Insights In Jazz

John lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, where he focusses on playing jazz piano, as well as teaching and being an author.

The Book

John has written and published a book about learning hundreds of jazz chord progressions which can be bought from this website.

The Blog

John frequently writes informative articles about jazz analysis, arranging and performance.

Teaching

John is available for private lessons in playing jazz piano, jazz theory and arranging.

Learn more

The Bands

John is an established jazz pianist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He and his jazz trio are available for bookings (pandemic lockdown rules permitting).

“Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.” ― Mark Twain

Insights In Jazz Podcast

30. Remember

The Irving Berlin standard, Remember, from 1925 is analysed according to the method. Bricks used include: Chromatic Dropback; Cadence; Launcher; To IV n Mack (and Yak). Joins used include: Dogleg; Bootstrap; Sidewinder; (Happenstance).

29. Star Dust

The standard is analysed according to the method. Bricks used include TTFA dropback; Double Pullback; SPOT; 7-chord Pullback; To IV n Mack; To IV n Yak; On-Off-On; Cadence; Slow Launcher; Bootstrap Launcher. Once again, joins are hardly needed. The Bootstrap join is used.

28. If I Should Lose You & You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

These two standards are analysed according to the method and found to be almost identical. These songs are used to show how standards often visit common keys of I, IV and iv (relative minor) and the joins that are used to get between them (Bauble, Sidewinder, Half Nelson). The Slow Launcher is examined and its location at the end of B sections in ABAC songs […]

27. Misty

The standard Misty is analysed according to the method. Comparison is made with "I Want to Talk About You". Bricks used include: To IV n Yak; POT; SPOT; On-Off-On; Yardbird Cadence; Regular Cadence; CESH; Two-goes; Starlight Cadence. Just two joins are used: Bootstrap and Downwinder.

26. No More Blues (Chega De Saudade)

This bossa nova standard is analysed according to the method. The song is not in the book and so a chart is available on the Google Group web site. The song is unusually long, with effectively two ABAC song forms joined together, one minor and the other major.

25. Pennies Ending Metabrick

The Pennies Ending metabrick is introduced. This is family of 8-measure bricks which is extremely common in jazz standards. Most often it is used to as the last 8 measures. But sometimes it is used as the first 8 measures of a song. Many examples are given of the Pennies Ending occurring in jazz standards. Meta concepts covered include: IV n Back; Dropping b […]

24. My Foolish Heart

The standard My Foolish Heart from 1949 is analysed according to the method. The form is ABAC, but the chords are more complex than songs looked at to date. The metaview is discussed before the actual bricks of chords are analysed. Bricks used include: ITCHY turnaround; Bootstrap launchers; Launcher; Cadence; Body and Soul approach; Autumnal Cadence approach […]

23. Rhythm Changes

The chord changes to I Got Rhythm are the most common changes used in jazz after the 12-bar blues. This podcast takes a Metaview of "Rhythm Changes" so that the player can be robust to substitutions that might be commonly used. Bricks used include: POT (and variants such as SPOT, Rhythm Turnaround, Whoopee Turnaround); To IV n Back family; Rhythm B […]