At its core, Caravan is driven by cycle motion — chords moving by fourths and fifths that create forward momentum. Before thinking about scales, focus on hearing where the harmony is going and how each chord leads to the next. Once you hear the cycle motion instead of isolated chords, the form becomes much easier to follow and navigate.

Dominant chords drive much of the motion in Caravan, shaping how the harmony moves from one point to the next. In this step, you’ll focus on outlining V7 to I movement with clear, melodic lines that highlight tension and release. Developing a few strong approaches to V7 to I will make this motion much easier to hear and play.

Caravan also lives in a minor environment, which requires minor specific vocabulary. Instead of falling back on theory, you want to develop short, melodic ideas that work naturally over minor chords. This gives you something concrete to play and will help you move smoothly between dominant tension and minor resolution.

There are moments in Caravan where the harmony stays on a dominant sound for several bars, and the real challenge is keeping your lines engaging without relying on chord movement. In this step, you’ll study 7 powerful dominant techniques from Chick Corea that show how to generate motion through rhythm, phrasing, and variation, allowing your ideas to develop even when the harmony stays the same.