Tangerine, Improvisation

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Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:32.578)
Welcome to Jazz Piano Skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn, and play jazz piano. Well, here we are. The end of the month. Again, they fly off the calendar. It's hard to believe we're embarking upon November and December. Ready or not, here come the holidays, right? So listen, I hope everyone enjoyed last week my interview with Lisa Deneau.

was fabulous. We took a break from our study of tangerine to spend some time with Lisa to get to know Lisa. And now you know, it's it's back to business as usual. You know, with every tune that we study at Jazz Piano Skills, we always do a harmonic analysis, melodic analysis, followed by improvisation development. Our harmonic analysis, right, we explores the form the changes.

harmonic function, common harmonic movement, and of course, the voicings. Our voicings always include our traditional block voicings and inversions. We take a look at the traditional left hand shell voicings, contemporary left hand shell voicings, and of course our two handed structures. Our melodic analysis always looks at the melody. We transcribe that melody, apply fingerings. We look at the phrases and the target notes within the phrases. And of course we apply various

treatments, typically the standard jazz treatments, a ballad, a bossa, and a swing. After we complete our harmonic analysis and melodic analysis, we always turn our attention to improvisation, which we are going to do today. And as with every improvisation study, it challenges our ability to successfully recognize and play various harmonic shapes in order to create melodic

ideas, improvisation. Our three week study of every tune that we dive into is pretty thorough. No doubt about it. Of course, our study and practice of essential jazz piano skills, as I stress every single week must be governed by a crystal clear thought process that simplifies music conceptually, so that we have a legitimate chance

Dr. Bob Lawrence (03:00.969)
of developing our physical skills. Right? If music is not conceptually easy, simplified, then we have no chance physically. Now we achieve this crystal clear thought process by making sure all that we do conceptually and physically plugs into adheres to the seven facts of music, my seven musical facts.

And what are the seven musical facts? Here we go. Say it with me. Number one, music is the production of sound and silence. Sound, of course, major, dominant, minor, half diminished, diminished. Fact number two, sound is produced harmonically and melodically. Fact number three, when sound is produced harmonically, we are playing chords or voicings, right?

Fact number four, when sound is produced melodically, we're playing arpeggios and we're playing scales. Fact number five, when playing arpeggios and scales, we're moving in one of two directions, up or down, that's it. Fact number six, we camouflage or we decorate these arpeggios and scales with tension, notes outside the harmony or chromaticism. And then finally, fact number seven, to make musical facts one through six,

interesting, we add rhythm. There you have it, the seven musical facts that must govern everything we do. And you'll see that today, especially today, with our study of improvisation using the standard tangerine. So today, we tackle improvisation development, we meet it head on, we're not afraid of it.

right? We're not afraid of it. So we're going to tackle it head on today and discover the 1941 standard tangerine improvisationally. We are going to learn check this out. We are going to learn how to create improvisation trees using core progressions, common core progressions found in tangerine. And we are going to play four common progressions that are that's that are found in tangerine.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:28.448)
for improvisation development using our improvisation trees. So as I always like to say, regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, 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 tangerine improvisationally, very beneficial.

But before we get started, before we jump in, I want to, as I always do, I want to welcome all of you first time listeners to Jazz Piano Skills. If you're new to the podcast, if you're new to Jazz Piano Skills, welcome. I want to invite you to become a Jazz Piano Skills member. Your membership comes with a ton of perks which will enhance your jazz journey. For example,

As a Jazz Panel Skills member, have access to premium podcast content, which basically means you get to listen to the entire episode. Now, the first half of every Jazz Panel Skills podcast is free for everyone to enjoy. I lay out the educational agenda, the lesson rationale, we deal with the question of the week. In the second half of the podcast episode for members only, the lesson content is presented

as well as the demonstrations, as well as explanation and exploration of the podcast packets, the illustrations, the lead sheets and the play alongs. These are the educational materials that I develop and produce for every weekly podcast episode that you certainly want to have in your hands when listening to the episode to get the most out of it. And you want to have this material sitting on your piano or your music stand.

when practicing throughout the week. As a Jazz Panel Skills member, you also have access to the online Jazz Panel Skills courses. These are comprehensive, interactive, self-paced, and sequential courses. As a Jazz Panel Skills member, you have a reserved seat, as I like to say, in the online masterclass, weekly online masterclass, that I host on Thursday evenings.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:50.963)
8pm central time and I realize many of you have let me know that 8pm is not the best time for everyone around the world. But that's okay. The master classes are recorded and you can watch and rewatch the master class, the video whenever convenient for you and as often as you wish. Additionally, as a Jazz Piano Skills member, you have access to the online private Jazz Piano Skills community.

