Five Notes. Two Composers. Two Musical Masterpieces.

What could George Gershwin's Summertime and Bobby Hebb's Sunny possibly have in common?

Different composers. Different generations. Different musical styles. Different melodies.

Yet both compositions draw upon the same fundamental melodic vocabulary: the minor pentatonic scale.

In this week's Jazz Piano Skills podcast, Dr. Bob Lawrence continues his exploration of Gershwin's Summertime, shifting our attention from harmony to melody and revealing how familiar musical shapes, sounds, and movement can produce extraordinarily different musical expressions.

Discover why learning a new jazz standard doesn't necessarily mean learning new musical material. Often, it means recognizing and creatively applying musical vocabulary you already know.

In this episode, you'll discover, learn, and play:

• The surprising minor pentatonic connection between Summertime and Sunny
• How scale motion, arpeggial movement, and rhythm shape memorable melodies
• A practical five-step approach to melodic analysis
• How to identify melodic phrases and target notes
• Why listening, imitation, and internal singing are essential to musical expression
• How to interpret the same melody using ballad, swing, and bossa nova treatments

Plus, in this week's Question of the Week, Dr. Lawrence explores why changing a groove doesn't automatically change your melodic interpretation—and how to develop the ability to truly express a melody rather than simply reproduce its notes.

Jazz Piano Skills members continue the lesson at the piano with seven lead sheets, educational illustrations, and play-along tracks designed to develop melodic understanding, musical phrasing, and practical jazz piano skills.

The music must exist in your musical imagination before it can exist in your hands.

Remember, the goal isn't to collect more musical information. It's to become more musical with the information you already possess.

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Visit JazzPianoSkills.com to explore membership and continue your jazz piano journey with Dr. Bob Lawrence.

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Explore Summertime harmonic analysis with Dr. Bob Lawrence of Jazz Piano Skills and discover how George Gershwin's beloved jazz standard uses familiar harmonic shapes, sounds, and movement.

In this lesson, Dr. Lawrence examines the 16-measure form of Summertime, its seven unique chord changes, harmonic function, and common progressions. Discover the minor ii–V–I progression shared with Bobby Hebb's Sunny, along with the major ii–V–I movement found later in Summertime.

At the piano, explore four-note block voicings and inversions, traditional and contemporary shell voicings, and two-handed chord structures. Musical demonstrations with an ensemble illustrate how these voicings support the harmony and melody.

The central lesson: studying a new jazz standard doesn't mean starting over. Every tune provides another opportunity to recognize, understand, and apply the musical language you're already developing.

Jazz Piano Skills members: Access the accompanying illustration, eight lead sheets, and play-along materials through your membership.

Visit jazzpianoskills.com to explore the complete Jazz Piano Skills educational experience.

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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: harmony and melody played rubato. Learn how simple chord voicings, selective melody harmonization, keyboard register, timing, and musical space shape a complete performance.

Through three lead sheet interpretations and a final solo piano demonstration, discover why beautiful music depends less on the number of skills you possess and more on the musical decisions you make.

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