👍 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