which hosts a variety of forums. There are podcast specific forums and general jazz forums as well. We have a killer listening list that is put together every week. Lisa, who we introduced to the Jazz Panel Skills community last week with the interview, does a fabulous job at this. it is an incredible perk to have access to. And then finally, as a Jazz Panel Skills member,

you have access to educational support, private, personal, and professional support. So all of these amazing privileges are waiting to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano, or any jazz instrument for that matter. So check it all out at jazzpianoskills.com and become a member to enjoy all of the educational perks. And of course, once you get to the website, you're poking around. If you have some questions, by all means, please

Reach out to me, contact me. I'm happy to spend some time with you, answer any questions that you may have and help you in any way that I can. You know, 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 begin receiving rhythm challenges, melody challenges, harmony challenges throughout the weeks. There are jazz quick tip videos that I produce every week.

as well as a weekly reflection and projection, right reflection on the week past and a projection of the week ahead that you want to tap into every week as well. So again, make sure you take a second to subscribe to the Jazz Panel Skills YouTube channel so you do not miss a video when they are dropped. Okay, so let's get on to the question.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:16.645)
of the week. And this week's question comes from Marty Owens living in Steubenville, Ohio. Marty Owens. And Marty's question is perfect for today. It is perfect as a preface to our improvisation study. So Marty is wondering, how can I make improvisation sound more melodic and less

like running scales.

Well, Marty...

The simple and direct answer is stop running scales. If you want to make your solo sound less like running scales, stop running scales. Pretty deep. No, I'm not trying to be cute, really. And I'm not trying to be funny. I'm actually being very sincere and serious. Stop running scales.

If you're playing sounds like you are simply playing scales, then the following must be true. Number one, your scales must be void of any rhythmic variation and interest, which is fact number seven of my seven musical facts, right? Adding rhythm to make things interesting.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (11:51.507)
So if you're playing sounds like you're just writing scales, there must be, like I said, a void of any rhythmic variation. Number two, I would say that your scales are probably void of any arpeggio variation and interest, which happens to be fact number four of my seven musical facts. Melodies.

Right? Good melodies are balanced between arpeggio and scale motion. And then finally, Marty, I would just guess that your scales are void of any directional variation as well. Right? You're probably running a scale, you know, up the piano for too long or running the scale down the piano for too long. Right? There's

void of directional variation, which is fact number five of my seven musical facts, right? Melodies must move, there must be a balance of ascending and descending motion. So if your scales are out of balance, too much ascending movement or too much descending movement, well, of course, then it's going to sound like you're just simply running scales. So how do you incorporate

these elements into your improvisation? Well, the answer to that question, which is really the question, the answer to that question is, is pretty simple as well. It begins with intentional practice that actually incorporates these elements into your improvisation.

to say that again, it begins with intentional practice. It's intentional that you incorporate these elements into your improvisation. You intentionally practice, incorporate these musical facts, arpeggio and scale motion that ascends and descend using rhythmic motifs that are idiomatic to the jazz language. You have to intentionally practice that.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (14:18.763)
And guess what we are doing today in this podcast episode? We are going to do exactly that. We are going to construct what I call improvisation trees.

improvisation trees. Hey, I have to call him something. So I came up with improvisation trees. It's snappy. It's catchy.

think it I hope it catches on. I hope it becomes a iconic label in the jazz world. Improvisation trees and improvisation tree embodies the essential elements needed to successfully begin developing a jazz vocabulary needed for improvisation. So every improvisation tree

And we're going to construct four of them today. Every improvisation tree embodies the essential elements needed to successfully begin developing a jazz vocabulary, which is needed for improvising so that you actually avoid running scales. So Marty, what are the what are the elements? What are those essential elements that make up an improvisation tree?

Okay, well, here it is. We start with harmonic motion, a common progression, then we select a key, then we identify our melodic blocks. We then determine melodic direction. We then establish a rhythm map. And then we create a melodic idea improvisation.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (16:15.861)
So again, number one, choose harmonic motion. Two, select a key. Three, identify melodic blocks. Four, determine melodic direction. Five, establish a rhythm map. Six, create a melodic idea, improvisation. And if I was gonna throw number seven on there, it would be practice that melodic idea so that you develop

proper jazz articulation and feel so that it becomes muscle memory and part of your vocabulary. Okay, so see Marty, that is what I call intentional practice. You know the musical facts, the seven musical facts, and then you incorporate those musical facts into your practice routine to develop your musicianship that then directly

impacts the music you play. Playing a song only will not do the trick. You do not by playing a song, end up becoming aware of harmonic motion, key, melodic blocks, melodic direction, rhythmic map, melodic ideas. Right? Intentional practice does that. So yes,

make your improvisation not sound as if you are just running up and down scales, which is another way of saying not very musical, then you need to practice. You need a practice routine that intentionally practices the essential elements of good music, good improvisation. So I hope this helps Marty.

