Improvisation, The Mastery of Harmony

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:33.006)
Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Wow. What a great month we have had at Jazz Piano Skills. We have spent the last three weeks exploring the great standard blue bossa. And as we do with every tune, we tackle the tune harmonically, melodically, and improvisationally.

Our harmonic analysis examines forms, changes, harmonic function, common harmonic movement, and of course our voicings. Block voicings, traditional shells, contemporary shells, two-handed structures. Our melodic analysis transcribes the melody, determines fingerings. We look at phrases and target notes within the phrases, and then we explore some standard melodic treatments. And then finally, our improvisation study.

examines various approaches used for developing rhythmic and melodic vocabulary necessary for improvising. Our three-week study of every tune that we delve into is thorough, enlightening, and without doubt, very beneficial. And of course, the study and practice of all these essential jazz piano skills must be, as you know, governed by a crystal clear thought process that

simplifies music conceptually so that we have, as I like to say, a legitimate chance of developing physical capabilities. Now we achieve this crystal clear thought process by making sure that everything we do musically, conceptually, and physically, everything we do plugs into and adheres to the seven musical facts. And what are the seven facts of music? You know them by heart. I know it.

Number one, music is the production of sound and silence. Sound, of course, being major, dominant, minor, half diminished, diminished. Fact number two, sound is produced harmonically and melodically. Fact number three, when sound is produced harmonically, we're playing chords, voicings. Fact number four, when sound is produced melodically, we're playing arpeggios and scales. Fact number five, when playing our

Dr. Bob Lawrence (02:59.627)
arpeggios and scales, we can only move one or two directions up or down. Fact number six, we camouflage or we decorate our arpeggios and scales with chromaticism or tension. And then finally, fact number seven, we make all of this exciting by adding rhythm. This is precisely why we approach our tune study centering around these seven facts of music.

using three distinct tune learning studies, a harmonic analysis, a melodic analysis, and an improvisation development. You know, last week in our improv study, we used various harmonic shapes for developing melodic ideas for improvising. And today I'm excited because we are going to dive deeper into our

understanding of how melodies, whether those melodies are composed or improvised, makes no difference. We are going to dive into a deeper understanding how those melodies, how they are generated from harmonic shapes. In other words, melody flows from harmony. In other words, no harmonic shape, no melodic line. And today is an exciting day because

you're going to see the seven facts of music come to life without a doubt. So today we are going to discover the necessity of harmonic mastery for creating melodic lines. We're going to learn the harmonic structures, the shapes hidden within each chord. And we are going to play 16 harmonic structures.

used for the discovery and development of our own melodic ideas, our own melodic lines. Now, we won't technically play all 16, but you will become very much aware of them before the end of this podcast episode. So as I always like to say, regardless of where you are in your personal jazz journey, a beginner, an intermediate player, an advanced player, or even if you are a seasoned and experienced professional.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:23.574)
You're gonna find this Jazz Piano Skills podcast lesson, Improvisation, the Mastery of Harmony, to be very beneficial. But before we get started, I want to, as I always do, of course, welcome all of you first time listeners to the Jazz Piano Skills podcast. If you're new to Jazz Piano Skills, I want to invite you to become a Jazz Piano Skills member.

And your membership comes with many perks. For instance, as a Jazz Panel Skills member, you have access to premium podcast content, which basically means you get to listen to the the entire episode, right? The first half of every podcast that I do is free for everyone to enjoy. I deal with the question of the week, I lay out the educational agenda and the lesson rationale. And the second half of the podcast for members only lesson content.

demonstrations. And of course, the presentation and exploration of the podcast packets, the illustrations, the lead sheets and the play alongs. These are the educational materials that I designed and develop for every weekly podcast episode. Invaluable material that you should absolutely have in your hands when listening to the podcast to get the most out of it. And of course, sitting on your piano at home or your music stand when practicing.

