Sunny, Harmonic Analysis

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:32.716)
Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Well, I hope everyone's doing well. Before we get started, a quick reminder about how our weekly Jazz Piano Skills podcast works. Every episode is presented in two parts. The first portion is our free educational discussion available for everyone to enjoy. The second portion is for members only. This is the piano lesson where we head to the piano, open up our Podcast Packets, and physically develop the musical skill we're discussing. So whether you're joining me as a guest or you're a Jazz Piano Skills member, I just want you to know exactly what to expect as we move through today's episode. All right, before we begin, I want you to remember something that's very important. Jazz piano skills is designed for real life. You don't have to keep up. You just have to keep growing. Each month we explore the same essential Jazz Piano Skills through a different jazz standard. So study at your own pace, focus on the skills you need most, spend more time where you need more time, and never worry about somehow falling behind because. you're never falling behind. You're you're developing musicianship and that happens one skill, one tune, one discovery at a time. As I say, the standards change, the skills continue to develop. Okay. All right. So with that being said, it's a new month. It's a new tune. A brand new educational cycle. And this month we're going to do something a little different. Throughout October, we're going to spend some time With Bobby Hebb's classic composition, Sunny. Yes, you heard that correctly. Sunny is an interesting choice, no doubt about it, for Jazz Piano Skills. It's not a tune that we typically associate with the Great American Songbook. In fact, most people probably wouldn't even think of Sunny as a jazz standard. And yet, great jazz musicians have been playing and recording this tune for decades, which

Dr. Bob Lawrence (03:01.494)
Raises a pretty interesting question. Why? What is it about this seemingly simple song that jazz musicians find so attractive? What's happening harmonically? What's happening melodically? What possibilities does the tune provide for improvisation? And what happens when we take this popular song and begin approaching it through the ears and the hands and musical imagination of a jazz musician? Well, That's exactly what we're going to find out. Over the next four weeks, we're going to take Sunny apart and of course put it back together. And discover exactly why this tune has remained such an attractive musical playground for jazz musicians. We'll begin today with harmonic analysis, then we'll move into melodic analysis next week, followed by improvisation and of course finally solo piano. And as always. Our objective is not simply to learn another tune. The tune is our musical laboratory. It's where we develop the harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and physical skills that ultimately allow us to become increasingly confident, increasingly creative, and most importantly, increasingly independent musicians. So Bobby Hebb's Sunny, Four Weeks, Four Musical Perspectives. And I have a funny feeling, it's just a funny feeling. We're going to discover that there's a whole lot more going on with this tune than initially meets the ear. So today we are going to discover what makes the harmony of Bobby Hebb's Sunny so interesting. And begin uncovering why this simple, popular song has attracted jazz musicians for decades. We're going to learn how to analyze the harmonic structure of Sunny, identifying the key, form, harmonic function, common harmonic motion, and the relationships that give the chord progression its musical direction. And of course, we're going to play Sunny using traditional and contemporary voicings to physically develop the harmony, hear the movement of the harmony, and confidently navigate the chord changes.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:27.7)
At the piano. How much fun is this going to be? So, regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, a beginner, an intermediate player, an advanced player, or a seasoned professional, you're going to find today's lesson and exploration of Bobby Hebb's Sunny to be extremely beneficial. You know, there's an analogy we use in jazz education all the time. We say jazz is a language. I've always thought that's a pretty good analogy. But if we're going to say that jazz is a language, then I think we have to be willing to follow that analogy all the way through. Because when we do, it raises some pretty interesting questions about how we actually learn jazz. For example, We frequently tell students, listen to the masters, study the masters, transcribe the masters, and of course imitate the masters. And to that I say, absolutely, I'm all for it. But I've got a question. When we tell a student, imitate the masters, imitate what? I'm being serious. What exactly are we asking? students to imitate. The notes, the phrases, the articulation, rhythm, time, feel, dynamics, melodic contour, harmonic relationships, space, a technical facility, the entire solo. Right? The list goes on. It's a whole lot of very different things. And they represent some very different educational Objectives. Now, if jazz really is a language, perhaps language itself can help us sort this out. Think about how we learn to speak. We absolutely imitate. We hear words and we repeat them. We hear phrases and we try them ourselves. And here's something incredibly important. You cannot use vocabulary you've never acquired.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:55.458)
