I Got Rhythm, Solo Piano

Introduction to Solo Piano Development

Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Well, week four is here. And since the start of 2026, week four is dedicated to focusing on solo piano development, solo piano approaches. And this is important because the reality is all of us spend far more time playing solo piano than we do in a group or ensemble setting. Now, here's the interesting twist. The ensemble experience is actually the gateway to learning how to play solo piano. Because what we experience in an ensemble, we learn to emulate and ultimately recreate when playing solo piano, which is why practicing with backing tracks is such a benefit and is so important. It is, without question, one of the most effective and convenient ways to simulate that ensemble experience. So today is all about bringing everything together. We begin each month with harmonic analysis, we move to a melodic analysis, then improvisation development, and now, week four, we bring it all together through solo piano application. Because solo piano is not a separate skill. It's the result of understanding how everything fits together. You know, last week during our study of improvisation, and especially in our Thursday evening masterclass, it became pretty apparent that there are still a lot of misconceptions about how to properly approach learning jazz. And without question, one of the biggest misconceptions is the belief that spontaneity is the key to playing jazz. As I stressed in the blog recap this past weekend, that most players don't struggle with playing notes, they struggle with organizing them. So when it's time to improvise, what happens? Well, you end up relying on memorized licks, you guess, you hesitate, or even worse, you freeze. And again, not because of a lack of talent, because of a lack of clarity. And that's the real problem. Here's the truth. Improvisation is not spontaneity. It is organization in real time. It's not random, it's not magic, it's not guessing. It is your ability to move through harmonic shapes melodically. I'm going to say that again. It's your ability to move through harmonic shapes melodically, controlling direction up and down, using rhythm intentionally, and adding, of course, tension or chromaticism when appropriate. In other words, improvisation is organized musical thinking in motion. And here's the key, so important to know this, that nothing in jazz is spontaneous. Not improvisation, not phrasing, not time, and certainly not solo piano playing. Everything is learned, everything is organized, everything is developed. Which brings us to today. Because solo piano is the ultimate test of this idea. Solo piano is the ultimate test of this understanding. In an ensemble, in an ensemble setting, responsibility is shared. The bass player outlines the harmony, the drummer controls time and feel. You contribute a piece of the musical conversation. But in a solo piano setting, you are responsible for everything. Harmony, melody, rhythm, bass, time, feel, all of it. Which means if your thinking is not clear, your playing cannot be clear. And this is exactly why everything we've done this month matters. Week one, harmonic understanding. Week two, melodic motion. Week three, improvisation development. And now, week four, we bring it all together. Because the reality is this solo piano is not a separate skill. It is it is the result of organizing harmonic and melodic motion in real time, with clarity, with purpose, and of course, with control. Of course, the question becomes well, how do we develop this clarity? How do we develop this control? Right? How do we organize sound? Well, the way we learn to organize sound is by grounding our thinking in a small number of fundamental musical truths. You know where this is going. At Jazz Piano Skills, we call these fundamental musical truths the seven musical facts. Now, these are simple, but don't let the simplicity fool you. Everything you play, everything you hear, everything you practice comes from these ideas, these facts. First, music is the production of sound and silence. And of course, when I speak of sound, I'm talking about the primary sounds of music, major, dominant, minor, half diminished and diminished. The second musical truth, the second musical fact that sound is produced two ways. It's produced harmonically and it's produced melodically. Fact number three, when sound is produced harmonically, we're playing what we call chords or voicings or shapes, harmonic shapes. Fact number four, when sound is produced melodically, we're playing arpeggios. We're playing scales, melodic shapes. Fact number five, when we play scales, when we play arpeggios, we can only move in one of two directions. We can either go up or we can come down. That's it. Fact number six, we decorate that motion with tension, or what is often referred to as chromaticism. Basically the notes that fall outside of the harmony. And fact number seven, to make all of that musical, to make all of that interesting, to make all of that expressive, we add rhythm. Now think about what we just said. Think about this. This is exactly what we've been talking about. Organizing harmonic shapes with melodic shapes, moving up, moving down, adding tension, and expressing everything through rhythm. That's not theory. Right? That's that's music. So today we're going to take everything that we've explored this month. Harmony, melody, improvisation, and bring it all together at the keyboard. First, we're going to discover what it actually means to play solo jazz piano. Then we're going to learn how to structure your playing so that everything works together. And finally, we're going to play. We're going to apply these ideas directly to the tune we've been studying all month, George Gershwin's I Got a Rhythm. And we're going to begin developing a clear, a very simple