One of the greatest jazz piano players of all time, transcribing Keith Jarrett solos is a good way to understand what was going on inside the mind of a musical genius and to speed up your own progress when learning jazz.
From classically-influenced solo piano to hard-swinging jazz trio, his recordings provide a goldmine of jazz vocabulary and history.
Whilst transcribing solos by ear is an excellent goal, it can take a lot of practice to get right.
With that in mind, pre-written transcriptions and lead sheets are a useful tool in studying what’s going on in terms of jazz music theory.
We’ve compiled a list of sheet music and transcription books which will allow you to study Keith Jarrett’s interpretation of some of his most famous works, including that legendary solo concert.
Keith Jarrett Sheet Music – Solo Piano
Köln Concert (full transcription)
As one of the most famous and best-selling jazz albums of all time, The Koln Concert is an amazing example of solo piano.
This 94-page book provides the full transcription of the performance and is a must-have for any Jarrett fan.
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The Melody At Night, With You (sheet music)
Whilst less famous than it’s Cologne counterpart, The Melody At Night With You (released 1999 on ECM Records) contains some magical examples of Keith Jarrett’s solo piano playing and is well worth studying.
This complete playbook is a great addition to jazz piano players music room bookcase!
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Keith Jarrett Transcriptions
Inexplicably, there is no in-depth collection of Keith Jarrett transcriptions out there at the moment.
That, surely, will change in time, but for now there are a wide range of individual transcriptions out there which cover many of his most acclaimed solos.
KeithJarrett.org – the self-proclaimed unofficial website of the pianist – list a large number of Keith Jarrett PDFs which feature transcriptions of a wide variety of songs including:
- “I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)” (The Melody at Night, With You)
- “I Remember Clifford” (Still Live)
- “My Funny Valentine” (Still Live)
- “So Tender” (Standards, Vol. 2)
- “Sunshine Song (Intro)” (Nude Ants)
- “The Wind” (Paris Concert)
Sheet music sharing site Musescore also display a large range of piano solo transcriptions – including many in Sibelius format – including:
- All The Things You Are
- Don’t Ever Leave Me
- If I Should Lose You
- Survivors Suite
- One for Majid
I hope this short round up will help you get started with some deeper studying of this jazz piano legend.
And remember, if you can develop your aural skills to the point of being able to transcribe by ear, this is a great exercise in improving your connection with his playing.