Hey Groovers!
I had the pleasure of performing an impromptu duet with @Lyndol yesterday at Brooklyn Conservatory. @Dan and myself were in town to record some performances of Lyndol’s own compositions and we decided to take the opportunity to record and share this beautiful song with our community.
We choose the song “There Will Never Be Another You” - here’s the performance video, and below you can find information on everything I play:
I hope you enjoy the performance, and here is some information if you would like to try this yourself.
Firstly, you must learn the tune
Our jazz standard lesson on “There Will Never Be Another You” is here taught by myself:
Much of my introduction is this exact arrangement, so if you want to learn it yourself, there’s the tutorial covering every chord voicing I play.
Next Learn The Introduction
You will notice that I play an extended version of the 1625 Progression for my introduction. The 1625, or 431625, is a beautiful way to set the mood of a performance.
Here’s the lesson where I break down that exact introduction, note-for-note:
After I play the 431625 Progression, I then then I play the final 16 bars of the tune and for the final 4 bars notice that I set the tempo to ensure Lyndol and I are both feeling the same pulse and tempo.
This is important because I play very rubato the intro, and so without setting the pulse at the end, it would be difficult for Lyndol to feel the tempo.
Next Let’s Talk About The Voicings I’m Using:
I use a lot of quartal voicings, which are well suited to harmonic accompaniment, you can find a dedicated lesson here where we explore the construction of these voicings and also apply to the tune “There Will Never Be Another You”:
I find it very difficult to teach how to comp. When comping live like in this setting, I’m ensuring that I follow Lyndol’s lead, filling in the space she leaves, and ultimately supporting her style and vibe when she’s singing.
The lesson above shows you the voicings, but without a lead instrument, or singer, it sounds very ‘flat’. So whilst I can teach the voicings, you must go out and actually try to accompany people to learn and develop this skill.
Now Let’s Talk About The Improvisation
Swing feel is something I’ve been working on for the last few years. I started off my own jazz piano journey playing ballads and so swing was an area that I neglected.
The key is:
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Listen to LOTS of jazz.
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Transcribe from the swingin’ records that you want to sound like
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Play along with the swingin’ records you like the sound of
I still have a lot to work on in this area, but something I find effective is to pay attention to how the masters start their solos. Then I imitate them exactly , and often use the ideas as a ‘spring board’ into my own solos. I find it helps me feel the groove, and get in the zone to explore my own ideas.
In this lesson, we explore a Red Garland solo, and you will see that I start of my solo with Lyndol using the exact same motif. More info on soloing, and transcription here:
How To Play In A Band Course:
This performance ties in beautifully with our course on “How To Play In A Jazz Band” where the whole course is focused around this tune. The performance video will give you an insight into all of the concepts in action. Check out the course here:
