I've Got the World on a String, Solo Piano

Introduction & Week Four Overview

Dr. Bob Lawrence 0:32

Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Week four of the month. Hard to believe. But here we are once again, week four. And as we all know, week four of every month is when we dedicate ourselves to developing our solo jazz piano skills. Week one always begins with a harmonic analysis of a tune, followed in week two with a melodic analysis. Week three focuses on improvisation development. And now, here, week four, we bring everything together through solo piano application. Our harmonic analysis of I Got the World on a String, explored the form, chord changes, harmonic function, common harmonic movement, and of course, yes, our voicings. Our melodic analysis focused on melody, fingerings, phrases, target notes within the phrases, and a variety of melodic treatments. And last week, our improvisation development study focused on melodic movement through harmonic shapes using various upbeat and downbeat combinations to create essential rhythmic jazz vocabulary. And today, our goal is to bring it all together, bring all of these skills together to begin developing practical solo jazz piano approaches. Because solo piano playing requires us to organize harmony, melody, and rhythm simultaneously. In other words, solo piano is organized independence, the left hand must function independently, the right hand must function independently, and rhythm must remain stable throughout in both hands. Which means solo piano, well, solo piano is the ultimate test of musical organization. So today we are going to explore four different solo piano approaches. What I like to call the foundational approach, voicings and melody, the strum approach, which is kind of like a Freddie Green, count bassy Freddie Green style of playing, and then a stride approach with walking tense. And we will look at a walking bass line approach where we place a bass line, moving bass line beneath the melody. So wow,

Why Solo Piano Feels Overwhelming

Dr. Bob Lawrence 3:14

no doubt about it, right? Our structured and sequential approach to studying tunes is pretty thorough. It's practical and incredibly beneficial for developing essential jazz piano skills. You know, one of the biggest frustrations that jazz pianists, jazz piano students experience is trying to develop a solo piano approach. And honestly, I I get it. I understand why. Because solo piano playing can feel very overwhelming because suddenly, as I just mentioned, suddenly you are now responsible for everything: harmony, melody, improvisation, rhythm, time, feel, motion, direction, all of it. It's a lot. And and this is where many folks struggle. Many players struggle because they attempt to develop solo piano skills. Listen to this, this is very important. They attempt to develop solo piano skills before foundational musical skills are in place, before foundational musical skills are organized. In other words, if if harmony is foggy, if harmony is unclear, then solo piano is going to be foggy and unclear. And if melodic motion is weak, well then solo piano playing is going to feel there's going to be a disconnectiveness to it. I don't know if that's a word. Disconnect it's solo piano is going to feel disconnected. And if rhythm is unstable or absence, absent, then everything collapses. Which is exactly why our monthly jazz piano skills approach is structured exactly like it is. It's structured sequentially. Harmony first, melody second, improvisation third, and then solo piano fourth. Because solo piano is not a separate musical skill. It's important to know that and realize that, understand that. Instead, it is the organization of all musical skills happening simultaneously. And this is the key. Solo piano is not about um complexity, it is about uh organization. Most students think that they need bigger chords, faster lines, more sophisticated reharmonizations. I get it, because that's what we hear all the time, right? But but that's not true. Right? We don't need bigger chords, we don't need faster lines, we don't need more sophisticated reharmonizations or advanced techniques. Right? But the reality is if you can play, if you can play solid harmonic shapes, clear melodic shapes, stable rhythmic shapes in time, if you can play those three harmony, melody, rhythm, in time, guess what? You are already playing solo piano. I'm gonna demonstrate that here a little later. Everything after that, quite honestly, everything after that is enhancement. Everything after harmonic shapes, melodic shapes, rhythmic shapes is enhancement, color, texture, sophistication, personality. All enhancement. But the foundation is always the same. Harmony organizes sound, melody organizes motion, rhythm organizes time. Think about that. I'm gonna say it again. Harmony organizes sound, melody organizes motion, rhythm organizes time. And solo piano demands that all three function together, which means solo piano is organized independence. That's what I mean by that when I make that statement. The left hand must function independently, the right hand must function independently, and rhythm must remain in both throughout. So today we are going to simplify the process of developing solo piano skills. We are going to explore very practical approaches, sequential approaches, musical approaches that allow you to bring harmony, melody, improvisation, rhythm together naturally. Because the goal is not to make solo piano complicated, right? The goal is to make solo piano playing, the goal is to make music organized

