How To Read Lead Sheets Tutorial “Moon River”
In this lesson lesson we provide an introduction on how to read lead sheets for jazz piano using the delightful jazz waltz “Moon River”.
“Moon River” is an accessible tune for beginners as the harmony of the song is simple and written in the key of C Major.
The Layout Of Lead Sheets
Unlike classical piano notation, lead sheets usually contain one staff of which shows an approximation of the melody. The chord symbols are placed above the staff which indicates what chord should be played for each bar.
Freedom Of Interpretation
If you are coming from a classical background, learning to interpret lead sheets will be an initial challenge. This is because we are given a lot of creative freedom to interpret (or completely change!) the melody, chords, voicings, and phrasing etc…
The A Section of Moon River
In this lesson we focus on the A Section or the first 8 bars of Moon River. Check out our other beginner course “Reading Lead Sheets For Beginners” which contains a step-by-step series of lessons where we arrange the entire song “Moon River”.
Related Lessons
We introduce the “9th” chord extension and left-hand 10ths to create fuller sounding chord voicings with a strong harmonic foundation.
We explore chord voicing techniques for the C section of “Moon River” and consolidate the overall structure and form of the tune.
We play the roots in our left hand, the melody in our right hand, and focusing on the selection of the 3rds and 7ths somewhere in between.
Practice Tips
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Before diving into more complex seventh chords, ensure you're comfortable with basic triads. Practice playing the triads for each chord in the song.
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Once you're comfortable with triads, start introducing seventh chords. Understand how they add depth and richness to the music. Practice these chords separately before integrating them into the song.
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Spend time learning to interpret the chord symbols on the lead sheet. Knowing what each symbol represents is crucial for playing jazz piano effectively.
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Work on the three-note spread voicings technique. Begin by isolating the root, third, and seventh of each chord. Experiment with different voicing options and listen to how they change the sound.
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Try to memorise small sections of "Moon River," such as the first eight bars. This will not only improve your memory but also help you understand the song's structure.
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Listen to various versions of "Moon River" by different artists. Notice how each pianist interprets the melody and harmony, and try to incorporate elements that you like into your playing.
I think you really, really want to link this in here and make it well known that there’s more course material on this standard following on from this! https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/lead-sheets-for-beginners/
I only knew this because I’d navigated to that course before, I wouldn’t have known otherwise and found it hard to find again
Hi Thomas 👋
Thanks for this great suggestion and for posting the link here – I have added another link to the course in the lesson description above.
Also, we have more lessons on Moon River for intermediate level. You can find these using the search box, for example: https://www.pianogroove.com/?s=moon+river
The search box on the website is super handy for finding lessons that cover a specific tune or theory area.
Enjoy the lessons and talk soon!
Hayden
How does a beginner organize their practice time. I am a beginner and as I glance ahead I get anxious to be able to play all the bells and whistles. I’ve listened to all up to first half of Moon River.
Hi Jacqueline 👋
I created a seminar here on how to structure our practice time. This seminar should answer all of your questions with how and what to practice as a beginner jazz piano student:
https://www.pianogroove.com/live-seminars/how-what-to-practice/
If you have any specific questions with regards to practice, you can post them on the seminar page above. On a related note, always read the comments on the lesson and seminar pages, as there are lots of useful Q&As in the lesson page comment sections.
In the seminar I explain that you should spend 50% of your daily practice time on jazz standards, and so select 2 of 3 more jazz standards to work on. Here are 2 recommendations for you:
The Nearness Of You:
https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/nearness-of-you-for-beginners/
Pure Imagination:
https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/pure-imagination-for-beginners/
So now you have 3 different jazz standards to work on which are: Moon River, Pure Imagination, and Nearness Of You, and that will give you 3 songs in 3 different keys (C Major, Eb Major, and F Major).
Make sure that you spend 15 minuets each day on each of the 3 songs (45 minutes per day total on jazz standard practice) and in the space of a few weeks, the voicing techniques will feel much more comfortable. Make sure you have consistent practice and revisit the songs each day.
Also spend 45 miniutes per day on theory drills, as outlined in my seminar above.
For the 45 minutes of theory drills (3 x 15 minute slots) – I would recommend:
15 minutes on the “essentials practice guide”: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/essentials-practice-guide-simplified/
15 minutes on the “3-note 251 drill” here: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/251-progression-with-3-note-voicings/
and then 15 minutes and anything that you are interested in.
