My One and Only Love Tutorial
My One & Only Love is a jazz ballad written by Guy Wood. The tune follows a 32 measure AABA form and is usually played in the key of C major. The A section is very busy melodically with lots going on and very few sustained notes or rests.
The slash chords in the A section look quite intimidating but in fact they are quite straight forward once you understand what is being implied. Slash chords are used to imply that a specific bass note must be played.
Moving onto the B section, the tune is a lot calmer with much more space which offers a nice contrast to the melodically busy A section.
Related Lessons
In this lesson we explore how you can navigate over the minor line cliché using bass lines, two-handed chords and left hand voicings.
We have voiced minor 251 progressions with our left hand and so now it’s time to spread the notes across 2 hands to get bigger chords with more impact!
The Kenny Barron voicing is an minor 11th chord voicing built from 5th intervals. The voicing is names after acclaimed jazz pianist Kenny Barron.
Practice Tips
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The descending bass line movement in the A section makes this a great tune to practice slash notation.
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Remember that the bass note can either be played at the bottom of your left hand voicing, or way down in the lower registers of the piano.
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If you play the bass note in the lower registers, you can move your left havd up an octave and play a rootless voicing.
- This is a nice way to achieve a basic stride style and maintain the implied bass note movement on the lead sheet.
How would this arrangement compare to what you might play during a show? I understand you might improvise after playing the head, but would you play the head in a much more sophisticated way?
Hey Matt, it depends on the setting… if I’m playing solo piano it would be very similar to the arrangement in this lesson but as you pointed out, also with an improvised section. However, if I was playing in a band with a bass player I would be playing a much simpler arrangement using mostly left hand voicings. Hope this helps, Hayden
Great. Good to know.
Will you be breaking down those lovely runs your threw in at the beginning of the lesson?
Hey Adam! Yes sure thing we actually look at that long line over the the minor 251 in this lesson: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/half-whole-diminished-scale/ – it’s a half whole diminished scale line… the HW Dim is a great scale to choose over altered voicings and in particular over minor 251s. We will be exploring more diminished scales patterns and diminished harmony tricks in upcoming lessons. Cheers, Hayden
As usual, a step ahead of the game. Thanks for all you do. Cheers
I wanted to know if you could have a listen to George Cables version of this song on his My Muse album. At the end (6:25) of the song he does a little breakdown. Could you possibly make it digestible? It sounds fantastic and pretty simple but I haven’t been able to figure it out.
Hey Adam,
Yes sure I can help out with this.
I’ll send you an email shortly 🙂
Cheers, Hayden
Do these lessons come with a pdf of the sheet music?
Hi Jason, yes that right, most lessons come with a full transcription, chord changes, and midi file.