In this first standard, you'll be learning the Henry Mancini classic "The Days of Wine and Roses." Be sure to watch "How the course works" to learn how best to use this course.

You'll learn the classic standard Blue Moon in this lesson. I'll show you how to go from a simple oom-pah arrangement to a fuller sounding arrangement by adding chord tones under your melody.

In this lesson you'll learn how to improvise in 5 steps. These five steps make it easier for you to create a solo quickly without getting bogged down with too much music theory.

In this lesson I'll take you through the 12 levels (I broke them into days for this lesson) and show you once and for all the steps necessary to play standards and lead sheets from a fakebook. This lesson should be your FIRST lesson before beginning my other courses on standards and fakebooks. The goal of this lesson is to introduce you to the levels and show you where to get more help on each level, so this is a great summary lesson. We will use the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" as an example.

In this lesson we will create a full arrangement of "I Loves You Porgy" by beginning with a chord shell exercise before learning the full arrangement.

In this lesson you'll learn Duke Jordan's "Jordu," a faster-tempo song that incorporates shells and stride-like playing.

In this second part you'll learn the complete arrangement for "Moonlight in Vermont" and we will break it down step-by-step.

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.

In this lesson you'll learn how to think of playing standards in layers. Each layer adds sparkle to the arrangement and you'll learn how to use these layers for maximum effect!

Learn the steps needed to create your first arrangement of a jazz standard. After learning the techniques in this lesson, you'll be ready to create your own first arrangement from a lead sheet.

In this lesson you'll learn how to improvise over the jazz standard "There Will Never Be Another You" using different techniques.

Using the song Everything Happens to Me (pg 85 Realbook 3) you'll learn how to add motion to your chords to create a more advanced arrangement that fills the space.

In this lesson you'll learn some killer voicings that I love to us for the standard "My Ship."

We start this lesson reviewing student arrangements and homework. At about 34min in we start working on the song "There Is No Greater Love."

Using the standard "My Ship" we will work on Upper Structure Triads. UST's (for short) are the life-blood of advanced reharmonizations and you want to work on these using ballads at first. This lesson will show you how to incorporate them into your arrangements.

Learn a full, rich and lush arrangement of "In The Wee Small Hours of The Morning" step-by-step.

In this lesson we will continue working on Summertime and add a bassline and improvisation. You'll also learn about rootless chords and how to comp.

In this lesson we will learn how to play a simple arrangement of It’s Only A Paper Moon using chord shells and bass line concepts.

Watch me create a full. modern-sounding arrangement for this classic song in real time. You'll learn how to add more motion in your left hand while filling notes under the melody with your right.

This lesson will show you how to create and weave your own solo using chord tones and enclosures. We will use the song “It Could Happen To You” to create our solo.

In this fakebook comping lesson we will be using the 3/4-time song Alice In Wonderland to cover some very important piano comping techniques. This is the second part of the lesson and we will cover the rest of the song.

This up-tempo Rogers/Hart jazz piano classic will get your toes tapping and is great for the intermediate or more advanced player. If you’ve gone through my Step-By-Step Standards series, then you’re ready for this lesson. Inside, you’ll learn rootless voicings along with comping techniques to get you ready for playing with the band!

This fun jazz standard is a great introduction to the world of jazz piano. Using simple block chords, you’ll learn how to play this arrangement in 4-steps. Geared for beginners, but valuable for all levels of player, you’ll also learn a simple stride pattern that you can apply to countless other jazz standards.

This lesson features a popular Duke Ellington tune. You will learn an advanced arrangement of this tune and breakdown the various jazz devices that go into creating a pro arrangement. Topics covered in this lesson include mapping the form, bebop scale harmony and theory, and the planning technique.

In this lesson I’ll show you how to play this classic song using an extremely easy technique. Perfect for students of all levels. It Had To Be You – Learn my simple method to arrange Jazz standards quickly. Learn how to simply the chord patterns to make it easier to create your own arrangement.

In this second part and conclusion of our Body and Soul lesson, you’ll learn how to play the 8-measure bridge, coupled with first 8 measures of the song to complete 32-measure form. You will learn the original melody and harmony as well as learn to use advanced harmonic devices such as tritone substitutions, diminished scale harmony, internal harmonic motion, and how to use motivic development in the melody. At the end of the lesson, you will have all the information necessary to play a beautiful professional arrangement of this timeless jazz classic.