I guarantee that you will see rapid improvement with that approach – as long as you stick to it on a daily basis!
Enjoy the lessons.
Talk soon,
Hayden
Hi Hayden,
I’m currently doing this lesson as a part of “Jazz Piano Foundations” course. In this lesson, you mention the B section a few times, which I can see under the “related lessons”, however, the B section of Moon River is not part of the “Jazz Piano Foundations” course. Is this intentional? Does it mean that you recommend skipping the B section for now if a person is doing this lesson as a part of “Jazz Piano Foundations” course?
Hi David,
Yes the rest of the “Moon River” lessons can be found in a dedicated course here: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/lead-sheets-for-beginners/ – this course contains lessons on each section of “Moon River” and also beginner tutorials on the tune “Fly Me To The Moon”.
I recommend that beginner students study this course in combination with the theory lessons found here in the Jazz Piano Foundations Course.
We are currently making some changes to the website structure, and adding more beginner-focused courses, and this will be completed in the coming week.
Once these changes are finished I will make it clearer that the foundations course should be studied in tandem with the other beginner jazz standard courses. There will be a new page on the Pro Dashboard which is called “Start Here” and this will explain exactly how to work through the beginner courses.
In the interim, please get started with the dedicated course on Moon River. I recommend to spend 50% of your practice time on theory drills in the foundations course, and 50% of you time on learning the jazz standard arrangements.
Please let me know if I can help further or if you have any other questions.
Talk soon,
Hayden
Hi Hayden,
thank you for a quick and clear reply and my apologies for the late response :).
Just out of curiosity – it seems like “pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/reading-lead-sheets-moon-river/” and “pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/how-to-read-lead-sheets-moon-river/” are the same videos under different courses… Are you planning on introducing a feature where the progress bar will be updated in all the courses that share the same video?
My pleasure, David.
Yes that’s a good point about lessons being in multiple courses. In fact this is only the case for 2 videos on the entire website…. this one, and also the “how to play shell voicings” lesson in the foundations course.
My initial reasoning was to provide a little jazz standard application in the foundations course, and then allow the students to study the full course if the tune is of interest to them, but I appreciate that having the duplicate first lesson in this course could be confusing.
Leave it with me and I will find a solution. I think the best solution is simply to remove this lesson from the foundations course and direct students to the full course.
Talk soon,
Hayden
Hi Hayden,
I have a question on the Bm7(flat 5) to E7 in the Moon River. It is mentioned that it is a 2-5. However according to the 251 chart it should be Bm7 to E7, without the flat 5. So I cannot figure out is it the same. If anyone could answer me thanks.
Hi Flo,
Great question!
This is a minor 251 progression because the 1 chord, or the point of resolution, is a minor chord (A-7) and not a major chord. We have B-7b5, to E7, to A-7.
For minor 251 progressions, the 2 chord, in this case B minor chord, is most often played as a B-7b5. Whereas, in major 251 progressions, the 2 chord will usually be a regular minor 7 chord, without the b5.
I don’t explain this specifically in the lesson in order to keep the lesson focused on the topic (3-note spread voicings) and also not to give too much information to beginner students.
We have a dedicated lesson on the minor 251 progression here: https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/minor-251-progression/
Ultimately, B-7 and B-7b5 are very similar in that the 3rd and the 7th are the same. Remember that the 3rd and 7th are the most important tones of any chord, as these 2 tones determine whether the chord is major, minor, or dominant.
When we add the b5 to a minor chord, it’s still a minor chord, but it creates a slightly ‘darker character’ which works better harmonically in minor 251 progressions.
For now, you don’t need to worry about this too much. If you are a complete beginner student with jazz piano then focus on learning some jazz standards and building out your repertoire.
But by all means check out the minor 251 lesson above, and this will give you some information on what is to come in the upcoming courses.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Talk soon,
Hayden
Thanks Hayden! That is useful!
Wow, I was doing an Abbott and Costello imitation on that B7b5 measure to the E7 – who’s on first, what’s on second. I actually thought they meant the A was the 7th of B and simultaneously the 5th of the D. Then he goes on to state, I thought, that ‘dual use’ of a pitch was explained in the Foundations course. Say what? I’m in the foundation’s course. Lol Telling us now we have to bring in the hidden A in the next measure recentered my World. Thanks. Enjoying the course., btw.