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Videos

July 22, 2025

II-V-I Bebop Workout 07-22-25 🎷 #bebop #jazzimprovisation #jazzlines

🎶 Melody Challenge: Classic Bebop Line over II-V-I! 🎶 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music for today’s Melody Challenge — perfect for all jazz musicians: pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, string players, and more! This challenge features a classic bebop…

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July 21, 2025

II–♭II–I Challenge: Two Hands, One Sound #jazzharmony #jazzvoicings #jazzchords

🎹 Harmony Challenge: II–♭II–I with Contemporary Two-Handed Voicings! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge dives into the colorful world of the II–♭II–I progression, using contemporary two-handed voicings to bring this bold harmonic movement to life. This is…

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July 20, 2025

Simple Rhythm, Deep Sound! #rhythmchallenge #jazzrhythms #minorchords

🎶 Rhythm Challenge: Minor Groove, Major Control! 🎷 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music, today’s Rhythm Challenge is designed for all jazz musicians—pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, and string players! This challenge may use a simple rhythm—just a pair of 8th…

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July 19, 2025

Major Arpeggios in Motion! #arpeggios #majorchords #jazztechnique

🎷 Melody Challenge: Chromatic Major Arpeggios! 🎷 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills & Director of The Dallas School of Music, this bite‑sized workout is for ALL jazz musicians — pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, string players, you name it! Today you’ll tackle alternating ascending & descending…

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July 18, 2025

Funk + Soul + Shells = 🔥 #funkgroove #jazzvoicings #chordprogressions

🎹 Harmony Challenge: II-V-I & Turnaround with Shell Voicings! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge puts your harmonic chops to the test as you play a classic II-V-I and Turnaround progression using both Traditional and Contemporary Shell…

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July 17, 2025

🟣 Ab7 Rhythmic Groove Mode: ON 💥 #jazzrhythms #rhythmchallenge #jazzgroove

🎷 Rhythm Challenge: Ab7 Soulful Groove! 🎶 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music for today’s Rhythm Challenge—open to all jazz instrumentalists: pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, string players, and more! This challenge focuses on locking in a rhythmic line over the Ab…

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July 16, 2025

Classic Arpeggios with a Twist 🎯 #jazzpractice #jazzlessons #jazzimprovisation

🎶 Melody Challenge: Major Arpeggios + Neighbor Tones! 🎶 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music, today’s Melody Challenge is for all jazz musicians — pianists, horn players, string players, guitarists, bassists, and beyond! This challenge introduces two classic major…

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July 15, 2025

Can You Tame This Harmonic Beast? 💪 #jazzharmony #quartalvoicings #harmonicprogression

🎹 Harmony Challenge: Diatonic Circle with Quartal Voicings! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge tests your ability to play the Diatonic Circle progression (#IV–VII–III–VI–II–V–I) in C Major using Contemporary Quartal Voicings. This high-level harmonic workout builds precision,…

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July 15, 2025

Lady Be Good, Melodic Analysis

In this enlightening episode of the Jazz Piano Skills podcast, Dr. Bob Lawrence masterfully leads listeners through the melodic analysis of the jazz standard "Lady Be Good"—a continuation of the monthly three-part study approach that defines his educational philosophy. 🎹 What’s Covered: This is Week 2 in the tune study…

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July 14, 2025

🥁 F Minor Funk + Samba Fire 🔥 #samba #syncopation #jazzfusion

🎶 Rhythm Challenge: F Minor Samba Fusion! 🥁 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music, today’s Rhythm Challenge is open to all jazz instrumentalists—piano, trumpet, sax, guitar, bass, strings, and more! This challenge puts your rhythmic control to the test with syncopated…

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July 13, 2025

Bebop Builders. Start on 3, end on 9. 🎯 #arpeggios #bebopjazz #musicchallenge

🎶 Melody Challenge: II-V-I Arpeggios from the 3rd! 🎶 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music, today’s Melody Challenge is open to all jazz musicians — pianists, horn players, string players, guitarists, bassists, and more! This challenge focuses on playing…

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July 12, 2025

Quartals, Shells & Clusters — Oh My! #jazzvoicings #jazzharmony #harmonychallenge

🎹 Harmony Challenge: Minor II-V-I Mastery! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge pushes your harmonic control as you play a Minor II-V-I Progression using three essential voicing styles: ✅ Quartal Shells ✅ Traditional Shells ✅ Harmonic Clusters…

