Easy Jazz Standards

In this lesson I’ll show you how to create a full arrangement of As Time Goes By using my step-by-step standards system. We will start with easy chord shells then I’ll teach you a more advanced arrangement and show you how to do quick chromatic fills to create a more personal style for your arrangements. You should do the My Romance lesson before starting this lesson. Finally, I’ll give you some “pro tips” to make your lead sheet playing sound more professional.

I will teach you how to play this song in a solo/cocktail piano style using an easy shells and melody approach. After we cover the basic arrangement I'll show you how to create fills and flourishes. We will also cover how to create an ending. This is a great introduction to Real Book / Fakebook playing.

In this song lesson, we will use our step-by-step standards technique (similar to My Romance) to create an arrangement. In three steps (plus analysis) we will go from melody to complete arrangement along with some advanced tips to help you apply these techniques to other standards.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to play Henry Mancini’s Moon River arrangement step by step while also learning how to create a flowing left-hand ballad style.

In this arrangement, the song What a Wonderful World is played three times. The first time the arrangement from Wonderful World part 1 is played. The second time through the song I play a solo and the third time, I play my own personal arrangement using chords and voicings that come naturally to me. The key to this lesson is that we’ve included chapters SLOWED DOWN by 50% to make it easier for you to see the notes that I am playing!

In this lesson you’ll learn When Sunny Gets Blues using my step-by-step standards approach. This is a perfect lesson for all levels, especially beginners. You'll learn how to analyze the song, which makes it easier to memorize, while also learning improvisational flourishes to make it sound more full.

In this lesson, we will focus on creating a beautiful arrangement using our shells and melody technique. Much like the My Romance lesson, this lesson will go step-by-step through the song so that you can see a finished arrangement using these techniques. Picking apart this arrangement and the techniques used, will be a valuable exercise for students of all levels.