You can't wake up tomorrow and suddenly begin using words you've never heard, never learned, and never spoken. And music works the same way. I say this to students all the time: your hands and your ears cannot go where they've never been. If your ears have never learned to recognize a particular musical sound, and your hands have never physically experienced producing that sound, then you know what? There's a pretty good chance it's not. Suddenly going to appear in the middle of your improvisation. So, yes, we need vocabulary, we need to hear it, we need to recognize it, we need to physically experience it, and we need to use it again and again and again. But here's where the language analogy gets really interesting. Because learning vocabulary is not the same thing as memorizing speeches. Think about that. When we learn to speak, we don't select a great speaker, memorize everything that person has ever said, imitate their voice, their inflection, their cadence, their delivery, and then conclude there, I've learned the language. We would find that, actually we would find that strange. You know, I can admire great speakers, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Shakespeare. I can study how they use language. I can learn from their vocabulary, their structure, their phrasing, their rhythm, their ability to communicate an idea. But my goal is not to walk around sounding like them. Why? Because language is ultimately personal. I use a shared vocabulary, shared grammatical structures, shared patterns. And somehow, through those shared materials, I express me. And there's another interesting characteristic of language that we don't talk about nearly enough. Language is incredibly patterned.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:14.392)
We use the same sentence structures, the same grammatical relationships, the same familiar phrases over and over and over again. In fact, I would suggest that most of us we probably use far less vocabulary than we imagine. Think about your conversations today. How many words did you use that you've already used thousands of times? How many sentence patterns did you construct that you've constructed thousands of times? Probably most of them. And yet somehow you were still able to communicate something meaningful. You told somebody what you thought. You asked a question, you explained an idea. You made somebody laugh. You expressed concern. You told a story. Maybe you even taught somebody something. And nobody stopped you and said, hey, wait a minute. Hold up, hold up, hold up. You used that word yesterday, right? How crazy does that sound? We don't demand new vocabulary every time we open our mouths. We develop command of vocabulary we already possess and use familiar patterns in different combinations for different situations to communicate different ideas. So if jazz, if jazz really is a language, why would music, why would jazz be any different? Maybe we don't need an endless collection of musical vocabulary. Maybe we need greater command of the vocabulary that we already possess. Maybe the question isn't how many licks do I know? Maybe the question is what can I do with the musical vocabulary I already have? Can I hear it? Can I sing it? Can I find it? Can I play it? Can I move it around? Can I change its direction? Can I change its rhythm? Can I place it over different harmony? Can I decorate it? Hey, how about this? Can I simplify it? Can I combine it with other familiar ideas? Can I use it to make a musical decision of my own? Now that sounds that sounds a whole lot more like language to me. And interestingly enough,

Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:41.654)
I can't think of a better tune to begin exploring this idea than the tune we've selected for this month, Sunny. Think about this. Sunny has been attractive to musicians, including great jazz musicians for decades. And yet harmonically, it's relatively simple. And melodically, wow, calling it simple melodically may be one of the greatest understatements of all time. The melody of Sunny is essentially built from one pentatonic pattern, one. And musicians have been making music with this tune for decades. So what does that tell us? Maybe musical simplicity isn't something we need to escape. Maybe simplicity creates space. Space for rhythmic interpretation, space for harmonic interpretation, space for melodic development, space for improvisation, space for interaction, space for creativity. It's a whole lot of space. And most importantly, space for personal expression. In other words, perhaps musicians aren't attracted to Sunny despite its simplicity. Perhaps they're attracted to it because of its simplicity. Because when the musical material isn't doing all the talking, there's room for the musician, for you, for me, to say something. That's that's a pretty powerful thought. And it takes us right back to imitation. Should we imitate the masters? Absolutely. Listen to them, study them, sing their phrases, transcribe them, play along with them, learn from them for the rest of our musical life. No doubt about it. But ask the question, imitate what? Don't simply collect somebody else's musical sentences. Discover the vocabulary, discover the patterns, discover the relationships, discover the musical processes. That are evident in what they play. Then develop those things with your ears, with your hands, experiment with them, move them around, combine them, make decisions with them. Because the goal isn't to eventually stop imitating. The goal is to no longer be dependent upon imitation in order to make music. And perhaps that's what that wonderful progression.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:13.632)
