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About Sonja Joubert

Sonja Joubert is a master pianist classically trained by the late master Mr Josias Van Der Merwe and the late Adolph Hallis. She is also an excellent piano teacher with over 35 years of teaching experience specialising in both jazz and classical piano.

Understanding and studying the lead sheet: Autumn Leaves

2021-03-01T11:08:58+00:00

“Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners... The jazz standard repertoire has some overlap with blues and pop standards.” Jazz standard - Wikipedia Autumn Leaves “One of the most popular jazz standards of all time is “Autumn Leaves” by Joseph Kosma... Autumn Leaves is an excellent jazz standard to start with because it covers some basic chord progressions and harmonic concepts found in jazz”. 30 Nov 2017 - How to Navigate Autumn Leaves - [...]

Understanding and studying the lead sheet: Autumn Leaves2021-03-01T11:08:58+00:00

Creating jazz piano voicings for the adult beginner

2021-03-01T11:09:35+00:00

What are voicings? Voicings are created when you move the order of the basic chord tones of your jazz chord around so that an authentic jazz sound is created. Using the normal jazz chord in its root position with its stacked 3rds on top of each other sounds boring and not like real jazz. I already discussed the building of jazz chords in the article: “Fundamental jazz chords”. It is best to change the order of the chord notes by moving them around forming not only intervals of 3rds on top of each other, but also 5ths or 7ths or 4ths [...]

Creating jazz piano voicings for the adult beginner2021-03-01T11:09:35+00:00

Jazz chords and knowing your intervals – for the adult beginner

2021-03-01T11:08:01+00:00

In this article, I will be discussing the 7th chords or jazz chords which are formed on any given major scale or key using the natural notes of the given scale. We will be working from the major scale on which western music is built. This structure is called the tonal center. There are 12 possible major or minor keys any particular song can be played in. This is because of the 12 notes on the piano keyboard. This means that anyone of these twelve notes will be the tonal centre or home base. How can we determine the home key? [...]

Jazz chords and knowing your intervals – for the adult beginner2021-03-01T11:08:01+00:00

Is it important to learn music theory as an adult beginner?

2021-03-01T11:07:14+00:00

Many people think that learning the theory of music is merely time-wasting and not really important. The fact is that learning and understanding music in its written form and knowing the basics concerning the theory behind it can only be to the advantage of a student. It can never be to your disadvantage. You might think that you only want to be able to play your instrument and make music. That you are not interested in studying the background or theory of music but rather in being able to play your instrument. But alas! To really enjoy and understand your music [...]

Is it important to learn music theory as an adult beginner?2021-03-01T11:07:14+00:00

Teach yourself jazz theory: chords built on the major scale part 1

2021-03-01T11:07:03+00:00

Today we will be discussing the jazz chords built on each of the steps of the major scale and how to implement these chords into your jazz repertoire. In the article called “Jazz chords and knowing your intervals”, I discussed the basic scales, intervals and the combination of intervals and chords that form the four basic jazz chords namely the Major 7th, the Minor 7th, the Dominant 7th and the Minor 7th b5 chords. In this article, I will be discussing the different 7th chords or jazz chords formed on each step of the major scale.  When building chords, you will [...]

Teach yourself jazz theory: chords built on the major scale part 12021-03-01T11:07:03+00:00

The basics of jazz for the adult beginner

2021-03-01T11:06:49+00:00

I already discussed jazz in general and its origin in a former article. As I mentioned before, the term Jazz is used very loosely for nearly every style of music which is not classical or contemporary, like rock or rap. “Jazz is a broad and complex genre, and so it may seem difficult for those who are first getting into Jazz to know where to start. . . . But Jazz doesn’t need to be complex. You can actually get by with a minimum amount of theory and practice”Stefan Joubert In this article, I will try to capture some of [...]

The basics of jazz for the adult beginner2021-03-01T11:06:49+00:00

The basic chords used in jazz for the adult beginner

2021-03-01T10:50:02+00:00

The basic chords used in jazz for the adult beginner In this article, I will try to capture some of the basics of jazz to help you as an adult beginner. The most important ingredient in playing jazz being the chords you use. It’s like the bricks in a wall. Knowing your basic chords and scales needs to be a foundation to work from. We will look at how chords are structured or built and their extensions. Starting as an adult beginner, learning to play jazz could take quite some time just to master the basics. Moving from classical musician to [...]

The basic chords used in jazz for the adult beginner2021-03-01T10:50:02+00:00

How to learn jazz piano for the adult beginner

2021-03-01T10:48:35+00:00

How to learn jazz piano for the adult beginner First of all the question comes to mind as to what is Jazz?  What music does this genre include and what are the main characteristics of this style of piano playing? “Jazz is a broad and complex genre, and so it may seem difficult for those who are first getting into Jazz to know where to start. There are lots of different subgenres, and lots of different concepts, such that Jazz can sound like a foreign language – a Jazz musician could say ‘let’s use the Lydian Dominant mode to play over [...]

How to learn jazz piano for the adult beginner2021-03-01T10:48:35+00:00

Learn how to play the piano with healthy technique and excellent training

2021-03-01T11:04:38+00:00

Do you want to learn to play the piano as an adult? Starting with healthy training and a healthy technique is essential. Maybe as a child, you always wanted to play the piano, always saw the instrument, were intrigued by it, but never had the opportunity. There is never a better time to start than right now! It's never too late. Many adults have succeeded to learn to play their favourite pieces after beginning to train only in their adult years. It's truly a great blessing and can be very relaxing and motivating, bringing new avenues to your life and achievements [...]

Learn how to play the piano with healthy technique and excellent training2021-03-01T11:04:38+00:00

How to resolve technical issues in playing the piano

2021-03-01T11:04:12+00:00

How to resolve technical issues in playing the piano First of all one has to realise that technical issues always have to do with muscles and movement of fingers, wrists, arms etc. A lot can be done with relaxation and of course the only way to really resolve technical issues is by one thing called practise practise practise. But one needs to understand how and what to practise in your piece to be able to conquer a passage or part of your piece which you are studying. There can be many technical issues in one piece. Here are but a few [...]

How to resolve technical issues in playing the piano2021-03-01T11:04:12+00:00
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