Month 2 Piano Plan: Vary
Anchor song: Blue Monk / Jazz-Blues Variation Laboratory
Piano role this month: Vary role, placement, and harmonic function while staying clear.
Month 2 harmony additions:
Introduce voice leading — the practice of moving from one chord's shell to the next chord's shell by the shortest possible distance.
Voice leading example in Bb blues:
- Bb7 → Eb7: the 7th of Bb (Ab) moves down a half step to the 7th of Eb (Db). The root moves separately. This is smoother and more musical than jumping between root-position chords.
Placement variation on piano:
In Month 1, right-hand chords landed on the beat. In Month 2, practice anticipating the chord — place the right hand just before the barline rather than on it. This creates the rhythmic energy of jazz comping without complex syncopation.
Anticipation example: Instead of playing the IV chord on beat 1 of bar 5, play it on the "and" of beat 4 in bar 4. The chord arrives early, pulling the phrase forward.
Month 2 piano study versions:
| Version | What to play |
|---|---|
| A | Left-hand shell support — roots and guide tones, right hand silent |
| B | Right-hand stabs on different placements: beats 2 and 4, then the upbeats |
| C | Motif repeated and varied rhythmically (same notes, different rhythm) |
| D | Two-chorus energy route: chorus 1 sparse, chorus 2 varied placement and register |
Adding melodic SHAPE to the right hand (Month 2):
The simplest SHAPE gesture on piano is a descending three-note phrase that lands on a chord tone. Over Bb7: start on the 9th (C), move to the 7th (Ab), land on the root (Bb). This is a question-and-answer in three notes.
Keep fills short. Sing the phrase before playing it. The silence after the fill is part of the phrase.
Month 2 week-by-week piano focus:
Week 5 — Piano: Two complete choruses: one in pure support role (both hands anchoring, no fills), one in answer role (leave a gap after each phrase, respond to it with two to four notes). The two versions should be audibly different.
Week 6 — Piano: Practice right-hand placement: on the beat, anticipated by an eighth note, with a stop on beat 3. Stay in the 12-bar form through all three variations. Record each separately.
Week 7 — Piano: Voice leading through the blues progression. Play the I-IV-V movement using the 7th of each chord as a guide tone — feel the smooth half-step connections. Develop one four-bar motif in three rhythmic variations: original, twice as slow, notes slightly reordered.
Week 8 — Piano: Multi-chorus route. Map three choruses before playing: chorus 1 shells only, chorus 2 anticipated right hand, chorus 3 with developed SHAPE motif landing. Record the full arc. Does the route feel purposeful?