and effective approach to developing our solo piano chops. In other words, we're going to move beyond understanding and into application. So, as I always like to say, regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, a beginner, an intermediate player, or even an advanced player, or even if you consider yourself a seasoned and experienced professional, you're going to find this Jazz Piano Skills podcast lesson exploring I Got Rhythm, Solo Piano, to be very beneficial. But before we get started, before we jump in, I want to, as I always do, welcome all of you first-time listeners to Jazz Pianal Skills. If you're listening to the podcast for the first time, if you're just if you're new to jazz piano skills, I want to welcome you and I want to personally invite you to become a member. Membership gives you access to a structured, comprehensive learning environment designed to support your development at every level. As a member, you'll have access to the complete podcast episodes, including demonstrations and lesson content. The first half of every podcast episode, of course, is free for everyone. The second half, when we get into the demonstrations and lesson content, that is for members. You'll also have access to the downloadable podcast packets, the illustrations, the lead sheets, the play-alongs that I design and develop for every weekly podcast episode. You'll also, as a member, have uh access to a full library of courses designed specifically to help you uh discover, learn, and play jazz piano harmonically, melodically, improvisationally. The courses are sequential, they're practical, and they're sound-based. As a jazz piano skills member, you also have a reserved seat in the weekly master classes that I hold every Thursday evening at 8 p.m. Central Time. If you're unable to make the class or attend the class, there are full audio and video recordings of the class that you can watch at your convenience and as often as you wish. And as a jazz panel skills member, you also have access to the private jazz panel skills community for discussion, questions, and support regarding your jazz journey. And finally, as a jazz panel skills member, you have direct access to me for guidance, support whenever you need it. So all of these, all of these perks, all of these benefits, resources are designed with really simple with one simple goal in mind to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano in a very clear, very structured, and a very meaningful way. So you can learn more about jazz piano skills, the program at jazzpianoskills.com. And if you if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I'm always happy to spend some time with you, answer any questions that you may have, and help you in any way that I can. And one final note uh if you are not already receiving the Jazz Pianel Skills weekly blog post, I encourage you to join the Jazz Panel Skills email list, which you can do very easily at the Jazz Panel Skills website on the homepage. Every weekend I publish a written summary of the week's lesson designed to reinforce what you are studying, what you're learning, and help you stay organized, clarity of thought, organized in your practicing. All right, so let's get on with the question of the week. And this week's question comes from Michael in Chicago, Illinois. And Michael asks, Dr. Bob, I'm really struggling with soul jazz piano. When I sit down to play, it feels overwhelming. Yeah, well, join the club. Like I'm trying to do too much at once. Common. How should I be practicing so that I can actually improve? Michael, I picked your question, obviously, because it ties into what we're talking about today: solo piano approaches, solo piano development. It's a great question. And I can guarantee you you're not alone because I think everyone listening is asking the very same question. In fact, what you're describing is what everyone experiences when they begin working on solo piano, right? This feeling of being over overwhelmed. Um, it feels and and rightfully so, right? I mean, this is what I just got done talking about. It feels like everything is happening at once, and you're responsible for it. Harmony, melody, rhythm, bass, time, feel. All competing, all of these elements are competing for your undivided attention. And yes, that can feel overwhelming. But here's the reality: it's not that solo piano is too complex, it's that the foundational skills are not yet solid. That's really the issue. Foundational skills are not yet solid. So let's simplify this. Before you worry about playing solo piano, there are three things, three things that must be in place. First, if you cannot play chords, voicings in time, with confidence, with consistency, then here's the reality. There's no need to move forward. There's no need to worry about playing solo piano. Because playing chords in time is simply not optional. It is the foundation of playing music, and it certainly is the foundation of playing solo piano. Second, if you cannot play the melody of the tune with ease, fluently, in time, and with a sense of improvisational freedom, well, guess what? There is no need to move forward. There's no need to worry about playing solo piano because guess you know this melody is not decoration, it's the tune, it is the music. And then finally, third, if you have not spent time playing with backing tracks, or if you do not have ensemble experience, um, developing your ability to handle harmony and melody within a musical context, within a time feel, uh then again, you know what? There's really no need to move forward because the ensemble experience, even when simulated through software, backing tracks, right? The ensemble experience is indeed the gateway to solo piano playing. You cannot emulate what you have not experienced. So instead of thinking, I need to learn how to play solo piano, I think it's