New podcast episode now available! It's time to Discover, Learn, and Play "Sunny"

Jazz Piano Skills Podcast

Explore the Jazz Piano Skills Educational Archive with Dr. Bob Lawrence—hundreds of episodes covering jazz standards, harmony, melody, improvisation, solo piano, technique, educational lectures, and conversations with jazz musicians and educators.

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Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills.


The Jazz Piano Skills Podcast is a weekly exploration of the essential skills needed to understand and play jazz piano.

Each month, a jazz standard becomes the framework for studying harmony, melody, improvisation, and solo piano playing—developing musicianship through careful listening, conceptual understanding, and meaningful application at the piano.

Explore hundreds of podcast episodes covering jazz piano education, jazz standards, improvisation, harmony, melody, musicianship, and conversations with artists and educators from throughout the jazz community.

For those who wish to study more deeply, Jazz Piano Skills provides a complete educational experience through weekly Podcast Packets, live Masterclass instruction, Community participation, and direct educational support.

I look forward to helping you discover, learn, and play jazz piano.

Warm Regards,




Study with Jazz Piano Skills

Recent Episodes

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Sunny, Harmonic Analysis
358
Oct. 6, 2026

Sunny, Harmonic Analysis

In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence begins a month-long study of Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny” with a Sunny harmonic analysis that explores the form, chord changes, harmonic function, and common harmonic movement of this timeless jazz standard. Discover how understanding musical relationships makes harmony easier to hear, see, and play. Dr. Bob also explores an important idea at the heart of Jazz Piano Skills: great musicianship isn’t about memorizing more chords—it’s about understanding how harmony wor
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Our Love Is Here to Stay, Solo Piano
357
Sept. 29, 2026

Our Love Is Here to Stay, Solo Piano

Dr. Bob Lawrence explores Our Love Is Here to Stay solo piano development, bringing harmony, melody, improvisation, and musical interpretation together in one complete performance. The episode focuses on voicings, melodic treatment, musical space, and the independence required to transform this Gershwin jazz standard into a personal solo piano statement.
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Our Love Is Here to Stay, Improvisation
356
Sept. 22, 2026

Our Love Is Here to Stay, Improvisation

In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence explores Our Love Is Here to Stay improvisation by using limitation to develop creativity and musical decision-making. Rather than adding more scales, modes, licks, or chromatic devices, the lesson focuses on developing command of chord tones through simple ascending and descending arpeggio motion. Using G7 as the starting point, Dr. Bob demonstrates how harmonic shapes can be explored from the root, third, fifth, and seventh before being transformed into mel
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Our Love Is Here to Stay, Melodic Analysis
355
Sept. 15, 2026

Our Love Is Here to Stay, Melodic Analysis

In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence continues the study of Gershwin’s Our Love Is Here to Stay with an Our Love Is Here to Stay melodic analysis focused on understanding the melody rather than simply memorizing notes. Using a deliberate step-by-step process, the lesson explores how hearing, fingering, phrasing, target notes, harmony, and rhythm work together to make a melody understandable and memorable. Dr. Bob develops the melody through eight essential steps: hear it, find it, verify it, fin
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Our Love Is Here to Stay, Harmonic Analysis
354
Sept. 8, 2026

Our Love Is Here to Stay, Harmonic Analysis

In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence begins a four-week study of Gershwin’s Our Love Is Here to Stay with an Our Love Is Here to Stay harmonic analysis focused on understanding how the tune’s harmony actually works. Rather than simply memorizing chord symbols, the lesson explores harmonic function, chord relationships, common harmonic motion, and the patterns that make the progression easier to understand. Dr. Bob organizes the harmonic analysis around five areas of study: standard key and form,
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Monterey Jazz: The Music, the Festival, and the Community
353
Sept. 1, 2026

Monterey Jazz: The Music, the Festival, and the Community

The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the most historic and influential jazz festivals in the world. In this special Jazz Piano Skills episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence welcomes Monterey Jazz Managing Director Bobbie Young and board member Mike Knapek for a conversation about the festival’s remarkable history, educational mission, legendary performers, and enduring role in the jazz community. Bobbie and Mike trace Monterey Jazz from its beginnings in 1958 with Jimmy Lyons, Ralph J. Gleason, Dave Brube
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Reviews

Pure quality

"Thanks for your kindness , and for sharing your genius so generously. I am still trying to plug in to the beautiful and sensational world of jazz. God willing through your lessons I will learn to pla…"

AbeCuba | May 26, 2020
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