Teach Me Tonight, Solo Piano

Dr. Bob Lawrence (00:33.154)
 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. And as we all know, week four of every month is when we bring everything together through solo piano development, solo piano approaches. And honestly, I love week four because this is where music, our study,
 
 begins feeling complete. This is where harmony, melody, improvisation, rhythm stop behaving like separate skills and begin functioning as one musical voice. Think about our journey with Teach Me Tonight this month. During week one, we explored the harmony. We studied the chord quality, chord function, voicings, harmonic movement. In other words, we explored how harmony organizes sound.
 
 Then week two we shifted our focus to melody. We studied phrases, the target notes within those phrases, contour of the shapes of the phrases and direction, and we discovered how melody organizes motion. Then last week we explored improvisation and perhaps most importantly, we discovered that improvisation is not mysterious, it's not magic, it's not guessing, it's not random note selection. Instead we learned how improvisation is
 
 Develops by seeing harmony melodically. We learned how to identify harmonic shapes, move through harmonic shapes, transform harmonic shapes into melodic motion, and ultimately apply rhythm. Because melody flows from harmony, no harmonic shapes, no melodic lines. And today we complete the circle.
 
 Because if improvisation requires us to see harmony melodically, then guess what? Solo piano requires us to see melody harmonically. Think about that. Improvisation requires us to see harmony melodically, and solo piano requires us to see melody harmonically. Last week we learned to see harmony melodically. This week we're going to learn to see melody harmonically.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (02:59.456)
 And that ability, that skill, that perspective is what allows solo pianists to create beautiful arrangements from a simple lead sheet. Because great solo pianists don't think, hmm, here's my melody. And well, here are my chords. No, they think very differently. They hear differently. They see differently. They understand that melody and harmony are not separate musical events.
 
 They're one musical sound, one musical experience, one musical story. The melody note isn't sitting on top of the harmony. The melody note is part of the harmony. The melody note determines the harmony. The melody note reveals the harmony. And once you begin seeing melody harmonically, everything changes. Suddenly a lead sheet is no longer just melody and chord symbols.
 
 It becomes possibility. It becomes color. It becomes texture. It becomes arrangement. It becomes music. And that's exactly what we're going to explore today. Because solo piano is not really about learning voicings. And it's not really about learning arrangements. Solo piano is about learning to think differently, to see differently, to hear differently, to understand how harmony and melody continuously inform one another.
 
 Because ultimately, improvisation asks what melody is hidden inside the harmony? And solo piano asks, what harmony is hidden inside the melody? And honestly, those aren't two different questions. They're one musical truth viewed from just opposite directions. And that leads directly to my opening thoughts for today.
 
 One of the things I love most about studying music is discovering how often how often the answers we're searching for have been sitting right in front of us the entire time. Think about what we explored last week. We spent an entire lesson studying improvisation and we dis and we discovered something, well at least I think is incredibly important. Improvisation is not random.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (05:26.326)
 Improvisation is not guessing, it's not magic. Improvisation develops by learning to see harmony melodically. That was the entire theme last week. We learn to identify harmonic shapes. We learn to move through harmonic shapes. We learn to transform harmonic shapes into melodic motion. And ultimately, we learn to apply rhythm. It always comes down to rhythm at the end because melody flows from harmony.
 
 You've heard me say this a million times. No harmonic shapes, no melodic lines. Now, here's the interesting part. The exact same principle applies to solo piano. As I just mentioned, just from the opposite direction. And think about that. Last week we learned to see harmony melodically. This week we're going to see melody harmonically. It's so important to let those two statements sink in, to think about that.
 
 And honestly, I think that that it may be one of the most important concepts a jazz pianist can ever understand. Because great solo piano playing is not simply melody in the right hand right hand and the chords in the left hand. That's actually not solo piano playing. That's what I call chord accompaniment, right? Solo piano is something much bigger, much richer, much more
 
 Integrated. Great solo pianists hear melody and harmony as, as I mentioned earlier, as one sound, one musical event, one musical experience. They understand that the melody note is just not sitting on top of the harmony. The melody note is part of the harmony. And the melody note determines the harmony and reveals the harmony. So think about the E flat major sound, right? That's the standard key of Teach Me Tonight.
 
