There Will Never Be Another You, Pt. 3

Dr. Bob Lawrence  0:32  
Welcome to jazz piano skills. I'm Dr. Bobby words. It's time to discover, learn and play jazz piano. Well, well. Well, here we are. Starting week three of our three week exploration of the jazz standard, there will never be another you. Week one two weeks ago, we took a deep dive into the harmonic foundation of the tune, followed by last week's discussion of the melody to be followed up. Today with a challenging look at various ways to use there will never be another you to develop our improvisational skills. What's great about our three tier approach harmony melody improvisation, to study in tunes is that it quickly revealed and I mean quickly reveals our strengths and weaknesses regarding various essential jazz piano skills. And how important is it that we actually know our strengths and weaknesses? Well, the bottom line is that there's no way to improve our plane without having an accurate understanding, an accurate assessment of our plane, and the last couple of weeks podcast episode lessons and today's lesson do exactly that. They give us a no bars holed report card, if you will, of where we stand with our ability to play critical jazz piano skills. I made a point to mention last week, and the week before that, that there is a sequential order to learn how to play jazz piano, right there is a sequential order to learning how to play jazz piano. Which really, it really shouldn't surprise anyone right? After all, I, I can't think of one high level skill that you can successfully develop. Without having a strategic game plan. I can confidently guarantee you that a scattershot approach or YouTube approach to trying to learn how to play jazz piano will only cause frustration, confusion, and ultimately, your raising of a white flag. So my goal from day one with jazz piano skills has been to not only introduce you to essential jazz piano skills discover, but to also provide you with a way to successfully study the skills learn and a process for developing a physical command of the skills play. Right. That's where I get discover, learn play. Now I also mentioned last week that if you've been a faithful jazz piano skills listener for the past four plus years, you have become intimately intimately familiar with the jazz piano skills needed to begin to study. And I also mentioned that if you haven't been grinding along with us over the past four years, there's no worries right? This is a great time to jump on board to begin developing and enhancing your jazz piano skills. The tunes study that we are going to do every month will help you sift through and prioritize the last four years of podcast episodes so that you can begin maximizing your jazz piano skills immediately. So if you're a jazz piano skills old timer, or you're a newbie to jazz piano skills makes no difference. You are in the right place at the right time to begin a jazz piano journey that will have a profound impact on your understanding of music and of course, on your jazz piano playing. So today you are going to discover an improvisational developmental approach for there will never be another you and you are going to learn improvisational zones, patterns and motifs for there will never be another you and you're going to play us ascending and descending patterns and motifs through the changes of there will never be another year So as I always like to say regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, that beginner and intermediate player, advanced player or even if you consider yourself a seasoned and experienced professional, you're gonna find this jazz panel skills podcast lesson exploring, there will never be another you to be very beneficial. But before we get started, I want to as I always do, welcome first time listeners to jazz piano skills. And if you are indeed a new listener to the jazz panel skills podcast if you're new to jazz piano skills, I want to invite you to become a jazz piano skills member. Your membership will grant you access to the premium content for this podcast episode, and every weekly podcast episode. Now premium content will help you thoroughly and correctly discover learn and play the jazz standard we are currently exploring and as the old saying goes so much, much more. For example, as a jazz panel skills member, you can access the past current and future educational weekly podcast packets. These are the illustrations the lead sheets, the play alongs, or backing tracks that that I designed developed to help you get the most out of each weekly jazz panel skills podcast episode. You also have access to a self paced and sequential jazz piano curriculum which is loaded with comprehensive courses containing educational talks, interactive learning media, there's video demonstrations, and much more. You also have a reserved seat, as I like to say in my online weekly master classes, which are held every Thursday evening. Now if you can't attend no problem master classes are recorded. And you can watch and re rewatch the video of the class whenever and as often as you wish. You can also have access as a jazz panel skills member to our online interactive Fakebook containing must know jazz standards with excellent chord changes CT scan relationships mapped out for you harmonic function analysis, listening suggestions, historical insights, and of course more. As jazz panel skills member you can hang out with old and and make some new jazz piano friends in the online private jazz panel skills community which hosts a variety of engaging forums. And finally, last but certainly not least, your jazz panel skills membership grants you unlimited, private, personal and professional educational support whenever and as often as you need it. All of these amazing privileges are waiting to help you discover, learn and play jazz piano. So check it all out at jazz piano skills.com. And of course become a member to enjoy premium podcast content, and all the other privileges I just mentioned. So of course, if you have any questions, any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. I'm happy to spend some time with you and answer any questions that you may have. Okay, on to the question of the week, you know, every week, every week, I received many questions from jazz panel skills listeners, and every week, I am reminded of just how much we are all on the same team. In other words, all of us deal with the same musical hurdles. What does this term mean? How best should I approach practicing this skill? How much time should I commit to practicing every day? This concept confuses me. I don't get it. I'm frustrated. So I'm familiar questions and statements we all make, at some point in time in our journey, all of us. And this is why I love this segment of the podcast because all of us benefit from the questions that all of us are asking. Because all of us are asking the same questions. You know, here's a quick story in grad school, I used to have a piano teacher who made all of us show up for the lesson prior to our lesson. So we could observe that lesson. Her thinking was brilliant. She would say I want you to come in for the lesson prior to yours. So you can see your challenges and find the solutions through another person. In other words, we all deal with the same musical struggles. So I love the question of the week because without question, it benefits us All of us. And today's question is fabulous. It comes from Jennifer Brown living in Nashville, Tennessee. It's pretty good music center right there, Nashville,