The Seven Facts of Music

Dr. Bob Lawrence 8:41

conceptually and physically. And here at Jazz Piano Skills, we have a way of doing that, right? We have a way of organizing our musical thoughts conceptually and physically. We all know what what we use to do that. Yeah, of course. I'm talking about the seven facts of music. So I want to ground today's lesson and what I believe should, as I have mentioned many times, should govern everything we do when studying, when practicing, and playing music. The seven facts of music. The truths simplify music and organize your thinking. Because without organization, music, as I'm sure some of you can attest to, without organization, music feels overwhelming. Especially when we're talking about solo piano skills. But when m musical truth becomes clear, everything starts connecting and physical development begins occurring. So let's review these seven facts of music. Number one, music is the production of sound and silence. And of course, when I'm speaking of sound, I'm speaking of our primary sounds major, dominant, minor, half diminished and diminished. Fact number two. Harmonic sound equals chords and voicings. These are shapes. Chords and voicings, harmonic sounds. Fact number three, melodic sound equals scales and arpeggials. Again, melodic shapes. Okay. Fact number four, harmonic sound moves in one of three types of motion. We're either moving in circle motion, chromatic motion, or diatonic motion. Fact number five, melodic sound moves in one of two directions, up or down. Right? Seems kind of obvious. And then fact number six, we decorate melodic music, melodic movement, we decorate melodic movement using tension or chromaticism. And fact number seven, to make all of this interesting, facts one through six, to make all of it interesting, and to give it life, we add rhythm. Now, think about what I just said. These seven truths, seven facts, organize all music. Again, harmony organizes sound, melody organizes motion, rhythm organizes time. And solo piano, again, requires us to organize all three simultaneously, which is exactly why solo piano can feel difficult if your thinking is unclear, if your thinking isn't aligned with the seven facts of music. But when harmony, melody, and rhythm are organized mentally, conceptually, then of course they become organized physically at the keyboard. I've said it many times. Conceptual understanding drives physical development. So today, as we explore various solo piano approaches, I want you to constantly be thinking about harmonic shapes, melodic shapes, rhythmic shapes, all organized into musical phrases. So today

Solo Piano Development Overview

Dr. Bob Lawrence 12:52

we tackle solo piano development. Today we are going to discover how solo piano playing is the organization of harmony, melody, improvisation, and rhythm functioning simultaneously. We are going to learn why solo piano approaches are developed sequentially, beginning with simple organizational structures that gradually evolve into greater independence and movement and rhythmic sophistication. And we are going to play four distinct solo piano approaches applied to I've got the world on a string. We're going to be looking at what I call the foundational approach, voicings and melody, the strum approach, the Freddie Green style, the stride approach, involving walking tense, and then the bass approach, which uh involves walking bass lines beneath the melody. So, as I always like to say, regardless of where you are on your jazz journey, whether you are a beginner, an intermediate player, 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've got the world on a string, solo piano approaches, to be very beneficial. But before we get started, I want to take just a moment, as I always do, to welcome all of you first-time listeners to the Jazz Pianel Skills Podcast. If you are indeed new to the Jazz Panel Skills Podcast, you're new to Jazz Piano Skills, well, welcome. I'm very glad that you're here, and I want to encourage you to explore Becoming a Jazz Pianel Skills member, because everything we discuss here at Jazz Pianel Skills, the structure, the clarity, the organization, is fully supported inside the Jazz Pianel Skills membership. As a member, you'll have access to the complete weekly podcast episode, including all the demonstrations and lesson content. You'll also have access to the downloadable educational podcast packets. These are the illustrations, the lead sheets, and the play-alongs that I develop for every weekly podcast episode. You also have access as a member to a sequential library of courses online designed to be

