In Love With a Girl: Piano/Vocal/Chords

This collection captures some of DeGraw's strongest early material in one volume, including several tracks that have never been available in print before. The songs work equally well on piano or guitar, making it a genuinely useful resource for students who want to learn contemporary music with real commercial resonance and strong melodic writing.

Emotionally open and melodically confident. DeGraw's writing favors direct, singable lines and honest lyrical content, creating songs that feel conversational one moment and soaring the next. There's a soul-pop sensibility running through most of these tracks, even as they sit firmly in contemporary radio formats.

Pianists and guitarists learning contemporary pop-rock repertoire, especially students who want to play songs they actually know and love. Singer-songwriters developing their own arrangements will find clear models for how to adapt full-band productions into intimate acoustic settings.

• Treat the chord symbols as a guide rather than a rule; many of these songs were arranged for full production, so experiment with voicings and substitutions that feel natural on your instrument.
• Focus on the vocal melody first, then build support around it. DeGraw's songs prioritize the lyric and the hook, so make sure those elements breathe even when you're filling in the harmonic texture.
• Listen to the original recordings to understand the dynamic arc of each song, especially how verses sit lower in the mix and how choruses open up. That shaping translates to acoustic settings.
• Don't oversaturate the arrangement with notes. These songs often gain power from restraint; strong single-note bass lines and well-placed voicings will communicate the songs more effectively than dense playing.

Feature a student recital or coffeehouse concert around DeGraw's material, either as a full set or mixed with other contemporary artists. These songs work equally well as solo pieces for a pianist or guitarist and as duets between a vocalist and instrumentalist, giving you flexibility in how you structure performance opportunities.

• Reading and interpreting chord symbols in contemporary popular music
• Transcribing production arrangements into functional acoustic arrangements
• Balancing melody and harmony in vocal-accompanied pieces
• Understanding contemporary song form (verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge structures)
• Developing interpretive choices within a published lead sheet