Imitate, assimilate, innovate is really asking us to do. Imitate gives us evidence, assimilation develops understanding and command, and innovation allows us to begin making our own musical decisions. So if we're going to say jazz is a language, I'm all for it. But let's follow that analogy all the way through because we don't learn language so that we can spend our lives repeating what somebody else has already said. We acquire vocabulary, we develop command of patterns, we listen, we imitate, we experiment, we communicate, and eventually using materials that millions of other people also possess, we discover a way to say something personal. And maybe that's one of the reasons a seemingly simple tune built from relatively simple harmony and essentially one pentatonic melodic pattern. Has fascinated musicians for decades. Because Sunny doesn't tell us everything we should say. It gives us enough to begin a conversation. And then leaves room for us to be creative, to speak. And that is exactly what we're going to begin discovering today. Okay, before we move on, I want to take just a moment to reflect on the man behind the tune we're studying this month, Bobby Heb. I did a little research, because I think a lot of people don't know a whole lot about Mr. Hebb. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, back in 1938, into a musical family, began performing professionally when he was a child. And here's something that you might not expect. As a young musician, Heb performed with country music legend Roy Acuff and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. So long before we knew him for Sunny, Bobby Hebb was already a musician. Whose musical world crossed stylistic boundaries country, R&B, soul, jazz, pop music. And then in 1963, Heb experienced an extraordinarily difficult period in his life. That was at the time John F. Kennedy was assassinated. and then the following day after Kennedy's assassination, Hebb's own brother, older brother, Harold, was killed in Nashville. Now, the story of exactly how those events

Dr. Bob Lawrence (17:42.476)
relate to the writing of Sunny has become somewhat simplified over the years, but Hebb did speak about choosing to look toward the brighter side of life. And I think that's worth remembering when we hear this tune, because in 1966 Sunny became a huge, huge hit. And then became something even more remarkable. A song musicians refused to leave alone for decades. Artists from virtually every musical world have continued interpreting and reinterpreting Sunny. And perhaps that's the most interesting historical fact for us. A remarkably simple song written by a musician whose own musical life crossed boundaries became a song that crossed boundaries too. And more than sixty-plus years later. We're still asking, what is it about Sunny that keeps musicians coming back? Well, that's exactly what we're here to discover. All right, so before we begin our harmonic exploration of Sunny, let's take a moment, as we always do, to revisit our seven musical facts. Now, these seven musical facts, as I have stressed week after week, These seven musical facts remain constant. Regardless of the tune that we're studying, regardless of the style that we're playing, regardless of the musical skill we're developing, these facts remain constant. And here they are. Fact number one: music is the production of sound and silence. And of course, sound being our primary sounds: major, dominant, minor, half-diminished, diminished. Fact number two, sound is produced harmonically and melodically. Musical fact number three, when sound is produced harmonically, we're playing chords, or what we often refer to as voicings. Musical fact number four, when sound is produced melodically, we're playing arpeggios and scales. Musical fact number five, harmony, melody, have motion. Circle motion, diatonic motion, chromatic motion, ascending and descending. Musical fact number six, that motion or movement.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:06.858)
is decorated with tension or what we refer to as chromaticism. And then finally fact musical fact number seven, to make facts one through six interesting, we add rhythm. As I like to say, rhythm gives everything life. Now, because today we're beginning our study of Sunny with harmonic analysis, there are a couple of these facts that I want us to keep especially close at hand. First, fact number three. Harmonic sounds equal chords, voicings. Now notice we're not simply interested in identifying chord symbols when we do our harmonic analysis. Knowing the names of the chords, of course, important. But chord identification is not the same thing as harmonic analysis. We want to understand how those chords are related. What function are they serving? Where are they going? What kind of motion connects one chord to the next chord, right? Which brings us directly to fact number five. Harmony and melody have motion. And this is especially important with Sunny. At first glance, the harmony may appear relatively simple, and it is, but simple does not mean musically insignificant. Actually, quite the opposite. What makes these chord changes interesting isn't simply what the chords are, it's how they move. And that's precisely what harmonic analysis helps us begin to recognize. We want to do we want to develop the ability, as I like to say, to see changes, think function, and also see function, think changes. Because when we begin recognizing harmonic function and motion, we're no longer looking at a collection of isolated chord symbols. We're beginning to see musical relationships. And those relationships are transferable. We'll encounter them again in another key, another progression, another tune, another musical situation. And there's one more fact worth keeping in mind today, fact number six: movement is decorated with tension or what we call chromaticism. Because as we work through the harmony of Sunny, we're going to discover that even within relatively simple harmonic material, there are moments of tension, color, and movement. So today don't.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (22:27.458)
