Brad Hawbaker

Jazz Pianist / Avid Reader / Movie Buff / Cyclist / Chef / Programmer

We had a piano in the house when I was a child, and I was fascinated by it and wished I could play. I would dig through and listen to my grandfather's jazz records when visiting him. I took classical violin and later piano but came no closer to understanding how music worked. I had a naive notion of being able to sit down and play without memorizing reams of sheet music. It later occurred to me that the word for that is improvisation, and it was something jazz musicians did but I had no idea how. I later discovered that jazz and improvisation can be taught, and I started taking lessons. I stopped shortly after to focus on my degree, hit a plateau, and gave up. A decade passed, and my mother gifted me a grand piano (best present ever!), and I was prompted to start studying again. I'm well past the plateau and continue to improve in my playing.