Workshop 4 — “Fly Me to the Moon”: Long Circle Motion, Major/Minor Centers, and Making the Harmony Sing
This workshop is ideal because the tune is built around a long, elegant chain of functional harmony.
The main lessons are:
- extended Circle-of-Fifths motion
- relative major/minor movement
- ii–V relationships inside a longer phrase
- guide-tone continuity
- melody as chord color
- improvising without changing scales every bar
- reharmonizing a standard while keeping the tune obvious
We’ll use a common concert key of C major / A minor.
4.1The basic harmonic skeletonA common opening sequence is:4.2See the entire chainWrite it as roots only:4.3Functional analysisIn C major / A minor:4.4First four chordsAm7 → Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj74.5The next four chordsFmaj7 → Bm7♭5 → E7 → Am74.6Play roots onlyLH:4.7Now add simple seventh chordsAm7:4.8The one altered note that mattersEverything up to E7 can largely live inside C major / A natural minor.4.9Guide-tone exerciseUse LH roots.4.10Smooth guide-tone versionTry to keep voices close.4.11One continuous upper lineNow try to hear a single top voice through the progression.4.12Another inner lineTry:4.13Level 1 — Melody onlyPlay the melody alone.4.14Level 2 — Melody + rootsAdd only:4.15Level 3 — Shell voicingsUse:4.16Level 4 — Add 9thsUpgrade:4.17Practical voicingsAm9:4.18Hear the difference: Am9 vs Am6/9Am9:4.19The progression is already rich enoughDo not reharmonize too early.4.20Level 5 — Ballad treatmentPlay slowly.4.21Level 6 — Swing treatmentNow use medium swing.4.22Comping rhythmAvoid:4.23Level 7 — Bass-line awarenessThe root motion already sounds like a bass line:4.24Chromatic approach to CSuppose G7 is moving to C.4.25Walking-bass exerciseOver:4.26Level 8 — Improvise chord tones onlyOne chorus.4.27Target the 3rdsAm7: C4.28Target the 7thsAm7: G4.29Level 9 — Use key-center thinkingFor:4.30One-scale-plus-adjustment approachFor much of the progression:4.31Level 10 — Chromatic approach notesTarget:4.32Important approach into E7Target G♯.4.33Enclosure around AAt E7 → Am:4.34Level 11 — Motif developmentTake a three-note motif.4.35This is a huge improvisation shortcutInstead of inventing a new lick for every chord:4.36Level 12 — Sequence through the circleBecause the roots cycle by fifths, sequential ideas are especially natural.4.37Level 13 — Secondary dominantsThe tune already has E7.4.38Before G7Use:4.39Dominant chainYou could turn part of the circle into dominant sevenths:4.40Use the dominant-chain version as a variationDo not replace the original permanently.4.41Level 14 — Tritone substitutionReplace G7 with:4.42Tritone substitute before A minorE7’s tritone substitute is:4.43Compare the two chromatic resolutionsMajor:4.44Don't use both immediatelyChoose one substitution in one chorus.4.45Level 15 — Passing diminishedBetween C and Dm, you can use:4.46Level 16 — Borrowed minor colorIn C major, before returning to C:4.47Level 17 — Reharmonize a held melody noteSuppose the melody holds A.4.48Level 18 — CounterpointKeep melody intact.4.49Level 19 — Bass as a counter-lineInstead of only roots, create:4.50Level 20 — Bossa versionThis tune works beautifully in bossa.4.51Bossa voice leadingKeep RH compact:4.52Level 21 — Waltz versionRecast the melody in 3/4.4.53Level 22 — Half-time balladKeep 4/4 but dramatically slow the perceived pulse.4.54Level 23 — Double-time swingKeep melody moderately paced.4.55Level 24 — Melody paraphraseFirst chorus:4.56Preserve phrase peaksThe tune has very recognizable melodic high points.4.57Level 25 — IntroA natural intro is to use the last part of the circle:4.58Another introUse:4.59Level 26 — EndingSimple:4.60A strong final A-minor voicingAm6/9:4.61Full first arrangement planBm7♭5 → E7♭9 → Am64.62Practice loop 1Am7 → Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj74.63Practice loop 2Fmaj7 → Bm7♭5 → E7 → Am4.64Practice loop 3 — The whole circleAm → Dm → G → C → F → Bø → E7 → Am4.65The crucial ear drillStop before every new chord.4.66Another ear drill: predict resolutionPlay E7.4.67The scale trapBecause the progression changes every bar, beginners often think:4.68Why “Fly Me to the Moon” is especially usefulIt trains you to perceive a long harmonic sentence instead of isolated ii–V pairs.4.69One-breath harmonic hearingEventually, hear:4.70Connect this to the Circle of Fifths diagramAt the beginning of the course, the circle was visual:4.71Improvisation challenge: no eighth-note runsPlay one chorus with a rule:4.72Another challenge: one rhythmChoose:4.73Another challenge: descending contourEvery phrase must generally descend.4.74Another challenge: only 3rds and 7thsCreate a melodic chorus primarily from guide tones.4.75Another challenge: melody fragments onlyTake a recognizable 2–4 note fragment from the tune.4.76Three levels of improvisationmelody paraphrase.4.77Reharmonization challengeTake only one four-bar section.4.78Style challengePlay the opening circle in:4.79TranspositionOnce comfortable, transpose the harmonic skeleton.4.80Transpose by function, not interval countingThink:4.81Your full workshop assignmentCreate four versions:•Workshop 4 mini-test1. What root sequence drives much of the tune?