As Jazz Panel Skills member, you also have access to the online interactive courses. These are comprehensive, self paced and sequential courses. You also have a reserved seat in the weekly online masterclass, which I host every Thursday evening, 8pm Central Time. And I realize, as many of you have let me know, that 8pm is not necessarily the best time for everyone around the world. However, the masterclasses

are recorded. So you can watch and rewatch the video of the class whenever convenient and as often as you wish. You also as a Jazz Panel Skills member of access to the private online Jazz Panel Skills community, which hosts a variety of educational forums, their podcast specific forums, general forums, we keep our

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:44.94)
active listening list posted there every week as well. It's a great place to meet new folks, new jazz friends. It's a great place to offer up some feedback and assistance as well as receiving some feedback and assistance. So anyway, the community is fabulous and that's part of your membership as well. And finally, as a Jazz Panel Skills member, you have access to educational support, private, personal, and professional support that you can access through

web forums or calling me directly here at my office at the Dallas School of Music or email or speak pipe. But support comes with your membership. Now all of these amazing privileges are waiting to help you discover, learn and play jazz piano. So check it all out at jazzpianoskills.com. And of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate and I sincerely mean that do not hesitate to reach out to me.

happy to spend time with you and answer any questions that you may have. I also want to take just a few minutes to encourage everyone to subscribe to the Jazz Panel Skills YouTube channel. And once you do, you'll be begin receiving notifications when new videos are released. I have harmony, melody and rhythm challenges that I am working on as well as jazz quick tips and jazz talks. And those again are published

on a weekly basis. And so be sure to subscribe so that again that you're noticed notified whenever a video is released. Okay, so typically at this time, I do the question of the week, but as I do from time to time, especially when I am presenting or teaching a concept that requires in depth discussion, I bypass the question of the week in order to devote the entire episode to the concept. So today,

We'll put the question of week on hold so we can get to the lesson because we have a ton to get through. All right. So let's discover, learn, and play improvisation, the mastery of harmony. All right. So I gave much thought to where do I begin with this topic? And I thought, well, you know what?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:07.784)
no better place to begin than with the word itself. The word improvisation. What the heck does that word mean? What does it mean to improvise? What is improvisation? I don't know why this is, but there are certain words in our language that

are simply misunderstood or used incorrectly on a daily basis. And improvisation is certainly one of them. So I think it's important that we get a handle on this word right from the get go. So to properly understand the word improvisation or what it means to improvise, is, I think, best to begin by saying what it is not. And improvisation

is not the spontaneous creation statement or use of something that has never been created, stated, or used before. That's what most people think improvisation is, but it's not. If that were the standard, right, if the standard was that in order to improvise, we'd have to have the spontaneous creation or statement or use of something that's never been created, stated, or used before, well, I got bad news for all of us. Wow.

If that were the requirement when playing music, then we would all fail at improvising. Improvisation would be an unobtainable goal. So with that being out of the way, what is improvisation? Improvisation in music is the art of creating melodies or harmonies or rhythms.

spontaneously in the moment within a given framework like a chord harmony. See the key there is being created.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:21.438)
within a given framework. Instead of playing only what's written on the page, the musician, you, me, actually compose, if you will, in real time using language that we have already developed. Now see, this makes sense. And just like language, we can only use the words

musical ideas or the patterns that we already know. Think about it. We all improvise every day when we interact with people. What we say, how we say it, when we say it. But we do this using words that we already know. We never use words we do not know. Right? And in music, we never play. I mean, that's impossible.

to use words that we do not know. And in music, we never play patterns or words that we do not know. I've said it many times over the years in many podcast episodes that your hands and ears can never go where they've never been before. It's simply impossible. So what we have to really focus on is what is the framework that we need to

operate within and how do we operate within that framework in such a way that we develop vocabulary, we develop words that we can use over and over and over again. Okay, so a framework, right? Like, for instance, the chord changes of a tune like Blue Bossa, like we've been studying all month. Our job as improvisers, we invent new melodic lines within

that framework that fit that represent the chords harmony in that framework. The tools that we use to invent within that framework chords, the harmony, the tools, arpeggios, core tones, the scales, tension tones, and of course, rhythm. It's like having a conversation jazz improvisation is like having a conversation.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:46.74)
The chords are the topic and our solo improvisation is our personal response to the topic. So if I had to identify the core elements of improvisation, number one, I'd begin with structure, our awareness of the framework, key, form, harmony, harmonic motion, phrases, targets, and so on. All the things that we study with our monthly harmonic and melodic analysis.

