Moonchild: Journey Through The Real Book

A jazz piano lesson to help you learn Keith Jarrett’s jazz standard “Moonchild.”
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Going deeper than just the notes on the page 0:10
Making the tunes “our own” 0:17
Learning how to approach jazz standards 0:41
I didn’t understand “Moonchild” at first 0:49
The Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett album 1:05
The jazz scene in 1970 1:38
Marrying jazz harmonies with pop/rock grooves 2:32
The vibraphonist Gary Burton 2:58
The Boston jazz scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s 3:12
The influence of bassist/composer Steve Swallow 3:29
The musical form of “Moonchild” 3:35
Getting a sense of the tune 3:47
Staying with it and letting it sink in 4:20
The path towards learning tunes like “Moonchild” 4:40
Playing/singing the melody 5:20
Absorbing the chord progression 5:37
The quirkiness of Jarrett’s music 6:10
A spicy melodic note 6:19
The value of repetitive practice 6:43
Embracing the journey 7:03
Beginning to improvise on “Moonchild” 7:14
Old-school ear training 8:20
A King Crimson song with the same title 8:55
An overview of approaches 9:39
Starting right away with the melody 10:30
Treating the beginning of the improv as an extension of the melody 11:31
Left-hand melodic motion 11:39
Using repetition 11:43
A change in mood 11:56
Letting the motif become the texture 12:18
Longer melodic lines 12:24
Softer, with a shorter motif 12:32
Adding an alto voice 12:43
Improvising on a motif from the tune’s melody 12:58
Harp-like arpeggiation 13:10
Morphing into stepwise lines 13:30
A very different kind of phrasing 13:39
Improvising with 3rds 14:02
Single-note improv 14:21
Descending lines 14:25
Simple, melodic improv 14:42
Reprising Jarrett’s melody 14:51
RH arpeggios under the melody 15:10
Harmonizing in 3rds 15:16
Contrary motion 15:20
More chordal 15:20
Returning to the opening texture 15:18
Coming in for a landing 15:55
Em11 16:05
Bringing “Late Jarrett” to his early compositions 16:12
KeyboardImprov video course 17:04
Let the process happen 17:18
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Thanks for joining me on this musical adventure, and please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this video with your musical friends.
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Enjoy the journey, and "let the music flow!"
Ron

[@TheOrdener]

Your “pep talks” are great. Staying with it even if we don’t understand it, living with it and eventually the logic will reveal itself; this applies to so much learning. The poem “When You Know a Fellow” by Edgar Guest seems to apply here.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Thanks for mentioning this poem, Mike, which I hadn't seen before. Yes, I'd say the analogy holds.

[@Zeesboy]

Thanks Ron, for lesson as well as the background info.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@song4night]

Fascinating insights, Ron. Pleyed with a beautiful feeling. Btw many years ago I came across a recording Keith did of Donavan folk songs, just on steel string guitar and voice. Very authentic stuff, not at all the Keith Jarrett the jazz pianist we know. I really regret not buying it, never saw it anywhere again.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Wow - I'd love to hear that! I'm not surprised, though, since I know he likes Bob Dylan and this side of him comes through in albums like Spirits. Thanks for sharing!

[@DonaldTamMisterDee]

The point that you absorb/feel the music for some time before you can improvise tunes that have unconventional progressions. For me as a beginner, I think the issue with improvising is sometimes not knowing what to play when I encounter an unexpected chord. But after some time of noodling around, humming along the melody and listening to people playing it, my brain starts constructing coherent melodies. I think it has to do with your mind getting used to/anticipating the chords in a progression. Great vid!

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

Well said, Donald! That's exactly right - as you've described it. Also, you always use chord tones. By definition, they'll sound good.

[@dwdei8815]

You are so right that I could not "see" this tune or work out what to do with it. Ironically, me shifting from classical to jazz was precisely not to have to "stick with" pieces that didn't have that initial appeal, as if jazz was a more throwaway, lightweight endeavour (which it isn't). Hey have you got any idea why the format in the Real Book is so different with this piece? The chords symbols are written below the melody (treble) stave in a "pretend" left-hand stave, and not above as on every other tune. Is that just a cheeky way to fill up the page? PS Thanks Ron, it's really good you do this.

[@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453]

The original Real Book was written by undergraduate students at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and was inconsistent. Perhaps the new publishers just kept some of the original stuff in there because it was easiest to do.