How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky): Piano Vocal

McCorkle's reading of this Irving Berlin standard strips away sentimentality without losing warmth. The piano voicings support a vocalist who understands how to phrase through a lyric rather than simply decorate it, making this a valuable study in restraint and clarity for singers working toward maturity in their interpretation.

Philosophical but not heavy; curious rather than yearning. The melody unfolds with the quality of someone genuinely puzzling through a question about love and measurement, sitting with another person rather than performing at them. The three pages contain room for both vulnerability and vocal clarity.

This arrangement serves singers in their second or third year of jazz study who can handle harmonic complexity and understand the difference between stylistic phrasing and careless rhythm. It works equally well in a vocal jazz ensemble setting or as a solo vehicle for a recital.

• Let the piano introduction breathe; resist rushing into the melody. McCorkle's interpretations always honored the space the accompaniment created.
• Shape the vocal line through legit legit phrasing rather than jazz rubato in the opening section. The lyrical quality depends on clean articulation of the text.
• Balance the intimacy of the vocal against the harmonic richness underneath. The piano voicings deserve audibility without overwhelming the singer's presence.
• Pay attention to the relationship between repeated phrases; small dynamic shifts can reveal how the meaning deepens as the lyric revisits its central question.

Position this in a set of standard ballads where its understated quality becomes an asset. Following it with a more rhythmically propulsive number creates effective contrast; preceding it with instrumental piano pieces establishes the harmonic language the vocalist will inhabit.

• Phrasing through harmonic changes without over-embellishing
• Balance between vocal presence and piano accompaniment
• Lyrical interpretation of romantic text without sentimentality
• Reading jazz chord symbols and understanding harmonic density
• Sustaining vocal line over shifting piano voicings