Welcome & Jazz Piano Skills Membership

Dr. Bob Lawrence 15:20

really practical, organized, and sound based. You will also have, as I like to say, a reserved seat in the weekly online masterclass that I host every Thursday evening, 8 p.m. Central Time. If you can't make the class, it's no big deal. The classes are recorded and you can watch the video archives at your convenience and as often as you wish. As a jazz panel skills member, you also have access to the private online jazz panel skills community for discussion, questions, and of course support. And finally, as a jazz panel skills member, you have direct access to me whenever you need guidance. Everything at Jazz Pianel Skills is designed with one goal in mind to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano in a very clear, very structured and meaningful way. Now you can learn more about the Jazz Pianel Skills membership at jazzpianelskills.com. And once you get to the site, if you have any questions, please let me know. Happy to spend some time with you and answer any questions that you may have. And if you are not already receiving the weekly Jazz Pianel Skills blog, I encourage you to join the email list, which you can do at the home page of Jazz Pianel Skills. Every weekend I publish a written recap of the week's lesson designed to reinforce what we're learning, to help us stay organized and to keep us moving forward, to keep you moving forward with your musical development. So, with all of that being said, I think it's time to move on to the question of the week. This week's question comes from Karen Crone. Karen Crohn, living in Phoenix, Arizona. And Karen asks, Dr. Bob, I love solo jazz piano. I do too. But when I try to play solo piano myself, I quickly feel overwhelmed. How should I begin developing solo jazz piano skills? What are some practical steps that I can begin using? Well, uh, Karen, your question obviously was picked for this week because it fits this episode like a glove. It's perfect timing. It's a fantastic question, and honestly, as I just mentioned earlier, this is exactly

Listener Question: Beginning Solo Jazz Piano

Dr. Bob Lawrence 18:11

where most jazz piano students struggle. Because again, solo piano playing looks and feels incredibly complex. And in and in okay, and in many ways it is. I it is, but here's the important thing to understand solo piano becomes overwhelming when we try to do too much too soon. That's the key. When we try to do too much too soon. In other words, when we attempt to play sophisticated solo piano textures before the foundational skills are stabled and organized, we're asking for trouble. But again, foundational skills must be established and you must gain a functional command of those skills before tackling solo piano. So let's uh let's simplify this the best we can, right? Let's simplify this. So solo piano begins with one very simple reality. One very simple question. Can you organize harmony, melody, and rhythm simultaneously? If the answer is no, well then we need to work on foundational skills. But if the answer is yes, right, but we're ready to tackle solo piano. But that's it, right? No flashy techniques, no giant chords, no advanced reharmonizations. It comes down to just organization of harmony, melody, and rhythm. Which is why I always tell students to begin with what I call the foundational approach. Left-hand voicings, right hand melody. Period. I mean, honestly, you can't if you can't do that, we do not need to move forward. Left-hand voicings, right hand melody. And and most importantly, to be able to play those left-hand voicings and the right hand melody in time. Again, because if you can't do that, you're not ready. But if you can do that, guess what? Here's the great news. If you can play left-hand voicings and melody in time, guess what? You're already playing solo piano. Congratulations. Because again, I mentioned earlier, everything after that, Karen, everything after that is enhancement. And this is where everyone gets confused because everyone thinks that solo piano begins with independence. But you know what? True independence is developed gradually, sequentially, and musically. And that's what we do here at Jazz Piano Skills. First, harmony must become stable. We start every month with harmonic analysis. Then melody must become fluid. Guess what we do? We follow up our harmonic analysis with a melodic analysis of the tune. Then improvisational movement must become organized rhythmically. Guess what follows our melodic analysis? Improvisation development. So only then, right, after harmony, after melody, after working on improvisational skills, only then do we begin layering or think about layering more sophisticated solo piano textures. Which is exactly why today's lesson, I'm presenting four solo piano approaches sequentially. Foundational strum stride bass. Each approach really builds upon the previous one. So Karen, here's what I want you to focus on this week. This goes for everyone, really. Stop trying to sound impressive when playing solo piano. And try instead to sound really organized. Instead focus on harmonic shapes, melodic shapes, rhythmic shape. Right? Those three organized into musical phrases. In fact, we're gonna break I've got the world on a string uh today into phrases and develop our solo piano skills based on the musical phrases of the tune. And most importantly, um uh uh Karen, when practicing your harmonic shapes, melodic shapes, rhythmic shapes, I've already mentioned this, most importantly, keep everything in time. Because at the end of the day, solo piano is not about complexity, it's just not. We think that, we get we're kind of led to believe that, but it's not. It's about really clarity of thought, organization uh organizational thought thought and musical control. And that development happens, that clarity, that organization, that musical control, that happens really one shape, one phrase, one rhythmic idea at a time. It's very intentional. And that's exactly what we're gonna do today. We're gonna be very, very intentional with our solo piano approaches and our application to of those approaches to I've got the world on a string. So, Karen, I hope that helps. I know you're a jazz piano skills member, so you're gonna love the rest of the lesson and the supporting materials. I think your your question will be even answered in a more profound way once you listen to the entire podcast episode and have an opportunity to review and study and practice and play uh the materials that are included in in your podcast packets. Okay, so before we dive in into today's lesson, I just want to quickly review um the rationale behind the Jazz Panel Skills Monthly tune study approach. When studying and learning any tune, I approach it the same way. And again, genre makes no difference. Jazz, rock, pop, country, folk, RB, the process. It is the process. First we listened, so important to listen. Various

