Jazz Piano Skills
Jazz Piano Skills is a weekly educational podcast for pianists who want to understand jazz harmony, develop improvisation skills, and become more confident jazz musicians.
Hosted by Dr. Bob Lawrence, jazz pianist, music educator, and Director of The Dallas School of Music, each episode explores the essential skills of jazz piano through a structured, practical approach to learning.
Each month focuses on a jazz standard through four areas of study:
- Harmonic Analysis — Understand chord progressions, harmonic function, and the musical relationships that shape jazz standards.
- Melodic Analysis — Explore melodic phrases, musical motifs, rhythmic relationships, and the construction of memorable jazz melodies.
- Improvisation Development — Learn to improvise through practical exercises, melodic vocabulary, and a systematic understanding of jazz harmony.
- Solo Piano Development — Develop the skills needed to interpret jazz standards and create your own solo piano arrangements.
Whether you're beginning your jazz piano journey or refining your existing skills, Jazz Piano Skills provides a consistent educational process designed to help you understand the music you play.
Discover, learn, and play with Jazz Piano Skills.
Explore Independent and Guided Study memberships at JazzPianoSkills.com.
Jazz Piano Skills
Latest Episodes
Sunny, Solo Piano
Discover how to create an expressive solo jazz piano performance of Bobby Hebb's Sunny with Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills.In this solo piano development lesson, Dr. Lawrence explores Stage One of his seven-stage approach...
Sunny, Improvisation
Sunny — Jazz Piano Improvisation Development. When does a jazz pianist become creative?Is it after mastering all twelve major scales, learning countless arpeggios, memorizing hundreds of jazz licks, or developing complete technical comma...
Sunny, Melodic Analysis
In this episode, Dr. Bob Lawrence explores Sunny melodic analysis by examining how Bobby Hebb created one of popular music's most recognizable melodies using just five notes of the A minor pentatonic scale. Discover how scale fragments, arpeggi...
Sunny, Harmonic Analysis
Why has Bobby Hebb's Sunny remained such an attractive composition for jazz musicians?At first glance, the tune appears remarkably simple.Its harmonic structure is relatively straightforward, and its melody is built prima...
Our Love Is Here to Stay, Solo Piano
What is the ultimate purpose of jazz piano education?Is it to memorize sophisticated arrangements, reproduce great performances, and master increasingly complicated musical exercises?Or is it to develop the musical understanding a...