I would have vocabulary as another core element of improvisation, patterns, arpeggios, scales, phrases that we've practiced that have become muscle and oral memory. And then finally, another core element would be spontaneity, deciding in the moment what patterns, what arpeggios, what scales, what phrases to use. Structure, vocabulary, spontaneity.

Again, things we discuss and explore every week, every month here at Jazz Piano Skills. So all of this sounds really good, right? I I love it. It makes sense to me. It's liberating to know that improvisation is not some abstract concept that I have to figure out.

or decode and the odds of me doing so are greater than the odds of me winning the lottery. Now that's not liberating. But there is still this looming concern that we all have to confront. A question that needs to be answered. And in fact, it is the question of all questions.

It is without question the most important question. So I'm sure you want to ask me the question, and you want me to answer the question, what is the question?

Dr. Bob Lawrence (17:00.562)
Well, let me tell you, the most important question of all questions is this. How do I practice improvisation? How do I practice improvisation? Like all skills in the study of jazz, the questions that all educators should

be required to answer is, how do you practice the skill? Educators are great. Today, man, we are great at telling you what you should practice. And we fall incredibly short at being able to successfully communicate how to practice it. You know, it's, it's been my frustration since I started studying jazz in ninth

1974. 1974.

I was one. Just kidding. Anyway, it's been seriously my number one frustration since I started studying jazz. Every time I would corner a jazz musician or teacher educator and ask the very direct question, how do I practice this skill? I would always get a song and dance.

and rarely if ever a direct answer. Frustrating? Well today, today is all about providing you with a very direct answer as to how to practice improvisation, how to begin developing improvisation skills, how to learn, how to improvise.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (19:04.394)
how to gain a mastery of harmony. So today's educational agenda is as follows. Number one, we are going to systematically explore harmony. Number two, we are going to gain a micro understanding of harmonic structures so we can play, we can improvise,

using a macro approach. And number three, we are going to establish and solidify an improvisation development process that can and should be applied to the 60 songs of music. So if you are a Jazz Panel Skills member, I want you to take a few minutes right now, hit the pause button.

I want you to download and print your podcast packets. Again, the illustrations, the lead sheets, the play alongs, and again, your membership grants you access to this material. And I want it in your hands as you listen to the podcast to get the most out of it. And of course, as I mentioned earlier, you should have these podcast packet materials sitting on your piano or music stand at home when practicing. Okay.

So now that you have your podcast packets, I want you as always to grab your lead sheets and you should have five lead sheets in your packet. Let's just walk through them really quick. Quickly. Number one, the lead sheet one, C major song. 16 harmonic and melodic shapes are laid out for you. Lead sheet two, C dominant song.

again 16 harmonic melodic shapes. Lead sheet 3, C minor song, 16 harmonic melodic shapes. Lead sheet 4, the C half diminished song, 16 harmonic melodic shapes. And lead sheet 5, the C diminished song, 16 harmonic and melodic shapes. The illustrations, I will talk about the illustrations.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (21:29.97)
little later on in the podcast episode as well as the play alongs or the backing tracks to use. All right, so we got a lot to get done today. And typically, you know, in a normal podcast, we use at this time, I always mentioned to everybody about checking out the listening list within our community online community. And again, I do want to take the time to let you know that Lisa has put together another fabulous listening list for us.

regarding Blue Bossa since that has been the study, the tune that we've been studying this month. But Lisa's also took the time and effort to actually post some nice recordings. You all of us last week in the masterclass, several of us were mentioning the jazz pianists that are our role models or our idols, folks that we are aspiring to play like. And Lisa picked up on that.

and actually took some of those names and put some recordings in our listening list for us to enjoy as well. So it is definitely a fantastic list as always. So be sure to take the time to check that out. You will be super glad that you did. Okay, so I want you to grab a lead sheet three. Lead sheet three presents the C minor song and 16 harmonic melodic shapes.

that we are going to use when exploring the C minor song today. So I want to start there. Okay, so let's get the C minor song in front of us. And here we go.

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