 If the melody note is E flat, I immediately see harmonic possibilities. If the melody note is G, I see different possibilities. If the melody note is B flat, again, different possibilities. If it's D, another set of possibilities. So the melody note becomes a window into harmonic possibilities. It basically tells me, it instructs me how the harmony can be organized.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (07:49.046)
 It tells me what harmonic structures can support the melody. And once I begin seeing those possibilities, the lead sheet now be begins coming alive. It stops being notes and chord symbols. It it becomes texture and movement, arrangement. It becomes music. And honestly, that's why I love solo piano, because solo piano teaches us that harmony and melody are constantly talking to one another. They're constantly informing one another. They're constantly shaping one another.
 
 Can't have one without the other. Improvisation asks, what melody is hidden in the harmony? Solo piano asks, what harmony is hidden inside the melody? Again, those two statements. Would be really wise just to dwell on that. And perhaps the most beautiful realization of all is this. Those are not two different skills. Two different statements, but they're they're not two different skills.
 
 Those are not two different ways of thinking. They're just one musical truth, again, viewed from opposite directions. Improvisation extracts melody from harmony. Solo piano extracts harmony from melody. One moves from harmony to melody, the other moves from melody to harmony. And both require exactly the same thing. The ability to see harmonic relationships, the built the ability to hear harmonic relationships.
 
 And the ability to understand that melody and harmony are inseparable. Because in great music they always exist together. Which means today's lesson is not really about learning an arrangement of Teach Me Tonight. It's not really about learning voicings. Today's lesson is really about learning to see differently, to hear differently, to think differently. We're
 
 We're going to take the melody of Teach Me Tonight and we're going to uncover the harmony hidden inside it. We're going to identify harmonic possibilities. We're going to build harmonic structures, create texture, create movement, and ultimately create a solo piano experience because once you begin seeing melody harmonically, something remarkable happens. You stop playing melody and chords.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (10:13.184)
 And you begin making music. And honestly, that is that's what solo piano is all about. So today we conclude our monthly study of Teach Me Tonight by exploring solo piano approaches. And unlike many solo piano lessons that begin with voicings, today we're going to begin somewhere much more fundamental. We're going to begin with the melody, because the melody note has harmonic meaning.
 
 Every melody note has harmonic meaning. It's it's not an isolated note. It is not random information. It is not something that's that is to be played. Every melody note reveals harmonic possibilities. Every melody note contains harmonic information. Every melody note provides clues about how the harmony can be organized. And before we can create a solo piano arrangement, we must learn to see harmonic information, which means today.
 
 We are going to discover how melody reveals harmony. We're going to discover that melody notes are much more than just notes. They're harmonic destinations, harmonic functions, harmonic possibilities. A melody note may function as a root. It's a third, it's a fifth, it's a seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth. Right? And once we understand harmonic meaning of the melody note.
 
 We immediately begin seeing possibilities. Because before we can harmonize a melody, we must first learn to see melody harmonically. Now, next, we're going to learn how to construct harmonic shapes beneath melody notes. We'll learn how to identify the harmonic function of each melody note, how to build harmonic structures beneath those notes. We'll learn how to organize harmony so that the melody feels supported.
 
 enhanced, illuminated, because great solo piano playing is not melody with accompaniment. Great solo piano playing is the integration of melody and harmony into one sound, one musical experience. Again, one story. We'll also discover something very, very important. Harmonic arpeggios that we discussed last week are once again at the center of our work today.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (12:39.788)
 Because if we can see harmony melodically, well then we can also see melody harmonically. The same harmonic shapes, the same root, the same third, the fifth, seventh, ninth. Nothing has changed. Only our perspective has changed. Last week we moved from harmony to melody. This week we move from melody back to harmony.
 
 And again, that's not two different skills. That's one musical truth viewed from opposite directions. And finally, we are going to play. We're going to apply this entire process directly to, of course, Teach Me Tonight. We'll begin with the melody. We will construct harmonic shapes beneath the melody. We'll connect those shapes. We'll create the texture, the movement, continuity, and step by step.
 