Don't simply ask what chord is this. Ask what is this chord doing? Where did it come from? Where is it going? How is it related to the harmony around it? Because that's when chord identification becomes harmonic understanding. And that's exactly where we want to go today with Sunny. Okay, so before I go any further, I want to take just a moment to welcome all first-time listeners to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm delighted you've decided to spend some time with me today. The mission here at Jazz Piano Skills is simple. I want to help you develop the musical understanding, physical skills, and confidence needed to become an increasingly independent jazz pianist. And if you're looking for something more substantial than content from a content creator, you've come to the right place because Jazz Piano Skills is not simply about watching another video or learning another lick or Collecting more musical information. It's a weekly educational process. Every week begins right here with the Jazz Piano Skills Podcast, where we explore the harmonic, melodic, improvisational, and solo piano skills found within the month's jazz standard. From there, members work with the Podcast Packet. These are the educational illustrations, the Lead Sheets, the Play-Alongs. That are designed to move the concepts presented in the podcast from understanding to application. Then on Thursday evening, guess what? We all get together for the weekly Masterclass where we address questions, clarify concepts, demonstrate ideas at the piano, and explore the practical application of the week's study. And remember, every Masterclass is recorded, so if you can't attend live sessions, you can watch the video at your convenience and as often as you like. Then on Sunday, we publish our weekly podcast blog recap, which is a written review of the week's lesson designed to reinforce the essential concepts we've studied and provide yet another path toward understanding. And throughout the entire week, our Jazz Piano Skills community provides a place for members to interact, listen, share discoveries, and ask questions and continue the learning process. And finally, when questions arise, you have access to

Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:48.408)
direct educational support with me. And so you're never left wondering what to do next or how to work through something you're struggling with. You can reach out, ask questions, and receive guidance as you're as you work your way through the curriculum. So podcast, Podcast Packet, master class, blog recap, community, along with Lisa's listening list, support. That's the Jazz Piano Skills Weekly Study. And that's what I mean when I say Jazz Piano Skills offers something more substantial than content from a content creator. It's a structured educational process designed to help you move from information to understanding to physical development and ultimately musical independence. So again, regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, a beginner, an intermediate player, advanced player, I'm I'm delighted that you are here today, and I hope. That Jazz Piano Skills becomes a valuable part of your musical life. Okay, so let's take a look at this week's question of the week, which comes from David Mitchell living in Denver, Denver, Colorado. And David writes: Dr. Lawrence, I know you've addressed this before, but I'm still a little confused about the proper way to analyze the chord progressions of a tune. I was taught that when doing a harmonic analysis, I should identify the various key centers within the tune. And then once those key centers have been identified, determine the appropriate scales to use with each progression when it comes time to improvise. I've noticed that when you teach harmonic analysis, you don't spend much time discussing which scales go with the various chord progressions. Instead, you seem Much more concerned with how the harmony is moving. Why don't you include chord scale relationships as part of your harmonic analysis? I'm sorry for asking you to rehash something you've addressed before, but I want but I want to make sure I'm approaching harmonic analysis correctly. Thanks. All right. Well, David, first of all, never apologize for asking a question again.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:12.36)
If something remains unclear, then it's worth revisiting. And secondly, you're absolutely correct. When I teach harmonic analysis, my primary concern is not chord scale relationships. My primary concern is harmonic movement. And the reason is very simple. Those are two different musical skills. Now, are chord scale relationships important? Of course they are. Absolutely. Do we need to understand what scales and melodic resources are available when we begin developing improvisational ideas? Absolutely. No doubt about it. But that's not the question I'm trying to answer when I'm doing harmonic analysis. When I analyze harmony, I want to know where are we? What is the key? What is the form? what harmonic functions are present? How are the chords related to one another? What common harmonic movements are taking place? is the harmony creating tension? And if so, where? Where is it resolving? And perhaps most importantly, where is the harmony going? Right? That's that to me, that's harmonic analysis. I'm trying to understand the movement and relationships within the harmony. Now, chord scale analysis, chord scale relationships, ask a different question. It asks, given this chord or given this harmonic move environment, w what melodic material is available to me? What scale might I use? What chord tones? what tensions are available, what melodic possibilities exist. All important questions, but those are very different questions. And David, you're certainly not alone in being confused about this because these two areas of study are frequent frequently taught at the same time. We identify a two five one progression and immediately begin assigning Dorian, Mixolydian, Ionian. Or whatever chord scale relationships are appropriate. And before long, the student, you, right, begins believing that the purpose of harmonic analysis is to figure out what scale to play. But I want you to understand the harmony before we ask you to create melody over it.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:32.578)
