My Old Flame: E-Z Play Today

Bittersweet nostalgia with enough harmonic color to keep things interesting. The tune carries the wry affection of someone remembering a past love; it invites you to play with warmth without sentimentality.

Piano students who want to play real jazz repertoire but benefit from simplified notation, or any pianist building a standards repertoire with limited reading time. This works equally well for independent learners and students preparing for jazz combos.

• Let the swing rhythm breathe. The written notation gives you the skeleton, but the pocket lives in how you treat the eighth notes and where you place the melody against the beat.
• Explore the chord changes during practice even if the arrangement simplifies them. Understanding the underlying harmony helps you make intentional choices about where to breathe and which notes to voice.
• Record yourself and listen back for consistency in tempo and feel. Two pages moves quickly, but the emotional arc of the song depends on rock-solid time.

Pair this with other standards at the same accessibility level for a casual jazz recital or coffee house concert. It's also ideal for students learning to accompany a vocalist or instrumentalist in a combo setting, where simplified notation frees mental energy for listening and responding.

• Swing eighth-note feel and rhythmic phrasing
• Chord voicing and extension awareness at the keyboard
• Lead sheet interpretation and harmonic awareness
• Balancing melody and accompaniment in a jazz context