Jazz Piano Skills – Reflect & Project: “Tangerine” Improvisation Week

In this week’s Reflect and Project video, Dr. Bob Lawrence kicks off Monday by looking back at last week’s progress and previewing the exciting jazz piano studies ahead.

Reflection:
Dr. Lawrence highlights the recent Jazz Piano Skills interview with New York-based photographer, jazz pianist, and enthusiast Lisa Deneau. Her inspiring story—especially her reflections on her mother, a professional jazz vocalist—is available on YouTube and the Jazz Piano Skills Podcast website.

He also recaps the month’s ongoing exploration of the 1941 jazz standard “Tangerine.” Students have already completed the harmonic analysis, including chord changes, common progressions, and voicings (traditional, shell, quartal, and two-handed structures). The melodic analysis followed, emphasizing learning the melody by ear, developing proper fingerings, phrasing, and identifying key target notes—all foundational work for improvisation.

Projection:
This week focuses on improvisation development using Tangerine as the study tune. On Tuesday, the podcast episode will guide students through building improvisational lines from six core harmonic progressions in F major. Students will assign melodic blocks, choose directional movement (ascending or descending), and apply rhythmic maps to transform ideas into complete improvisational lines—developing both vocabulary and feel.

On Wednesday, a Quick Tip video will reinforce the improvisation concepts on YouTube. Thursday features the weekly Jazz Piano Skills Masterclass (recorded for replay access), Friday brings a new Challenge video (harmonic, melodic, or rhythmic), and Saturday concludes with the Jazz Piano Skills blog, a written recap of the week.

Dr. Lawrence reminds viewers that the Jazz Piano Skills program welcomes all levels—from beginners to pros. Each lesson offers material that meets every player where they are on their jazz journey.

In short:
This week marks the final phase of the Tangerine study—harmonic, melodic, and now improvisational development—before moving on to a brand-new jazz standard next month. As Dr. Lawrence always says:

“It’s time to get busy. It’s time to discover, learn, and play.”

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