This Love Of Mine: E-Z Play Today

This standard gives pianists a chance to work with the harmonic language and melodic curves that defined the Great American Songbook. The two-page format keeps the focus on interpretive choices rather than technical complexity, making it ideal for students developing their sense of swing articulation and jazz phrasing.

Tender and reflective, with the kind of warm resignation that comes from deep feeling held in check. The melody settles into the harmony like someone remembering something precious, neither rushed nor self-pitying.

Pianists building jazz vocabulary and anyone learning to interpret standards with more maturity. Students who've moved past strictly classical training will find this a natural bridge into the swing and jazz idiom.

• Shape the melody with space and silence. Sinatra's approach depended on what he held back, so resist filling every beat.
• Let the chord changes inform your touch. Jazz standards like this one reward listening to the harmony underneath the line.
• Explore rubato in the verses. Small pushes and pulls of tempo create the conversational quality that makes this tune speak.
• Pay attention to the form and its repeat structures. Knowing where you are helps you commit to each phrase without sounding rote.

Pair this with other jazz standards at a student recital or jazz ensemble concert. It works equally well as a solo piece or as an accompaniment vehicle if a vocalist wants to perform it; two pages allows quick learning and multiple performance contexts.

• Reading and interpreting jazz chord symbols
• Phrasing with rubato in a jazz context
• Understanding swing articulation and rhythmic displacement
• Listening to harmonic movement to inform melodic interpretation
• Balancing melody and accompaniment texture