Get Happy: E-Z Play Today

This arrangement captures the infectious energy of a classic Broadway number while keeping the piano writing accessible. Students get to inhabit a piece with real harmonic color and swing inflection without drowning in complexity, making it an ideal bridge between "play by numbers" and genuine jazz vocabulary.

Effervescent and bright, with a melodic line that practically sings itself. The harmonies have just enough sophistication to feel grown-up, while the overall character stays buoyant and playful.

Pianists comfortable with jazz vocabulary and pop standards who want repertoire with substance beyond novelty appeal. This works equally well as a solo piece or accompaniment for singers exploring American songbook material.

• Treat the syncopation as conversational rather than rigid; the tune should bounce, not march. Let the accompaniment breathe around the melody's phrasing.
• If the arrangement includes chord symbols, use them as permission to voice the harmonies in ways that feel natural at the piano. Arlen's changes reward exploration.
• The comedic spirit of the lyrics should inform your touch and tempo choices. This song is meant to make people smile.

Program this alongside other standards from the same era for a concert centered on American songwriting, or use it as a warm, familiar encore. It also serves as an excellent teaching piece for students learning to interpret jazz inflections within a notated score.

• Interpreting swing rhythms and jazz articulation from written notation
• Voicing jazz chord extensions and alterations at the piano
• Balancing accompaniment and melody in a lyrical context
• Applying stylistic phrasing and rubato within a popular song framework