How High the Moon Tutorial
In this lesson we’re going to create a solo piano arrangement of the jazz standard “How High The Moon”, written by Morgan Lewis with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton.
Notable Recordings
The tune was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue called Two For The Show and has been recorded numerous times since then. Good versions to check out are the early version of Benny Goodman and his Orchestra featuring vocalist Helen Forrest, Ella Fitzgerald’s version, as well as Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson, just to name few.
Also worth checking out are different contrafacts over the song. For example, Charlie Parker’s Ornithology, Lennie Tristano’s Lennie-Bird and John Coltrane’s Satellite, where he reharmonises the song with the Coltrane Changes.
When learning a new song, I highly recommend to listen to as many vocal versions as you can find. It’s a nice way to sing and learn the melody, and also you will become familiar with the lyrics.
Related Lessons
For this masterclass, we will be using closed position voicings, meaning that the notes of the chord are inside a single octave.
In this lesson I explain what drop 2 voicings are, how to construct them and how to practice drop 2 so that you are familiar with them in all 12 keys.
Tritone Substitution is a useful reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression.
Practice Tips
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Spend some time to listen to well known versions of this tune. It will give you more insight into phrasing of the melody and the meaning behind the lyrics.
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There are a few examples of tritone substitution in this arrangement. Check out the Tritone sub lesson in the related lessons above for more information about this kind of harmonic movement.
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This arrangement also includes a section where the melody is harmonised in triads. Try taking these triads and using them to improvise to create some different colours to the standard harmony.