Dr. Bob Lawrence  10:09  
Tennessee. And Jennifer writes, I recently discovered that there is a major and a minor blues scale. I used to think there was only one blues scale, which I now have learned is commonly referred to as the minor blues scale. Could you please explain the difference between the two blues scale scales? And which one do I use? And when life was much easier when I thought there was only one blues scale? Right, of course, to find Jennifer and I agree 100%. You know, I have always said music, music as a massive problem when it comes to language. I say this because it's only a music do we use the same terms to reference different things, the same terms to reference different things, for example, terms major and minor, right, we use both of these terms when referring to intervals. We then use both of these terms when talking about chords. We don't stop there. We use both of these terms, when we discuss scales, and we use both of these terms to identify Blues scales. All right enough, right? Whose idea was it to use the exact same term to reference different aspects of music? To say that it's confusing is, is honestly it's, it's a massive understatement. So Jennifer, you're not alone when trying to decipher the difference between the major and minor blues scale and, and when to use either one of them. So let's begin by looking at the construction of each scale. The major blue scale, I'm going to do this in reference to the key of C are based on the notes C, okay, B, C, B and one. So the major blue scale is one, two, flat 335 and six to get this

Dr. Bob Lawrence  12:33  
okay, the minor blues scale one, flat three, four, sharp, four, five, flat seven.

Unknown Speaker  12:45  
So we get this

Dr. Bob Lawrence  12:51  
so again, the major blues scale the minor blues scale the major blues scale contains a major third interval that 123 In the minor blues scale contains a minor third interval, one, two flat three. Right now both of these scales are a pentatonic scale with the insertion of a half step. Right. So C pentatonic major pentatonic 12356. All we're doing is putting in that flat three minor pentatonic one Flat 345 Flat, so we insert that sharp four right, so insert the flat three for the major in the major pentatonic and we have a major major blues scale, insert the sharp four in the minor pentatonic, and we have the minor blues scale, right? It's the insertion of the half step that gives us that blues sound. And in fact, today we're going to learn just how important the half step is to producing jazz vocabulary for improvising. So, the major blues scale can be used with a major chord and a dominant chord right. So if I play C major it works if I play C dominant it works with the dominant as well. Now, the minor blues scale can be used with a minor chord. So C minor blues scale C minor chord It can also be used with the C dominant.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  15:09  
So, both blue scales, right work with the dominant core, major chords, major blue scale, minor chords, minor blue scale, dominant chords major or minor blues scale. I hope this helps Jennifer again, I know all of these major and minor labels can get overwhelming at times. But again, you're not alone. And I promise, the repetitive use of the same musical terms to reference various aspects of music, believe it or not, will actually get easier and make more sense as you continue to wrestle with the jargon. So hang in there. Again, let me know if you have any additional questions or further clarification is needed. Always happy to spend some time with you and help you in any way that I can. All right. Let's discover learn and play jazz piano let's discover learn and play. There will never be another you part three in improvisation developmental approach. Two weeks ago, I presented my outline for studying and learning anytune And again, the genre makes no difference right? Doesn't matter. jazz, rock, pop country folk r&b Makes no difference. So here's a quick refresher. Number one always listen, always listen to various artists, artists, right. I like to listen to vocalist first and instrumentalist second and followed up with pianist. Now number two, I always determined form what am I dealing with a B, A, B, A, B, etc. Every tune, every tune has a form. Number three, I learned the chords the harmonic structure of the tune, right the voicings common harmonic progressions like 25114536251, etc. Number four, I learn melody and various treatments. I look for guide tones phrases target notes fingerings I experiment playing the tune different grooves like Ballard Basa, swing and then five finally, I explore improvisation approaches various zones patterns motifs, tension and that's it right those five steps nothing more nothing less. So two weeks ago, we focused on gaining a harmonic familiarity and command of there will never be another you. So we listened, determined form and explored the chord changes harmonic function and voicings, for there will never be another you. Last week, we focused on an in depth melodic analysis of there will never be another you which included guide tones, phrases, target notes, interpretation fingerings, right treatments. Our goal has been and always been to keep things really clean and tidy with our our approach to study in music, right? Whether it's scale study or tune study makes no difference, our conceptual understanding of all that we do musically must be structured and simple, so that it can be replicated over and over and over again. And y'all can attest to the fact that I have said it many times over the past four years and will continue to say it. If your conceptual understanding of music or, or of any musical skill is not structured and simple, then it's unorganized and confusing. And if it's unorganized and confusing conceptually right upstairs, you have no shot at executing it in your hands downstairs on the piano. Therefore, we will always keep our tune steady, very structured, and very simple. So the education educational agenda for today is as follows. So listen carefully, it's a lot number one. We're going to be in part three to discover learn and play there will be never be another you write an improvisation developmental approach. Number two, and we are going to listen to a definitive recording of there will never be another you. Number three, we will discover the importance of simple math four plus three plus five. Number four, we will discuss zones patterns and motifs. What are they? How are they different and why are they important for developing you improvisation skills. Number five, we will unveil two patterns that you must absolutely and unequivocally, you must have a command of conceptually and physically if you ever hope to develop improvisation skills. Number six, we will explore how to turn patterns into motifs that are idiomatic to jazz. Number seven, we will discover learn and play patterns through the changes of there will never be another you. Number eight, we will discover learn and play motif through the changes, chord changes of there will never be another you. And number nine, I will be playing all the demonstrations today at a tempo of 110 using a traditional swing group. Wow. As always, as always, we have a ton to get done today. So if you are a jazz panel skills member I want you to take a few minutes right now hit the pause button and print your podcast packets. These are the illustrations the lead sheets and the play logs. Your membership grants you access to premium content for every weekly podcast episode which includes all the educational podcast packets. As I mentioned, every week you should be using these podcast packets when listening to this episode. And of course you should be using them when practicing as well. So if you're listening to this podcast on any of the popular podcast directories such as Apple, Google, Spotify iHeartRadio, Amazon Pandora The list goes on then go directly to jazz piano skills podcast.com And you will find the active download links for each of the podcast packets in the show notes or or you can log into your jazz panel skills account and from your dashboard navigate to this episode where you will find one convenient link to download all three podcast packets in one convenient bundle. Okay now that you have your podcast packets in your hands, I want you to grab your lead sheets. Now you should find in your lead sheet packet you should find six