 Will transform a simple lead sheet into a complete solo piano experience. Because that's really what solo piano is. It's the art of transforming melody and chord symbols into music. It's the act of revealing the harmony hidden inside the melody. It's the art of allowing harmony and melody to speak as one musical voice. And by the end of today's lesson, at least I hope, I think you'll
 
 Begin hearing solo piano differently. Not as melody in one hand and chords in the other. Not as voicings, not as accompaniment, but as the beautiful integration of harmony, melody, some improvisation, and of course rhythm. One complete musical experience. So today's lesson can really, honestly, can be summarized in four simple statements. See the melody, discover the harmony, create the texture, play the music.
 
 And that's exactly what we're going to explore today as we take a look at Teach Me Tonight, solo piano approaches. It's gonna be great fun. But before we go any further, I want to revisit what I believe should govern everything we do when studying, when practicing, when playing music. We go through it every single week because it's that important. Of course, I'm talking about the seven facts of music.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (15:07.112)
 These facts, these truths simplify music. They organize our thinking, they provide clarity, and perhaps most importantly, they remind us that music is not nearly as complicated as we often make it. Because regardless of the tune, regardless of the style, the key, the tempo, these facts never change. Fact number one: music is the production of sound in silence. Of course, our primary sounds being
 
 Major dominant minor half diminished and diminished. Everything we play, everything we hear, everything we feel, everything we experience musically is ultimately an organization of these sounds and of course silence. Not sound alone, sound and silence. Both are equally important. Fact number two, harmonic sound equals chords, or what we often refer to as
 
 Voicings. As I have mentioned now several times, harmony organizes sound. Think about that. Harmony organizes sound, harmony creates environment, harmony creates context, harmony creates possibilities, harmony gives music its landscape. Without harmony, there's no harmonic environment through which melody can travel. And this month we've explored harmony from multiple perspectives.
 
 Week one we studied harmony directly. Week three we discovered harmony can contains melodic possibilities. And today we discover something equally important. Melody reveals harmonic possibilities. Harmony does not simply support melody. Harmony is revealed by the melody. Okay, so fact number three: melodic sound equals scales and arpeggios. Melody organizes motion, not notes, motion, direction.
 
 Travel, movement. That's what melody does. And throughout this month, we discovered that melody and harmony are constantly informing one another. Week two, we studied how melodies move, how melodies breathe, how melodies communicate. Week three, we learned to see harmony melodically. And today, we learn to see melody harmonically, because melody doesn't merely move through harmony, melody reveals harmony.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (17:33.422)
 Right, I mentioned earlier, every melody note carries harmonic information, every melody note carries harmonic meaning, every melody note contains harmonic possibilities. And once we begin seeing those possibilities, boom, soul piano comes alive. Fact number four, harmonic sound moves using three types of motion: circle motion, chromatic motion, diatonic motion. These are the three ways harmonic environments change.
 
 The three ways harmonic stories unfold, the three ways harmonic landscapes evolve. And solo piano demands that we hear and understand all three. They're laced in the standards that we study. Fact number five, melodic sound moves in one of two directions, up or down. That's it. Every melody, every phrase, every improvisational idea, every solo piano line moves in one of two directions, up or down. It's pretty simple.
 
 Yet pretty profound. Yes, some melody can be static, stationary, but guess what? If it's stationary, it's not moving. So if it moves, it can only go up or down. All right? Fact number six, we decorate melodic movement using tension, approach tones, passing tones, neighboring tones, closures, chromaticism, notes outside the harmony, right? Right? Whatever we want to call it.
 
 We decorate melodic movement using tension. It creates interest, it creates energy, and it creates personality. And finally, fact number seven, we add rhythm to facts one through six to give everything some excitement. Without rhythm, harmony is static. Without rhythm, melody is incomplete. Without rhythm, improvisation is impossible. And without rhythm, right, solo piano.
 
