Have You Met Miss Jones: Journey Through The Real Book

A jazz piano lesson on "the great jazz standard "Have You Met Miss Jones." Did you know that John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" was inspired by the Rodgers and Hart song "Have You Met Miss Jones?" Check out the beginning of this video to learn how he did it.
Here's the "Giant Steps" performance I refer to in the video:
• Giant Steps: Journey T...
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Ron Drotos: Jazz piano solo and musical/historical discussion of the Rodgers and Hart jazz standard “Have You Met Miss Jones,” which was a major inspiration for John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”
Intro; What do Richard Rodgers and John Coltrane have in common? 0:00
Overview of composer Richard Rodgers’ stylistic changes 0:15
Richard Rodgers early compositional style with lyricist Lorenz Hart, illustrated by “Blue Moon” 0:46
Richard Rodgers’ later compositional style (including an unintentional pun on the song title “Something Wonderful!”) 1:07
How Richard Rodgers influenced John Coltrane 1:20
The bridge to “Have You Met Miss Jones” as a precursor to “Giant Steps” 1:25
Major 3rd key relations in “Have You Met Miss Jones” and “Giant Steps” 2:11
Historical parallel between jazz and classical music in the use of remote modulations 3:36
An anecdote about Gerry Mulligan singing “Have You Met Miss Jones” 4:52
The importance of knowing a song’s lyrics 6:47
Beginning with jazz piano counterpoint in 2-part imitation 7:00
Adding chords to highlight the peak of the melodic arc 7:58
Improvising jazz counterpoint in rhythmic unison between the two hands 8:04
Right hand soloing over left hand comping 8:50
Developing a short rhythmic motif 9:30
Soloing with octaves 9:36
Inserting a chromatic iim7/V7 chord substitution, a la Art Tatum 9:46
Left hand shell voicings 9:57
Using block chords 10:25
Polytonality 10:35
Flourishes 10:47
Voicings determined by linear chromatic lines 11:10
Reharmonization 11:24
Returning to a lively swing feel 11:30
“Tagging” the last two measures 11:48
Ending with an unexpected chordal sequence 11:59
Quoting the tune’s melody, bitonally a la Miles Davis’ playing on “Bye, Bye, Blackbird” 12:06
Internalizing jazz concepts over time 12:37
Here are some more Free Jazz Piano Lessons for you at the KeyboardImprov website:
keyboardimprov.com/free-begin...
Thanks for joining me on this musical adventure, and please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this video with your musical friends.
If you'd like to start my full video course, you'll find it here:
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For Zoom and Skype lessons, please email me at [e-mail].
Enjoy the journey, and "let the music flow!"
Ron

[@j.p.fitting9226]

What amazing independence between your hands ! Incredible..neat Reminiscences as well

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks! That was a fun moment with Gerry Mulligan!

[@martoneill]

What a fantastic video. Thank you!!

[@meserretorcan1228]

Super! Thank you…

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

I'm glad you liked this, Meserret!

[@4cidj4y]

thanksk for sharing :)

Perfect!, beautiful 🎼🎹🎼👊🏼

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks for listening, Natu :)

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 muito boa suas interpretações para piano solo. Parabéns...

[@ryankcmusic5570]

That was the best 13 minutes of my day. Thanks for posting.... OK I’ve gotta do some practice now.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Me too!

[@greendolphin7085]

Very nice improvisation !
But I want 1 or 2 bars rests sometimes.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks! Each day is different :)

[@randyknisely8979]

Hi Ron, It's funny but I was just working on this tune havn't played it in a long time ( gett'en old) but have been approaching it from a standpoint of what I have been learning from you, lots of fun. I always thought the same thing about the bridge and John Coltrane changes, I also discovered the Miles thing on Bye Bye Blackbird seems as I recall him playing a c# instead of an A I think its on that album called Miles sort of an open woods with a green hue, l could be mistaken though, been a long time, any way thanks for the lesson!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Great minds think alike, Randy! Good timing with this video - have fun with the tune.

[@DavidSchneider123]

Hey Ron, I loved your improv on this tune. I was so happy to stumble on this video. Do you have an album? Or a Spotify page?

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Hi David - thanks for asking! I recorded an album titled Duets with a wonderful jazz violinist named Jonathan Russell, who has played with Jazz at Lincoln Center as a featured soloist. It's on Spotify.

[@felixaltrichter6096]

Wow !! So great.Im hoping to get close to this one day!! Improvising on this skill level still seems very hard to achieve to me.. Besides technical abilities...what helped you the most getting there? How Important was theory considering your improvisational playing?
Thanks very much for this.
Greets from Germany

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks, Felix! Great question about theory. Theory is like grammar. We have to know it thoroughly, but then we don't think about it so much when speaking or writing. It's the same with improvising, although most aspiring players let theory get in the way. Practice trusting your ears, and think about the theory when you need to.

[@felixaltrichter6096]

@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 thanks so much for this advice!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

@@felixaltrichter6096 Good luck :)

[@ingasauter-hartmann3084]

Hi Ron, I appreciate your playing, teaching and story telling. Thank you for the possibility of listening.
One question: Am I wrong, I cannot find the link to Giant Steps?👀
Inga

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Hi Inga, thanks for pointing this out - I forgot to include the link. It's there now, and I hope you enjoy it!

[@ingasauter-hartmann3084]

😊 Thank you, Ron

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

@@ingasauter-hartmann3084 Thank YOU, Inga :)