🎹 Jazz Piano Skills Weekly Recap – “Tangerine” Melodic Mastery and the Seven Facts of Music

This week on Jazz Piano Skills, Dr. Bob Lawrence checked in from the road — coffee in hand, hotel room setting — after visiting his sons in Nashville and Danville, both collegiate baseball players. Even while traveling, Dr. Lawrence brought us another insightful weekly recap, continuing this month’s deep dive into the 1941 jazz standard “Tangerine.”

Where We’ve Been
The past two weeks have been full of exploration. Two weeks ago, we focused on harmonic analysis — breaking down the tune’s form, chord changes, harmonic function, and common progressions, while applying traditional block and shell voicings, two-handed structures, and contemporary textures.

This past week, attention turned to melodic analysis:

Transcribing the melody by ear
Exploring fingerings and articulation
Analyzing phrases and identifying target notes

Applying the melody across three treatments: ballad (♩=60), bossa nova (♩=120), and swing (♩=160)

These tempo and style variations not only develop interpretation but lay the groundwork for the improvisation study coming up in two weeks.

The Seven Facts of Music
Dr. Lawrence revisited his foundational framework—the Seven Facts of Music—as a way to simplify and unify how we think about sound, harmony, and melody:

Music is sound and silence.
Primary sounds are major, dominant, minor, half-diminished, and diminished.
These sounds can be produced harmonically (chords, voicings).
Or melodically (arpeggios, scales).
Arpeggios and scales only move up or down.
We decorate them with tension tones and chromaticism.
And finally, we add rhythm to make it all musical.

Understanding these facts conceptually, Dr. Lawrence emphasized, is key: if music makes sense in your mind, it can make sense under your hands. If not, your physical playing will always be limited. The Seven Facts simplify the architecture of music and give structure to both skill development and tune study.

Question of the Week
A standout listener question came from Deborah Garza of Boulder, Colorado, a classically trained pianist new to jazz. She asked:

“How much freedom do I have when interpreting a melody like Tangerine?”

Dr. Lawrence’s answer centered on one essential practice — listening.
He compared learning jazz to learning a new language: before worrying about grammar or vocabulary, you must immerse yourself in the sound of the language. Likewise, jazz musicians must listen — actively and passively — to absorb phrasing, articulation, and style. Only then can freedom of melodic interpretation begin to feel natural and authentic.

Learning Process & Lead Sheets

Each tune study follows a consistent tune learning process:
Listening
Harmonic Analysis
Melodic Analysis
Improvisation

For Tangerine, students worked through several lead sheets:

“Fill-in-the-blank” melody sheets for transcription
Fully notated melodic interpretations (as Dr. Lawrence would play them)

Sheets with suggested fingerings
Phrase and target note breakdowns
Melody combined with block and shell voicings

Dr. Lawrence reminded students that progress—no matter how small—is growth. Even if you only master one line or one measure this week, it counts.

On Deck
Next week’s focus includes:

🎙️ Podcast Interview (Monday) – A special conversation before returning to improvisation study.
🎥 YouTube Quick Tip (Wednesday)
💻 Thursday Masterclass – Available live and on-demand through your Jazz Piano Skills dashboard.
🎹 Friday Challenge Video – Another chance to apply weekly concepts.
📝 Saturday Blog – Available on the Jazz Piano Skills website under “Blog.”

Final Takeaway
This week tied together harmonic structure, melodic design, and conceptual clarity through the Seven Facts of Music. Dr. Lawrence’s message was clear:

“When music becomes conceptually simple, you have a shot at it physically.”

So—finish that coffee, review your Tangerine lead sheets, and get ready for the next phase: improvisation.

As Dr. Lawrence always says…
👉 It’s time to get busy. It’s time to Discover, Learn, and Play!

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