In 1966 Steve Allen hosted a documentary about Bill Evans and his approach to learning and creating. There is gold in these frames.

"I believe that all people are in possession of what might be called a universal musical mind. Any true music speaks with this universal mind to the universal mind in all people. The understanding that results will vary only insofar as people have or have not been conditioned to the various styles of music in which the universal mind speaks. Consequently often some effort and exposure is necessary in order to understand some of the music coming from a different period or a different culture than that to which the listener has been conditioned."

And he's just getting started.

VIDEO: Legendary Pianist Bill Evans Documentary. He discusses his technique, playing and arranging

If you can't take 45 minutes to watch the whole film, take four minutes to listen to him break down his learning process.

"Of course I learned mostly on the job, you know, and and then I started to learn about changes and harmonics and what how a tune was built harmonically, so that I could remember the harmony and be able to play without music and be able to substitute one harmony for another or to change the harmonies and so on. 

"Now the whole process of learning, the facility of being able to play jazz, is to take these problems from the outer level one by one and to stay with it at a very intense conscious concentration level until that process becomes secondary and subconscious.

"Now, when that becomes subconscious then you can begin concentrating on that next problem which will allow you to do a little bit more, you know, and so on and so on."

VIDEO: Bill Evans on Problems