Improvisation that belongs to the tune
Work with melody, motifs, chord movement and rhythm so a solo has direction. The aim is not to gather licks. It is to hear choices, make them in time and let a line develop naturally.
Private study, wherever you are
Online Jazz Piano Lessons with Michael Jefry Stevens
Live individual lessons in jazz piano, improvisation, harmony, repertoire and composition, held on Zoom or FaceTime.
A real musical conversation
Distance does not have to make the work distant.
Online jazz piano lessons work best when they feel like a focused musical conversation, not a lecture delivered through a screen. In a live lesson with Michael Jefry Stevens, you can play a tune, bring in a passage that has stopped moving, listen closely to a recording or ask about the harmonic turn you keep hearing but cannot yet use. The lesson stays with the sound in front of you.
Michael has spent more than four decades performing, composing and teaching. That experience brings practical range to an online lesson: a player beginning to improvise needs a different next step from a classical pianist looking for freer time, or a working musician seeking more shape and risk in a solo. The common thread is attention to what you hear, what your hands can do, and what you want your playing to become.
What we can work on together
Bring the music you are already living with.
Harmony you can hear
Explore voicings, progressions and colour through the actual music you play. Harmonic understanding becomes more useful when it moves beyond a name on the page and becomes a sound you can anticipate.
Repertoire with more room inside it
Standards, blues, original music and pieces you bring to the lesson can all become material for study. Learn melodies deeply, accompany with care and find more than one honest path through a form.
Your own writing and arranging
Use the lesson to develop a composition, a solo-piano arrangement or an ensemble idea. Questions of form, texture, melody, harmony and pacing become clearer when they are connected to work you want to finish.
For musicians in different places
The starting point is not a level. It is a question.
Online study makes it possible to work with Michael from wherever you are based, without reducing the lesson to generic material. A classical pianist may want to feel less dependent on the score and more at ease with chords and time. A self-taught player may have a strong ear but want a clearer way to understand what is already happening in their hands. An experienced improviser may be ready to move past familiar gestures and take more responsibility for shape, touch and sound.
Each of those musicians needs something specific. A lesson might begin with a recording, a tune, a few bars of transcription, a composition, a difficult voicing or a performance coming up. From there, Michael helps turn the broad concern into a piece of work you can carry into the practice room: what to listen for, what to simplify, what to practise, what to leave alone and what to return with.
That specificity is why live online lessons can be so valuable. You are not collecting more information to file away. You are building a relationship between your ears, your hands and the music you want to make, one real decision at a time.
There is room in that process for the ordinary realities of a musician’s week. You may be fitting practice around work, family, school or travel. You may arrive with only a small amount of time at the instrument, but with a very clear piece of music you want to understand. A useful lesson gives that time a centre. Instead of trying to improve everything at once, you leave with one or two ideas that can be tested patiently in the music already under your fingers.
The rhythm of study
Listen, practise, return.
Meet live
Connect on Zoom or FaceTime for an individual lesson shaped around your current music. You can play, ask questions, listen together and work in real time rather than following a pre-recorded course.
Find one clear next step
Turn a large goal into something musical and workable: a voicing approach, a rhythmic limitation, a melodic exercise, a listening assignment or a passage to explore in more than one way.
Give the idea time
Lessons are normally held every other week. That space matters. It lets you practise, listen and discover where the material becomes natural, difficult or unexpectedly useful.
Come back with what happened
The next lesson builds from the evidence: what opened up, what resisted, what you heard differently and what now deserves more attention. The work develops from your playing, not from a fixed script.
In a student's words
“Making you feel special is what Michael is all about: he really hears you, supports you musically where you’re at, and takes you to the next place.”
Amy Kohn, composer, vocalist and pianist
A simple setup
Start with the instrument and questions you have.
You do not need a complicated studio to begin. A piano or keyboard, a dependable internet connection and a phone, tablet or computer are enough for a live lesson. The important part is that you can play, listen and stay present with the music. Michael will help make the first conversation useful from where you are. If you have recordings, written music or a project you would like to share, bring it along. If you do not, that is fine too. The first lesson can begin with a tune you know, a sound you admire or a question you have been carrying for a while.
If you are nearby or prefer to meet in person, Michael also offers private jazz piano lessons. For clinics, masterclasses and residencies, visit the broader Teaching page.
Questions about online study
Frequently asked questions
How do online jazz piano lessons work?
Lessons take place live on Zoom or FaceTime. You play, ask questions, listen together and work through the musical material in real time. Between lessons, you have space to practise and return with what changed.
Do I need special equipment?
A piano or keyboard you can play comfortably, a reliable internet connection and a phone, tablet or computer are enough to begin. The point is a clear musical conversation, not a complicated technical setup.
Can online lessons work for beginners?
Yes. A beginning player can build a useful relationship with time, harmony, repertoire and listening from the first lessons. Michael also works with experienced players, classical pianists and musicians returning to the instrument.
What will we study?
The work can include jazz piano, improvisation, repertoire, harmony, composition, arranging, technique and listening. Each lesson begins with the music and questions that matter to you.
How often are lessons held?
Lessons are normally held every other week. That rhythm leaves room to practise, listen, absorb new material and bring real questions back to the next conversation.
Start the conversation
Make room for the music you mean to play.
Tell Michael where you are in your playing and what you would like to explore. A short conversation is enough to see whether online study is the right next step.