In this lesson, we will be tackling the jazz standard Body & Soul. Learn how to play this in a professional way. This lesson will focus on the first 8 measures of the song. Learn the correct method for going through this or any other jazz standard and turn it into a professional piece.

This lesson is designed to help plan your practice in the lessons Cocktail Piano Basics 1 & 2 while you learn Night And Day. You might decide to watch this lesson BEFORE Cocktail Piano Basics.

In part 2 of this lesson you will learn how to learn the process to memorize jazz tunes. Also he will teach you how to transpose the song into another key. You will have a very specific practice guide included with lesson. This lesson is also great for ear training and improvising training.

In this lesson, we will work on the standard “The Days of Wine and Roses” and arrange various phrases of the song with some pro techniques. In the end, you’ll have a fully scored (and explained) arrangement of this tune. Concepts discussed include: chromatic approach, inserting a ii-V-I, using dominant sus4 resolutions, tritone substitutions, quartal voicings, modulation, drop-2 voicings, and reharmonization.

You will learn how to learn the process to memorize jazz tunes. Also he will teach you how to transpose the song into another key. You will have a very specific practice guide included with lesson. This lesson is also great for ear training and improvising training.

Part 2 of the lesson.

In this lesson, you will learn to tackle the standard “Blue Bossa” and arrange various phrases of the song with some pro techniques. In the end, you’ll have a fully scored (and explained) arrangement of this tune. Concepts discussed include: chromatic approach, inserting a ii-V-I, using dominant sus4 resolutions, tritone substitutions, quartal voicings, modulation, drop-2 voicings, and reharmonization.

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.

Learn how to improvise over the Charlie Parker classic song, "Blues For Alice" with a bassline and rootless chords in the right hand, and rootless chords in the left hand with improvisation.

Learn how to improvise over the song "Fly Me To The Moon" with different exercises designed to help you focus your improvisation choices.

In this second part of Giant Steps, you will learn 6 steps for improvising over Giant Steps changes. We will also tackle the Giant Steps solo in 4 measure chunks to help you master this tune.

Learn Burt Bacarach’s beautiful song Alfie. In this lesson, I will break down the piano arrangement note-for-note. We will only be learning the song in the lesson, no improvisation. There will also be little explanation of how the arrangement was created. The goal is to just learn the song note for note. The skill level needed in order to play Alfie would be intermediate to professional level. It’s pretty intense with a lot of notes in it.

One of the top requested concepts that students are interested in learning more about is improvisation. In this improvisation lesson we will focus on the standard "Have You Met Miss Jones."

In this unique lesson, I am using 5 student-submitted videos as a Master Class. You will see each student video followed by a response from me with tips and tricks on how to improve their playing. The sheet music for this master class follows the chord chart from the Green Dolphin Street lesson.

In this first lesson of a multi-lesson set, we will begin by covering how to improvise over Green Dolphin Street. This lesson is marked advanced, but students of all levels interested in improvisation can benefit from the chapters on how to make improvisation lines. Willie will also be conducting a Master Class in a future lesson based upon student input.

In this last step we will learn how to go from scales to improvisation. Using these simple exercises and concepts that I've laid out, you are able to create improvisation lines from the scales that we created in step 4.

In this 4-step mini course we will cover different ways to arrange, improvise and accompany oneself using George Gershwin's standard Someone To Watch Over Me. Step 1 is perfect for beginner and intermediate level students who want to learn how to arrange standards. But I like Gospel or Rock or Latin music, is this lesson for me too? Oh yes. These techniques are important no matter what style of music you play. I explain why in the lesson!

We are covering the B section and the final A section. The B section holds some very nice runs that are quite a challenge! I will also show you how using these runs under different chords will give you runs like Oscar Peterson!

In this lesson we will be using the 3/4-time song Alice In Wonderland to cover some very important comping techniques. This first part of the lesson will cover the first 16 measures of the song. In upcoming part 2, we will finish the song. This approach will give you the perfect balance between having a challenge and being overwhelmed, thus allowing you to really get the first part of the lesson down pat before moving on.

In this multi-part series, we will use the song Unforgettable to dive deeper into a multitude of concepts. This first part focuses on the arrangement of the song along with techniques to create an arrangement that has motion in it. If you are a beginner, there is an important chapter for the beginner that has valuable tips. Future parts of this lesson will be released in weeks to come thus giving you time to master this lesson before starting the next.

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.

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.

I've been wanting to do this song for a while! Take 5 was written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. In this lesson I'll break down the arrangement but we will also cover a bunch of improvisation and reharmonization ideas to make the song "your own."

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.