As Time Goes By: E-Z Play Today

Sinatra's interpretation of this classic remains the definitive version, and having it arranged for piano solo lets students experience how his vocal phrasing translates to instrumental voicing. The economy of the arrangement respects the melody's elegance while leaving room for pianists to discover their own interpretive choices.

Wistful and urbane, with that particular quality of looking back without regret. The melody unfolds like quiet conversation, supported by warm, sophisticated harmonies that invite the player into Sinatra's world of casual elegance.

Pianists preparing for jazz standards repertoire, teachers building a standards curriculum, and intermediate players who want to understand how vocal phrasing works at the keyboard.

• Treat the melody line as a singer would: phrase across bar lines rather than stopping at them, and listen for where the natural breathing points sit within the harmonic structure.
• The accompaniment figures work best when they sit slightly behind the beat rather than on top of it, creating the relaxed swing feel the song demands.
• Let rubato serve the emotional arc of the song rather than creating constant tempo fluctuation; the restraint makes expressive moments land harder.

Pair this with other standards of the same era to build a jazz program rooted in authentic interpretation, or use it in a classical recital to demonstrate how popular song and art song occupy the same emotional territory.

• Interpretive phrasing in ballad tempo
• Jazz harmonic voicing and comping
• Rubato and tempo flexibility
• Song form analysis (AABA structure typical of standards)
• Swing articulation in accompanying figures