On Green Dolphin Street Tutorial
In this lesson, we’re going to create a solo piano arrangement of the well-known standard ‘On Green Dolphin Street’, written by Bronislau Kaper.
Originally from a movie with the same name, the key is C, but many people play it in the key of Eb, which we are going to do as well. Good versions to check out are of course all different versions Miles Davis recorded, Bill Evans version, Sarah Vaughan has a great one, also check out the great version of George Shearing with Nancy Wilson.
Pedal Point
Tune follows an A B A B2 form. The first 7 bars of the A Section is all played over an Eb Pedal Point. This is a distinctive feature of the tune. We will explore some voicing and techniques that you can use to bring out this pedal point and superimpose rich harmony on top.
PDF Transcription
Download the full transcription and print out the PDF which contains all the voicings from the lesson. We cover some interesting applications of quartal harmony to fill in the space when the melody or harmony is static.
Related Lessons
We explore inner voice movement over major, minor, and dominant chords, and then we will apply this information to a well-known jazz standard.
This lesson is closely related to the ‘Pentatonic Improv’ lesson so if you haven’t already, I’d recommend you check that out first.
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!
Practice Tips
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When learning a new song, I highly recommend that you listen to as many vocal versions as possible.
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It's a good exercise to sing the melody along with the records.
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This will help you become familiar with the lyrics and gain a greater understanding of the tune, the form, and how it is performed.
Hi,
Thank you for the tutorial it sounds beautiful.
I’m having a bit hard time on the 25&26 in the B section.
In the lead sheet the chords which are mentioned are Fm7/Eb on the third beat, and in the next bar the chord which is mentioned is Dm7flat5 on the first beat. However, it the tutorial you play a few chords which are not Fm7/Eb before you reach the Dm7flat 5 chord.
Is that some kind of reharmonization?
In the meanwhile I’m just playing the tune as it is shown in the lead sheet I play Eb in the bass Fm7 on the right hand with F in the melody, then I use the same voicing that you used for Dm7flat5.
It sounds alright but I would love to know/understand what you did in that section :).
Thank you in Advance.
Ariel
Hi Tuomo,
Never-mind I just realized that there is a transcription of the tune. I can read music quite well now after 1.5 intensive years of studying piano :). so I should be able to follow up with these chords by studying this tune with the transcription and tutorial :).
Thanks.
Ok sorry for a late reply!
Please let me know if you have any further questions!
-Tuomo