better to think I need to strengthen the skills that make solo piano possible. And you know what? That's exactly why our monthly approach is structured the way it is. It's very intentional. Week one, harmonic clarity. Week two, melodic understanding, week three, improvisation development. And then only then, week four, do we bring it all together. So, Michael, here's how I want you to approach your practice this week. Number one, I want to make sure that your voicings are solid. Whether you're using black voicings or traditional contemporary shells, right, whichever form of voicing you're using, make sure they're solid and that you can play them in time. Number two, make sure your melody is fluid and under your fingers. Make sure you can play the melody with ease. And and spend time then spend time with the map backing tracks, just as I mentioned, right? So that you can experience your voicings, you can experience the melody, you can experience those elements functioning together and in a real musical context in a real musical setting. Because it's so important, it's so important to remember this, that solo piano is not about doing everything at once. I know that's what we think, right? It's really about bringing together skills that have already been developed, right? No guessing, no scrambling, no overwhelm, just clear, organized musical thinking with skills that you have already developed. And now you're capable of being expressive in a solo piano format, right? Sitting at the keyboard. How fun. So, Michael, if you are uh a jazz piano skills member, you're going to love today's lesson because we're gonna take everything that I just presented to you. I'm gonna take everything that we've explored throughout the month: harmony, melody, improvisation, and bring it all together to construct a very simple and musically gratifying, satisfying approach to solo jazz piano. And of course, we're going to use I Got Rhythm as our blueprint. And if you're not a jazz piano skills member, we'll know that this is exactly the kind of work that will help you move forward with clarity and confidence at the keyboard as you develop your solo piano skills. Okay? All right, so with that in mind, let's take a look at the educational agenda for today. First, we're going to spend some time, as always, right, listening. We always have a killer listening list that's put together for us every uh single week that coincides with our study and is housed at the Jazz Piano Skills online community. Lisa does a fabulous job with this uh list every week. So I encourage, that's the very first thing that I always encourage us to do every single week is just hit the pause button and spend some time listening. So first and foremost, listen. Then we're going to begin constructing a very simple, a very clear solo piano approach, a way to begin developing our solo piano skills. And from there, we are going to connect our left hand harmony with our right hand melody motion, and finally, we'll apply everything to complete a solo piano, a very simple solo piano performance. Now, if you are a jazz piano skills member, I want you to hit the pause button right now. There are some uh podcast materials here. We have uh some backing tracks, not what you think. I do have some backing tracks that are available for you uh to utilize this week as you're practicing your solo piano. And then, of course, the lead sheets and the illustrations. I mention it every week that as a jazz panel skills member, you have access to this material. And of course, you should have this material in your hands when listening to the episode to get the most out of it. And of course, you should have this material sitting on your piano or music stand when uh practicing throughout the week. Okay, so every month, you know, we uh use a tune to help us develop our jazz piano skills. And we have a process that we go through. It's so important that it's always worth taking just a few minutes to uh mention and to go through. And and I say it every every week that this approach to studying, um, to utilizing a tune to help us develop our jazz piano skills, you know, is the same. It's going to be the same regardless of genre. So I know we're we're always applying it to a jazz standard, but but again it makes no difference whether it's a rock tune, pop, country folk, RB, whatever. This process, this learning process uh remains intact. That first, as I've already mentioned, we listen, you know, to professional musicians, amateur musicians, instrumentalist, vocalist, and of course pianist. Anyone performing the tune that we are going to be spending time with, we should uh listen to. Okay. Then we always turn our attention to harmonic analysis, then melodic analysis, then improvisation development, with of course including rhythmic skills as well. So this this whole approach harmony to melody to improv rhythm then our solo piano it's a very thorough it's a very complete approach that honestly should be pretty comforting because it's the same educational process every month. New tune same process continue to develop our skills and and then that brings us to today right that this month we've completed our harmonic analysis we've completed our melodic analysis of I've got rhythm we've completed our improvisation development study. And so now guess what it's time as I mentioned earlier it's time for us to bring everything together through solo piano application. So jazz piano skills members we got some work to do today so I want you to grab lead sheet one lead sheet one from your podcast packets this is going to be our thank you for listening to Jazz Piano Skills. The remaining premium content of this episode is available to Jazz Piano Skills members at Jazz Pianoskills podcast dot com. Visit jazzpianoskill to learn more about membership privileges and become a jazz piano skills member. Thank you