When can I start learning jazz composition?

Skyleo said:

When it comes to piano specifically, I plan to eventually take lessons from an institution that is basically specialized in it (the Bill Evans Piano Academy) and I've so far been learning things here and there from a Noah Kellman course, as I personally find myself very much in tune with his style!

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Awesome! Noah is a friend of mine and aside from being a great player, he's a great educator and very good at explaining concepts. He has some really awesome two-handed voicing exercises that I've practiced a lot over the years. Studying things like that for the piano will translate very well for ensemble writing, too!

What is preventing you from learning jazz music? Your perfectionism? Jazz will be a challenge because it somewhat bases itself on errors and correcting them in the moment.

I’d like to echo the comment about immersion. You develop vocabulary and then it comes out organically in the writing. My son’s jazz instructor suggested this approach when he was in his teens and it surprised me how such a rudimentary pedagogy did work: Listen, Love, Learn.

I would also suggest hanging around with players and attending jams as part of the immersion.

Alan Ferber has a bunch of sheet music (for free!) on his website - fantastic jazz composer and arranger. Some of them have versions for nonet and big band which is great for comparing techniques.

You can also check out EIS for line writing. You only need to study the first two book to learn about every type of jazz voicing. The only thing is it's expensive. Get Inside the Score by Rayburn Wright. @R.G. let Mr Dobbins know that he saved my life when I was in school with his.

Jazz Arranging and Composing : A Linear Approach​

yesterday was the best time to start