If It Makes You Happy: Piano/Vocal/Chords

This collection spans genuine hits across five decades of popular music, giving pianists and singers real songs they already know and want to play. The inclusion of 200-plus arrangements in a single volume means you have material for any mood, any skill level within your studio or ensemble, and any programming need without hunting across multiple books.

Flipping through this book is like having a jukebox at your fingertips; you move seamlessly from the driving energy of classic rock to the lush production values of 1980s pop ballads to the stripped-down authenticity of folk-influenced songwriting. Each song carries its original melodic identity while the piano arrangements provide enough harmonic sophistication to hold your interest as a player.

Pianists preparing for recitals, studio teachers seeking contemporary repertoire that engages students, vocalists building a performance repertoire from songs already in popular culture, and anyone performing in casual or cocktail settings who needs reliable arrangements of recognizable material.

• Work through the chord progressions first without the vocal line to lock the harmonic movement in your hands, then layer the melody on top.
• Pay attention to the specific voicings shown in the chord notation; many of these arrangements suggest contemporary jazz and pop voicing choices that won't sound right if simplified.
• Balance your volume between the vocal line and the accompaniment so the lyrics remain clear; these are songs people know the words to, and they want to hear them.
• Use the breadth of the collection to group songs by key or style within a set, which creates natural practice sequences and more satisfying performance flow.

Use individual selections as recital closers or encores when you want audience recognition and connection; the familiarity of these songs creates immediate engagement. Build a mixed program by pairing arrangements from different eras and styles, letting the variety showcase your range as a performer or your studio's stylistic breadth.

• Reading chord symbols and translating them into jazz and pop voicings
• Balancing melody and accompaniment in vocal-piano contexts
• Interpreting stylistic markers and era-specific rhythmic feels from written notation
• Sight-reading across a wide range of keys and song structures
• Coordinating hand independence when managing both harmonic support and melodic doubling