Jazzed Up! Folk Songs: Late Intermediate Piano Book

Olson nails the balance between respect for the source material and genuine stylistic transformation. Students recognize these folk melodies instantly, then discover they can swing them, blues them, and make them their own, which is exactly the kind of aha moment that keeps kids engaged with piano.

Familiar folk songs suddenly come alive with swing rhythms, walking bass lines, and bluesy harmonies. There's a relaxed confidence to the writing, a sense that you're not conquering difficult music but rather learning to speak a new musical dialect.

Late intermediate pianists ready to move beyond classical technique into interpretive playing where style and feel matter as much as accuracy. This book works equally well for teenagers discovering jazz for the first time and adult students looking to expand beyond their formal training.

• Pay attention to the swing articulation markings. These aren't straight eighths; the groove depends on how you interpret the triplet feel.
• Lock the left hand groove patterns first, then layer the melody. The rhythmic foundation needs to sit solidly before you add color to the top line.
• Experiment with dynamics within the jazz phrasing. Even a short eight-bar phrase has room for subtle swell and release if you listen for the natural breathing points.
• Record yourself playing through once, then listen back with fresh ears. Jazz arrangements reveal their weaknesses and strengths differently than classical pieces do.

Pull these arrangements out when you need a bridge between a classical-heavy concert and contemporary programming. They work beautifully in a showcase where you want to highlight stylistic range, or use them as supplementary material throughout the year to keep students excited about their core technical studies.

• Reading and executing swing rhythms and triplet-based subdivisions
• Understanding jazz voicing and reharmonization of melody lines
• Accompanying skills with walking bass and comping patterns
• Blues scale and blues melody ornamentation
• Interpreting jazz articulation and dynamic phrasing
• Listening and responding to rhythmic feel rather than relying solely on notation