There are certain songs I grew up with, and you may have grown up with them, too. While I'm 38, the music I was raised on came from the 1930s and 40s.

Jazz standards. Big bands. Movie theme classics.

Speaking of the latter, my first jazz tutorial on the new ryanwelton.com is going to be focused on the theme from the 1947 Lana Turner, Van Heflin and Donna Reed classic, Green Dolphin Street.

These tutorials won't be a step-by-step look at how to play the song note by note. We'll leave those for when I show you how to play a pop song. Because this is a jazz standard, we'll just have to assume you at least have the piano basics down.

My goal as will always be my goal is to give you at least a little something new you can add to the song. That is, if you play it regularly. And if you love piano jazz or jazz with a Latin flavor, "On Green Dolphin Street" is a must.

Because this is my first written jazz tutorial, I'm explaining my methodology a bit more than I will in future posts. First, if you want to play jazz piano, go buy a Real Book. When learning or teaching a new song, I break it up into parts, measures even, if complicated enough. "On Green Dolphin Street" is easy enough though that I only break it up into three parts.

Part 1: Latin flavor and four chords.

You'll have Cmaj7, Cm7, D7/C, Dbmaj7/C to play before returning to a Cmaj7. And I'll presume you know how the song goes.

Lover, one lovely day ... love came, planning to stay

I tend to overexaggerate the Latin percussiveness of this first part, but I make the left hand part super easy on myself, and it will take you five seconds to pick up.

• When playing the Cmaj7, put a C and a B in your left hand.


• When playing the Cm7, make your left hand have a C and a Bb in it.


• When playing the D7/C, go with a C and an A in the left.


• And when playing the Dbmaj7/C with your right, just go with a C and an Ab in your left.

In fact, this whole first part of "On Green Dolphin Street" is about walking down from B to Bb to A to Ab. In the Real Book, there is a transition chord between Part 1 and 2 of the song, and it says A7.

I say, "SCREW A7." In your left hand play an A and a G, a 7th. In your right play a G with your thumb and then with fingers 2-4-5 play an C#, F# and A#. I call that my Stevie Wonder chord because it's exactly what he uses in "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," and you can use it anytime you have an A7, if you want to spruce it up.

Part 2: Swing it.

The progressions are pretty standard: D to G to C to F to Bb to Eb. I do believe we call this your basic circle of fourths pattern. The exact chords are Dm7 to G7 to Cmaj7, and I recommend you play the G7 with a big fat E chord in the right hand. It's super dissonant.

The second part of this is an Fm7, Bb7 and an Ebmaj7. If you already play this tune and/or play jazz, I'm not introducing you to anything new. However, in the video I've posted below, I did come up with a pretty salty bass line, and I'll give it to you note by note starting with the Dm7.

D, E, F, F#, G, A, Bb, B, C, C, B, A, C, D, Eb, E, F, G, Ab, A, Bb, C, Db, D, Eb

It's cut time, but you have to play it like one would on a bass for it to sound right, so walk it up. Play it enough times super slowly, and it will get reinforced into muscle memory. Promise.

There is a quick turnaround between this swing section and the next part, which is a repeat of Part 1. Dm7 to G7 to Cmaj7. Nothin' but a thing.

In jazz piano, you can always toss that E chord on top of the G7. Do so, and it will become second nature. Again, I promise.

Part III: The End.

So, you play the opening Latin part, and then you navigate the swing section, and you return to the Latin part. In essence, you then return to the swing, but it's really more of a song wrap up. Instead of walking the circle of fourths, you go from a Dm7 to a Dm7/C, to a Bm7b5, to an E7b9 to an Am6 to an F#m7b5 to a B7, Em7, A7, Dm7 ... blah blah blah.

If you're a player, this ain't a whoop. However, if you struggle with your left hand, this song makes it easy for you to make it easy. If that makes sense. When navigating from the Dm7 to the Bm7b5, just walk your bass line down from D to C to B. And then as you navigate from the Bm7 to your E to A to F# to B to E to A, etc., here's what you do: Play in your left hand the note of the chord. For example if the chord is Bm7b5, play a B in the bass.

Not hard to figure out, right?

Figure out the next chord you have to play. Hint: At the end of On Green Dolphin Street, it's an E7b9. Count how many beats you have between Chord 1 and Chord 2, and then fill each with a note in your left hand. It can be almost any note in scale.

I usually play the note closest to the next chord. And, on faster songs with a swing beat, I typically plot out a left-hand bass line by reviewing the chords, counting the beats in between them and writing a bass line in my head, committing it to memory. Memtal memory as well as left-hand physical memory.

Look, I know I'll probably get a message or two saying this made no sense. So, I'll try to end each of these with some takeaways, something simple any aspiring jazz pianist can take with them:

Takeaway 1: When you have an A7 chord, play an A and a G in the left hand with a G, C#, F#, A# in the right. Trust me. It sounds tight.

Takeaway 2: Here's a little trick for G7 chords in jazz: Play an E on top of it. In the left hand, stick to your 7th -- a G and an F. But play a big fat E with the right hand, and it'll sound like something from Bill Evans.

Takeaway 3: Write bass lines for yourself by reviewing all the chords you'll be playing, counting the beats between each and filling each with notes. In the back of your mind, pretend your left hand is playing a stand-up bass, and think like that instrument. Listen to that instrument, and emulate it.

In piano jazz, I have a serious envy of those guys who can run off solos with their right hand with proficiency and rhythm and speed. However, I hear all the time from folks who have issues with their left hand.

Take it from me, playing a great walking bass line is all about planning out your notes in advance.

If there is a song you'd like me to break down, please give me a shout by clicking contact at the top of ryanwelton.com.

Now, here's me playing the classic, "On Green Dolphin Street."