Monthly Tune Study Process Review

Dr. Bob Lawrence 24:55

artists, professional, amateur, vocalist, instrumentalist, pianist, anyone performing the tune that we are studying, we should be open to listening to their rendition of the tune. And this is exactly why we have a fantastic listening list that is assembled every single week to go along with every weekly podcast episode. And those listening lists are uh housed in our jazz piano skills community in our forums. They are fantastic. So listening number one, always. Um then harmonic analysis, just like we do every month, harmonic analysis. We look at form, changes, harmonic function, movement, common harmonic movement, and voicings. Because again, harmony organizes sound, that's where we start. Next, melodic analysis. We always try to transcribe the melody to the best of our ability. We identify the phrases within those melodies, our entry points, destination points, the shapes of those phrases, the target notes within those phrases. And then we always look at various treatments. We tend to typically stick with the standard jazz treatments, a ballad, basa, and swing. And again, because melody organizes motion, so important. And then we we follow that all up with improvisation development. We we study core scale relationships, arpeggio and scale movement, we'll look at melodic motifs, melodic pathways, rhythmic placement, uh, phrase organization. Again, because why? Because rhythm organizes time. So we always begin with harmony, melody, well, we begin with listening, then harmony, melody, and then improvisation. And then finally, as we're going to do today, we'll take a look at solo piano application, bringing harmony, melody, improvisation, and rhythm together simultaneously, organized independently, yet functioning musically as one complete sound. That's the key. So again, our approach every single month with every tune that we tackle, pretty thorough, pretty complete approach, no doubt about it. So this month we've completed, obviously, we've already completed our harmonic analysis, our melodic analysis, our improvisation development. So today it's time to bring everything together through solo piano application for I've got the world on a string. So the educational agenda for today, then, is as follows. First, we're going to listen to several definitive recordings of I've Got the World on a String. Second, we are going to walk through the tune one melodic phrase at a time, exploring four different solo piano approaches. And we will begin with the foundational approach, followed by the strum approach, and then the stride approach, and then the bass approach. And as we move through each melodic phrase, we will gradually

Educational Agenda & Podcast Packets

Dr. Bob Lawrence 28:10

construct four complete solo piano renditions for I've got the world on a string, which means by the end of today's lesson, you will have four complete solo piano approaches to study, practice, analyze, and you know what, even develop further on your own. Now, if you are a jazz piano skills member, I want you to just take a few minutes right now, hit the pause button, and I want you to access and download, print your podcast packets. These are the illustrations, the lead sheets, and the play-alongs. Again, your membership grants you access to all of the educational materials developed for each weekly podcast episode. So you should have this material in your hands when listening to the episode to get the most out of it. And of course, sitting on your piano or your music stand at home when practicing. Okay, so now, now that you have your podcast packets, I want you to grab your lead sheets. And today you should have nine lead sheets in your podcast packet. Nine lead sheets. Now, we are going to use those nine lead sheets to organize our harmony, melody, improvisation, and rhythm into four complete solo piano performances of I've Got the World on a String. So let's dig in. Okay. Now, for those of you listening to the free portion of the podcast, this concludes today's episode. As always, I want you to continue to have fun as you continue to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Okay, so let's dig in. I want you to grab Lead She. Thank you for listening to Jazz Piano Skills. The remaining premium content of this episode

Premium Content Introduction

Dr. Bob Lawrence 30:02

is available to Jazz Piano Skills members at Jazz Piano Skills Podcast.com. Visit jazzpianoskills.com to learn more about membership privileges and become a Jazz Piano Skills member. Thank you.