It might as well be spring

This is a really lovely song to learn how to play on piano from a melody line and chords – it’s nice and slow which gives you lots of thinking time. I’ve written a few steps you could take if you wanted to learn this piece. Remember that depending on how much experience with this you already have each step could take an hour or a month!

Step One – make sure you know all the chords!
Learning a song like this should really come after you’ve learnt the theory behind all the different chords, but for those who want, I’ve done a cheat sheet with all the chords. (To match the version in Budget Books Jazz Standards)

Step Two – play the melody and bass lines together.
Get really comfortable with the melody – you need to be able to play it freely using a variety of fingerings – when we add harmony notes in the RH you will need to be flexible.

Step Three – play the chords through on their own.
This is so you can see how they fit together. Try it first in all root position just while you’re learning the chords, then try for the smoothest transitions. (The bass note is always the root – it is OK to jump this around.) Work in a 3-4 chord block at a time, playing it a few different ways to see what you like and what’s comfortable.
Once you get pretty good at this, play it through as chords and sing the melody, but again, flexibility is key as you will have to adjust once the melody is introduced.

Step Four – play the chords and melody together.
Go slowly, this is tricky! Again, work in small sections at first and play around with a few different variations.

Step Five – listen, play, tweak, repeat.
Listen to recordings of pianists, vocalists, and ensembles playing this piece. Find scores that are written out in full and play through those – analyse how they transition between chords. Look at the different rhythmic patterns they use in the harmony. Play around with what you are doing, tweak it, change it, develop it. And have fun!

You can download the cheat sheet with all the chords written out in full:  It might as well be spring chords.

Learning the 7ths

Learning the different seventh chords can be tricky.

Before you start out, make sure you know your major and minor triads, and the maj 7th (C-B), min 7th (C-Bb), and dim 7th (C-A) intervals.

I do love tables and graphs,so here’s one I made that may help you.

Name	In C	Notes	Description
Dominant Seventh	C7 (V7 of F)	C E G Bb	Major triad and a minor seventh
Major Seventh	Cmaj7 Or CM7	C E G B	Major Triad and a major seventh
Minor Seventh	Cm7	C Eb G Bb	Minor triad and a minor seventh
Half-diminished Seventh	Cm7b5 Or Cᴓ7	C Eb Gb Bb	Diminished Triad and a minor seventh
Diminished Seventh	Cdim7	C Eb Gb A	Diminished Triad and a Diminished seventh