Speaker 1  22:28  
six lead sheets lead sheet

Dr. Bob Lawrence  22:32  
one provides you root position arpeggios for the chord changes of there will never be another you okay lead sheet to provide you with root position scales and the chord scale relationships for there will never be another you lead sheet three you see provides you with us ascending patterns and motifs focusing on various targets intention notes for there will never be another you number for the release sheet for provides you with descending patterns and motifs. Again focusing on various target intention notes to use. When playing there will never be another you you'll see that lead sheet five is what I like to call an arpeggio Etude with inserted tension four, there will never be another you and lead sheet six is a scale Etude Of course with inserted tension, for there will never be another you. So no question about it right? Some invaluable tools, discover, learn and play today. So so let's get busy. You know, the very first thing always, always, always, that we should do when studying any tune in any aspect of any tune whether it's harmonic melodic or improvisation, right, the number one thing that we should always do the very first thing that we should always do. Listen. Alright, we did it. We did it last week. We did it the week before, right? We're gonna do it again. Today. Listening to various renditions of tunes is not only the first but one could very easily argue the most important step. And again, I can't I can't imagine attempting to learn a tune before spending a whole lot of time becoming familiar with it, absorbing it right listening to it. I typically listen to vocal renditions as I mentioned earlier, I like to listen to vocal renditions first, followed by instrumentalist and then followed by pianist right bottom line I listened and that is what we're going to do right now before going any further and about two weeks ago, we checked out the one and only Joe Williams with Count Basie back in 1950s. Haven't performing there will never be another year and last week we listened to the great Chet Baker and 1954 performing there will never be another you. That was kind of a twofer, right. He's an instrumentalist and vocalist It's an iconic recording that rendition and that you should absolutely absolutely be familiar with it now this week we pause for a few minutes to check out a pianist plan there will never be another you and who better to check out than the one and only Oscar Peterson performing live at the town Tavern in Toronto this is 1962 so much sit back watch it close your eyes relax and enjoy it doesn't get any better than this?

Dr. Bob Lawrence  28:37  
Wow What can I say right What can I say? Heck, I don't need to say anything. If you are unfamiliar with this album then I highly recommend checking it out every rendition of every time you stepped out of a dream I feel pretty body and soul just to name a few. Every rendition is absolutely fabulous. All right, so now let's explore those lead sheets right grab lead sheet one, let's discover how to properly begin developing our improvisational skills using there will never be Thank you for listening to jazz piano skills. The remaining premium content of this episode is available to jazz piano skills members at jazz piano skills podcast.com Visit jazz piano skills.com To learn more about membership privileges and become a jazz piano skills member.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  29:39  
Thank you