 Has no movement, no momentum, no energy, no life. Bottom line, rhythm animates everything. Harmony, melody, improvisation, and of course, everything we do when playing solo piano. All right, so I mentioned these seven facts every week because they're that important. It is absolutely worth your time and effort to dwell upon those seven facts, think about those seven facts, sketch out those seven facts.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (20:01.016)
 Post those seven facts on your bedroom mirror so you see them first thing in the morning when you get up. they're that important. All right. I want to take a few minutes to welcome all of you new listeners to the Jazz Piano Skills podcast. If you're new to Jazz Piano Skills, welcome. I'm glad you're here. And I want to thank you for joining us as we conclude our monthly exploration of Teach Me Tonight. And if today's lesson resonates with you.
 
 I want to invite you to become a jazz panel skills member. As a member, you have access to the entire podcast episode, plus all of the educational materials designed to support the Discover, Learn, and Play educational process. These are the educational podcast packets that I'm referring to: the illustrations, the lead sheets, the play-alongs. Additionally, as a member, you have access and can enjoy the live masterclass that I host every
 
 Thursday evening, you also have access to all the video archives. As a member, you have access to the interactive online courses, the community forums, and and much more. Everything at Jazz Piano Skills is designed to help transform information into understanding and understanding into musical growth. So check it all out at jazzpianelskills.com and of course.
 
 Once you get to the side, if you have any questions, please let me know. I'm always happy to spend some extra time with you and answer any questions that you may have regarding the Jazz Piano Skills program. So, likewise, if you are not already receiving the Jazz Piano Skills weekly blog, I encourage you to join the Jazz Piano Skills email list. You can do so easily at the homepage of at Jazz Piano Skills. Every weekend, I published a detailed written recap.
 
 The week's podcast lesson. The blog is is really it's designed to reinforce the concepts discussed throughout the episode, highlight the most important educational takeaways and clarify key ideas. Basically help organize your practice throughout the week. So think of it as an opportunity to revisit the lesson from a different perspective. As I mentioned last week, sometimes hearing an idea is helpful, of course. Sometimes reading an idea is helpful.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (22:27.208)
 And quite often doing both dramatically improves understanding and retention. So if you're not already subscribed, be sure to join Jazz Piano Skills, the email list, and receive the weekly blog directly in your inbox every weekend. It's just it's another great way to continue your journey, to continue your efforts to discover, learn, and play.
 
 Jazz piano. So again, welcome. I'm delighted you're here. Now let's let's move on to the question of the week. All right. This week's question comes from Susan Peterson, living in Boca Raton, Florida. And Susan writes, hello, Dr. Bob. Thank you for last week's podcast episode. Thinking of Arpeggio's harmonized was very eye-opening for me.
 
 As a result, I am actually starting to see how a melody can be played harmonically. Can I do the same with with a scale? What about notes that are outside of the arpeggio and scale? I look forward to your thoughts. It's exciting to begin thinking of a melody harmonized. Well, Susan, first of all, I picked your question, obviously. I try to pick all the questions to match kind of what we're doing for the week. but
 
 First thing I want to say is I'm thrilled for you. I as an educator, I I always love hearing the phrase eye opening. You absolutely made my day. Because ultimately that's what that's what teaching is all about, helping students see, helping students hear differently, see differently, think differently. And and from the sound of your question, that's exactly what's beginning to happen. You're beginning to see melody harmonically, and trust me.
 
 That's a very exciting place to be. Now, let me cut right to the chase and answer your questions. Yes, you can harmonize a scale. And yes, you can harmonize notes outside of the arpeggio and scale. And in fact, to keep it simple, you can harmonize any note of a melody. Think about that. Any note. Every note.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (24:52.574)
 Every melody note can be harmonized. The question is never, the question is never, can this note be harmonized? No. The question is, how do I want this note to sound? Now, now we're talking about artistry. We're talking about color. We're talking about expression. We're talking about personal preferences. We're talking about music. And Susan, whether you intended to or not,
 
 you actually presented the learning process for developing the skill of melodic harmonization. Your question moved from harmonic arpeggios to harmonic scales to harmonic tension. And honestly, that's the perfect learning sequence because each stage teaches us something different about harmony. Harmonic arpeggios teach us how harmony is constructed.
 
 Harmonic scales teach us how harmony moves and harmonic tension, notes outside the harmony, right, teaches us how to add emotion, expression, excitement. Think about that progression, construction, motion, right? and emotion. First, we learn how harmony is built. Then we learn how harmony travels, and finally we learn how harmony lives. Emotion.
 
