Goody-Goody: Piano/Vocal/Chords

This collection captures Mercer at his best across nearly five decades, offering a genuine cross-section of his artistry rather than just his most famous hits. The inclusion of both celebrated standards and deeper catalog material gives pianists and singers room to discover songs that feel fresh while building interpretive skills on pieces they may already know well. For anyone programming jazz standards, American songbook evenings, or cabaret-style performances, the range and quality here make this an essential resource.

These songs embody the sophistication and warmth of mid-century American popular music at its finest. Whether you encounter a playful novelty number, a lush romantic ballad, or a character-driven showstopper, Mercer's facility with language creates an immediate sense of intimacy and authenticity, as though the song is being shared in a small room rather than broadcast to a stadium.

This book serves pianists accompanying singers in recital or performance settings, singers building a personal repertoire of American standards, and music educators seeking accessible yet artistically substantial material for ensemble or small group performances. Pianists exploring jazz and popular music vocabularies will find the harmonic language and accompaniment patterns both instructive and immediately applicable.

• Study the lyric first, separately from the melody. Mercer's language is conversational and often contains internal rhymes or wordplay that shape phrasing and emphasis in ways notation alone cannot capture.
• Accompany singers by listening carefully to their interpretation of the lyric rather than driving the tempo mechanically. These songs breathe, and rubato should serve the storytelling.
• Use the guitar chord frames as a reference for harmonic color and reharmonization ideas, especially when accompanying singers who may bring their own stylistic sensibilities to the changes.
• Experiment with dynamic control in the piano part. Many of these pieces benefit from sensitive dynamic shaping that supports rather than overwhelms the vocal line.

Build a concert around thematic pairings: an evening of Mercer standards, a celebration of his film song work, or a program exploring his collaborations with a specific composer. This collection also serves perfectly as supplementary material for jazz ensemble singers or pianists, or as a performance repertoire book for studio instructors preparing students for recitals and competitions.

• Interpreting lyrical content and translating it into musical phrasing and dynamics
• Reading and accompanying from lead sheets with chord symbols and guitar frames
• Understanding harmonic language across the American songbook and popular music idioms
• Developing sensitivity to rubato and expressive timing in accompaniment
• Sight-reading and arranging unprepared material using chord charts as a foundation