I know I know you are a Jazz Panel Skills member. you're you will have access to the entire podcast episode today, of course, and then all the educational podcast packets so that you'll find this to be very, very beneficial. And as I mentioned earlier, your question could not have come at a better time. Okay, so today, the good news is today you will break out of your running of scales rut.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (18:37.937)
and begin constructing improvisation trees that will begin to transform your playing will begin to transform your jazz sound.

All right. So with all that being said, let's discover learn and play jazz piano. Let's discover learn and play tangerine improvisationally. Okay, so before diving in, let's review our our outline, our agenda that we use every single month here at Jazz Piano Skills. When we study a tune. And again, you know, I mentioned it every every week that

When studying a tune, doesn't really make any difference, right? Whether it's a jazz tune, a rock tune, pop, country, R &B, folk, whatever, right? That I go about learning a tune the same way we go about learning the tune the same way every single month. Number one, listen. Listening is without question the first and probably the most important step of all. And I always encourage you to listen to various artists.

vocalist, instrumentalist, pianist, professionals, amateur, jazz musicians, rock musicians, doesn't, again, doesn't matter what genre of music, if they're performing the tune that we are studying, it's, it's worth a lesson. It's worth a lesson. You know, I used to have a teacher, so true, he'd say he's, he would always remind me you're going to learn something from everyone, you're going to

going to learn something from everyone. So listening to as many artists as you possibly can. And today it's rather easy to do that, right? Creating playlists of a tune through Spotify or whatever listening app or software you're using. It's fabulous because you can create these listening lists and soak it all in. So number one, we listen. Number two,

Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:46.069)
harmonic analysis, looking at the form changes function, common movement voicings, followed by melodic analysis, transcribing the melody phrases, target notes within the phrases and of course applying various treatments. And then finally improvisation development, like we're doing today, which always involves understanding chord scale relationships, arpeggio scale movement, sound tension,

you know, melodic blocks, all the stuff we're going to do today. anyway, we apply, we utilize the same agenda, the same format every month. So makes no difference the tune, we go through the same learning process. And as a result, it expedites our musical growth, our development. So it's pretty thorough. It's a pretty complete approach.

And most importantly, it works. So this month, as I've already mentioned, we've completed the harmonic analysis, the melodic analysis, and now it's time for us to do some improvisation development. So the educational agenda for today is as follows. Number one, we're going to listen to definitive recordings of tangerine. So head on over to the Jazz Panel Skills Community.

navigate to the forum for this podcast episode. And there is a fabulous listening list waiting for you to enjoy and for you to learn from. So do that. Number one. Number two, we are going to isolate four common progressions. When I say common progressions, this is referring to common chord movement or chord progressions that exist

in standard after standard after standard, not just tangerine, they are found in tangerine, but they are found in basically almost every standard that you will encounter, right. So we're going to use four common progressions that are found within tangerine to help us develop our improvisation skills. And number three, we are going to use those four common progressions to construct four improvisation trees that

Dr. Bob Lawrence (23:16.245)
illuminate the essential elements needed for successfully developing our improvisation skills. So if you are a Jazz Piano Skills member, I want you to take a few minutes right now hit the pause button, take a few minutes to download and print your podcast packets, your illustrations, the lead sheets, the play alongs or the backing tracks. Again, your membership

right, your membership grants you access to this material. So be sure to take advantage of that. Download and print this material so that you have it in your hands when listening to the rest of this episode, and that you have them sitting on your piano or music stand when practicing throughout the week. Okay, so now that you have your podcast packets, as always, let's start with the lead sheets, I want to just

talk through them quickly. First of all, you should have in your podcast lead sheets packet, you should have five lead sheets, five lead sheets. And the very first lead sheet is a rhythm menu that I put together, we're going to utilize various rhythms on this lead sheet to help us construct our rhythm maps that we will have within our improvisation tree. So

Lead Sheet 1 is just the presentation of eight rhythmic ideas that we will call upon when developing our improvisational improvisation vocabulary today. Okay. Now Lead Sheet 2. If you look at Lead Sheet 2, this is the common progression number one that we will be dealing with today.

It's the classic 251 progression, of course, that's found in tangerine and every standard on planet Earth. So that's going to be lead sheet two. Lead sheet three outlines the progression, the 2536 progression that is found in tangerine. And of course, I'm going to go into greater detail here. You can see these lead sheets have the improvisation tree.

Dr. Bob Lawrence (25:39.157)
laid out for us on each of these lead sheets as well. So and then finally lead sheet lead sheet four has the 1 4 3 6 2 5 progression and the improvisation tree for that and then lead sheet 5 has the 2 7 going to the 2 minor 5 1 common progression and the improvisation tree for that progression as well. So again, these are four

progressions that are not just found in tangerine, but are found in basically every standard that you are going to be learning, especially standards from the great American songbook. Okay, so let's get started. Let's grab lead sheet number one. Let's look at this rhythm menu and let me explain to you how we're going to use this today. This rhythm menu.

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