Internalizing Tunes: Learning the Harmony

Back in the woodshed? Checkout tips for learning the harmony below.

Step 2: LEARNING THE HARMONY

1. Play pieces of the arpeggios of the chords of the song using the full range of your instrument. No set number of bars on each chord here—just play until you are comfortable with each one.

2. Play the chords in time, with the same number of bars/beats for each chord as indicated in the chart. (It is best to use the accurate charts found in Sher Music Co.’s “New Real Book” series.) Try to use chord notes only, as much as you can. For this exercise, play the chord notes with soloistic phrasing, not just running arpeggios. Do this until you have memorized the chord sequence and can play through it without looking at the lead sheet.

3. This time add scalar and chromatic passing notes to connect chord notes (i.e., think of the chord but play any- thing you hear). Do this until the chord sequence has been internalized and you can sense the next chord before it comes up. This will give your lines a feeling of forward motion because you will be heading for the following chord even as you are playing on the current one.