 That's a that's a beautiful learning sequence. And last week's episode was devoted entirely to the first stage, construction. We explored what I've called harmonic arpeggios. But let me pull back the curtain just a a little bit for you right now. Students are often taught that an arpeggio consists of root, third, fifth, seventh. And while those tones certainly define the sound.
 
 I think we can expand our thinking because if there are seven notes, Susan, I want you to think about this. If there are seven notes in a scale, then there are seven notes in the harmonic sound as well. I'm talking about the root, the third, the fifth, the seventh, the ninth, the eleventh, the thirteenth. Seven notes. One complete harmonic palette, if you will. So think about that. The scale.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (27:21.28)
 And the harmonic arpeggio actually contain the same musical information. The difference is not the notes, the difference is how they move. A scale moves stepwise, one note to its neighbor, one step at a time. Linear movement. An arpeggio moves structurally, one harmonic tone to another, using skips, creating shape, creating architecture, creating harmonic identity.
 
 Same notes, different organization, and of course, different movement. Quite honestly, different sound, right? That's huge. Because scales teach us how notes connect, harmonic arpeggios teach us why notes connect. Scales show us the pathway, harmonic arpeggios reveal the architecture. One teaches movement, the other teaches structure. And when we understand both.
 
 Something remarkable begins to happen. We start seeing melody very differently. We start hearing harmony differently. And eventually we begin understanding that every melody note car carries harmonic possibility, as we're going to explore today. Every melody note can be harmonized: arpeggio tones, scale tones, chromatic tones, approach tones, neighboring tones, everything. Because harmony is far more expansive than most of us realize. And
 
 And that's where harmonic tension enters the picture because tension tones teach us teaches us how harmony breathes. They create emotion, they create expression, create excitement, they give the music personality the and and energy. In fact, I I would say it gives the music life. And that's exactly why two pianists can harmonize the same melody and sound completely different.
 
 Different choices, different colors, different personalities, different emotional experiences. So Susan, you're exactly where I want you to be. You're beginning to see melody harmonically. And once that begins happening, lead sheets start looking very, very different. Chord symbols start looking different, melodies start looking different, and eventually you begin hearing music differently. And honestly, that's
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (29:45.922)
 That's when solo piano becomes exciting because you you realize you no longer are just you're no longer merely playing notes. You're making musical decisions. You're creating color and texture. You're shaping emotional experiences. You're becoming an artist. It's artistic. So today I'm going to walk us step by step through how to approach harmonizing the melody of Teach Me Tonight. And my hunch is, Susan.
 
 that by the end of today's lesson you're going to have an another one of those eye-opening moments. All right. Well before we begin today's lesson, I want all jazz piano skills members right now to hit the pause button, take a few minutes. I want you to access and download your podcast packets. Again, you have access to this material as members, so I want you to have this material in your hand.
 
 Download them, print them, and get them in front of you. The educational materials are specifically designed to support today's lesson and maximize your learning experience. So have them in your hand as you listen to the rest of this podcast episode. Now this week's podcast packets include the lead sheet containing the harmonization that we're going to be exploring today. And then the illustration packet provides a template that you can begin using to
 
 discover, learn, and play your harmonic choices, right? Your own melodic harmony and your own artistic preferences. Okay, one other quick note, no backing tracks this week. Why? Because today's lesson is about solo piano. It's about learning to hear and create cum a complete musical experience with just you and the piano. So
 
 Have your lead sheet in your hands, have your illustrations ready to roll, and follow along, right? Make notes, circle discoveries, because today's lesson is highly visual. We're learning to see melody harmonically. And the more actively you engage with the materials, the more meaningful and lasting this learning experience will be. Remember, the podcast introduces the concepts.
 
 Dr. Bob Lawrence (32:12.896)
 Your practice develops the skills. And these podcast packets serve kind of as a bridge between the two. So take a moment right now, again, download the materials, print the materials, get them in front of you. And once you're ready, grab your lead sheet because that's exactly where we are going to begin today. All right, here we go. Grab your lead sheet and let's take a look at Teach Me Tonight. 

The remaining premium content of this episode 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.