Performance Plus®: Jazzy, Bluesy, Cool, Book 3: Piano Book

Stepping into a smoky jazz club from the 1920s through 1950s. These pieces carry the languid coolness of a blues number, the infectious syncopation of stride piano, the sophistication of standards that shaped American music, and the playful energy of rags that refuse to sit still.

Pianists in the intermediate to early advanced range who are ready to engage with jazz repertoire beyond lead-sheet arrangements. This book suits students developing jazz vocabulary in private lessons or group piano classes, and works for those preparing recital programs that blend classical technique with American vernacular styles.

• Approach the blues pieces by internalizing the twelve-bar form first, then layering in the swing feel and chord substitutions rather than reading everything literally.
• Listen to classic recordings of the standards (Mack the Knife, Night and Day) before rehearsing to absorb phrasing and rhythmic nuance your ear can't extract from notation alone.
• Practice the ragtime titles (Hesitation Rag, Tick Tock Rag) with a metronomic left hand while allowing the right hand to breathe slightly; this teaches the push-and-pull of jazz articulation.
• Explore the chord voicings in pieces like Mirage and Moon Mist by playing melody and harmony separately, then combining them to understand how sophistication lives in voice leading, not just complexity.

Weave individual pieces throughout the year as students reach the required technical and harmonic maturity, or program two to three contrasting selections on a recital to demonstrate stylistic range without requiring a full jazz context. The collection also works as a bridge between classical training and jazz exploration, especially for studios that want to show families the breadth of piano literature.

• Reading jazz chord symbols and extended harmony
• Swing feel and syncopated rhythmic interpretation
• Blues form (twelve-bar structure and variations)
• Left-hand accompaniment patterns (stride, comping, walking bass)
• Improvisation within melodic and harmonic frameworks
• Stylistic articulation and phrasing in jazz idioms
• Connecting classical technique to vernacular music contexts