Think about it this way. If I show you a chord progression, I don't want your first thought to be what scale goes with this chord. I want your first thought to be, what is this harmony doing? Where did it come from? Where is it going? What function does it serve? what relationship does it have to the chord surrounding it? That's why you've heard me say repeatedly see changes, think function, see function, think changes. We are developing the ability to recognize harmonic relationships. Then when we eventually turn our attention toward improvisation, we can begin asking melodic questions within a harmonic environment that we already understand. Right? That's so important. And I think that's that's that's an important educational sequence. Understand the environment first, then learn how to move melodically within that environment. So David, you are not you are not approaching harmonic analysis incorrectly simply because you're not assigning a scale to every chord. In fact, during our harmonic analysis, I would encourage you to temporarily leave the scales alone, focus on key, form, function, motion, tension, resolution, relationships, and ask yourself, what is the harmony doing? Later, when it's time to develop melody and improvisation, we'll ask, What can I do with in the harmony? Two questions, two skills, both important, but they do not have to be mushed together in order in order to be understood. So great question, David. I appreciate it. If further clarification is needed, by all means, please let me know. Feel free to reach out to me. I'm happy to spend some time with you and dig a little deeper t if necessary to help. Okay. All right. So now that we've established what we mean by harmonic analysis, let's talk about what we're going to accomplish at the piano today. As always.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (31:46.594)
We're going to work through our five-step harmonic analysis process. And we're going to apply each step, of course, to Sunny. So, step one, we're going to identify the standard key and form of the tune. Before we start worrying about individual chords, we need to understand the musical landscape we're working within. Where are we and how is the tune organized? Then, step two, we're going to identify the unique chord changes found throughout Sunny. In other words, rather than simply looking at a chord at chord symbols measure by measure, we're going to determine exactly how much harmonic vocabulary this tune actually contains. And I think you're gonna find that very interesting. Then step three, we're going to identify the harmonic function of those chords. This is where we begin moving beyond chord identification and toward harmonic understanding. Remember, again, see changes, think function; see function, think changes. I want those relationships becoming increasingly automatic every time you look at a Lead Sheet. Then step four, we're going to identify common harmonic motion found throughout Sunny. And then finally, step five, we're going to take the harmony to the piano and physically develop it using several different voicing approaches. We'll work with traditional block voicings and inversions. We will work with traditional and contemporary shell voicings, and then of course we will look at two-handed voicing structures as well. Because as important as it is to understand harmony conceptually, eventually, right, our hands have to know it too. So our process today is very straightforward, key in form, unique chord changes, harmonic function, common harmonic motion, and then of course voicings. Five steps, one tune, and by the time we're finished, I don't simply want you to be able to tell me what the chords are in Sunny. I want you to begin seeing how the harmony works because remember we're not analyzing Sunny simply so that we can play Sunny. That's nice, but we're developing a process that you can eventually take to any tune you encounter. And that is our educational agenda for today.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (34:13.227)
All right, so before we head to the piano, I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone joining me today for the free portion of our Jazz Piano Skills podcast. I appreciate you spending some time with me. And I hope today's discussion has helped bring a little more clarity to the study of jazz piano, to the study of jazz, to harmonic analysis and what it is designed to accomplish, and perhaps most importantly, how to begin thinking about harmony as movement rather than just Simply a collection of chord symbols. If you're a Jazz Piano Skills member, stick around. We're about to head to the piano. Grab your Podcast Packets, have those ready to go. We're going to begin working through our harmonic analysis of Bobby Hebb's Sunny. If you're not a member, this is where we say goodbye for today. And again, thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. And I hope you'll join me, join us again next week as we continue our. October Exploration of Sunny. Until then, continue to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. All right, members, grab your Podcast Packet and let's head to the piano.