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July 11, 2025

💥 Funk It Up: Eb to 13th! 🎸 #jazzrhythms #minorchords #rhythmchallenge

🎹 Rhythm Challenge: Eb Minor to the 13th! 🎷 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music for today’s Rhythm Challenge, open to all jazz musicians—pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, string players, and more! This challenge tests your ability to lay down a rhythmic…

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July 10, 2025

Jazz Triads with a Twist! 💥 #triads #jazzimprovisation #jazzlessons

🎶 Melody Challenge: Minor Triads with a Twist! 🎶 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music for today’s Melody Challenge, crafted for all jazz musicians — pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, and string players! This challenge focuses on playing four-note minor…

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July 9, 2025

Modern Voicings. Clean Transitions! 🎯 #jazzvoicings #modernjazz #harmonychallenge

🎹 Harmony Challenge: Quartal Shells Through the 'C' Major Scale! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge tests your ability to play Contemporary Quartal Shell Voicings with minimal harmonic motion as you move through all seven chords of…

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July 9, 2025

Shape-Centric Jazz: A New Approach to Starting Improvisation #jazzimprovisation #jazzblues

🎹 *Improvisation Misconceptions & A Better Starting Point for Jazz Beginners* Saturday Morning Sunrise Lesson with Dr. Bob Lawrence In this insightful and practical jazz talk, Dr. Bob Lawrence—founder of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music—answers a key question from a student in South Africa:…

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July 8, 2025

🎉 Chord Tones in the Big Easy 🎭 #neworleansjazz #jazzrhythms #jazzgroove

🎺 Rhythm Challenge: C7 Mardi Gras Groove! 🎷 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music, today’s Rhythm Challenge is open to all jazz musicians—pianists, horn players, guitarists, bassists, string players, and more! This challenge focuses on the C Dominant sound, using chord…

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July 7, 2025

Classic Bebop Line in Eb Major 🎯 #bebop #jazzimprovisation #jazzpractice

🎷 Bebop Melody Challenge – II-V-I in Eb! 🎷 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music for today’s Melody Challenge — designed for ALL jazz musicians: pianists, horn players, string players, guitarists, and bassists! This challenge features classic bebop language over the iconic…

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July 6, 2025

Cool Groove, Hot Voicings!🔥 #jazzvoicings #chordvoicings #jazzharmony

🎹 *Harmony Challenge:* Contemporary Quartal Shells! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge will stretch your harmonic vocabulary as you tackle *Contemporary Quartal Shell Voicings* over the classic *III-VI7-II-V7-I progression*. This is a must-have skill for every serious…

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July 6, 2025

Lady Be Good, Harmonic Analysis #georgegershwin #jazzpodcast #jazzstandards

🎹 Discover, Learn & Play: George Gershwin’s *"Lady Be Good"* | Jazz Piano Skills Podcast with Dr. Bob Lawrence 🎶 Welcome to a brand-new month of jazz discovery at Jazz Piano Skills! In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence kicks off an exciting new tune study featuring George Gershwin’s timeless standard…

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July 5, 2025

Rhythm + Chord Tones = FIRE 🔥 #jazzrhythms #jazzimprovisation #jazzlines

🎷 *Rhythm Challenge:* Improv with Chord Tones! 🎶 Join Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music for today’s *Rhythm Challenge*, designed for jazz pianists and all instrumentalists—sax, trumpet, flute, clarinet, guitar, bass, strings, and more! This challenge tests your ability to develop improvisation vocabulary…

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July 4, 2025

Shearing Style F7 Challenge 🎼 #jazzvoicings #dominantchords #arpeggios

🎹 Harmony Challenge: Locked Hands Style! Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music. Today’s challenge puts your chops to the test with the F7 arpeggio played locked hands style à la George Shearing — Root to 7th! A must-have voicing…

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July 3, 2025

Pentatonic Fluency Test 🔥 #pentatonicscale #jazztechnique #jazzpianolessons

🎶 Pentatonic Arpeggio Melody Challenge! 🎶 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and Director of The Dallas School of Music, today’s Melody Challenge is for ALL jazz musicians — pianists, horn players, string players, guitarists, bassists — anyone ready to level up their jazz vocabulary! This challenge…

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July 2, 2025

🌀 Triplets, Off-Beats, and Trouble! 😵 #jazzrhythms #jazzgroove #swinggroove

🕰️ Rhythm Challenge: Off-Beat 8ths + Triplets! 🎶 Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and The Dallas School of Music, today’s Rhythm Challenge is designed for jazz pianists and all instrumentalists—trumpet, sax, flute, guitar, bass, strings—you name it! 🎵 Test your rhythmic control by tackling off-beat 8th…

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