Piano Week 15: Add 13ths on dominants

Weekly Focus

Week 15 focuses on dominant 13 color: adding brightness and motion at cadences without muddying voice leading.

Success this week means dominant 13 voicings sound intentional and resolve cleanly into target chords in at least two keys.

Repertoire & Chord Map

Primary song is My Romance, with Fly Me to the Moon as transfer. Keep dominant color focused on functional cadences, not every dominant in the chart.

Core cadence loop:

iim7 | V13 | Imaj7 | VI7 iim7 | V13 | Imaj7 | V13

Daily map task: convert each V7 to V13, then check whether the 13 resolves clearly by ear and voice leading.

Supplementary Listening & Ear Training (Required)

This selection is deliberate for “Add 13ths on dominants” and should feed immediately into your comping/improv decisions.

Weekly listening pick:

• Solar — Miles Davis

Why this track now: It highlights short-form harmonic pivots and quick key sensing, which matches Week 15’s goals.

Ear tasks (10–15 min, at least 3 sessions this week):

1. Listen once without the instrument and name the key center by ear (major/minor/modal). Then verify the key at piano.
2. Find one cadence or arrival point, then play: root + shell ii-V-I (or closest functional equivalent) in that key.
3. Lift a short 4–8 bar fragment by ear, play it slowly, and record ~30s so you can compare your hearing vs. the recording.

Extra challenge (optional): transpose your lifted fragment to the weekly priority ladder when possible (F → Eb → G → Bb → C).

End-of-Week Reflection

Which dominant 13 placements sounded musical and repeatable, and which sounded decorative but unclear? Carry one reliable cadence shape and one weak dominant target into Week 16.