Under My Thumb: Piano/Vocal/Chords

This anthology captures Stones classics in an arrangement that respects the original melodies while making them accessible to pianists and vocalists at various levels. The chord notation allows guitarists and keyboard players to comp or improvise, opening these arrangements to different performance contexts beyond strictly adhering to written-out piano parts. Teaching singers to own these iconic vocal lines while working with a live pianist gives students insight into how great rock songs sustain their power across different instrumentation.

These songs carry the swagger and sophistication of the Stones at their peak, mixing bluesy grit with surprising melodic craft. From the dark, hypnotic energy of "Sympathy for the Devil" to the tender introspection of "Wild Horses," the anthology spans emotional territory that rewards performers willing to find nuance within rock song structures.

This book serves singers preparing rock repertoire for auditions, recitals, or rock-focused performance ensembles, as well as pianists looking to expand beyond classical accompaniment into contemporary popular song. Keyboard players seeking to understand how to voice and comp from chord symbols in a rock idiom will find solid models across these 27 arrangements.

• Anchor the vocal phrasing to the natural speech rhythm of the lyrics rather than mechanically subdividing the beat; Jagger's melodies gain their character from rhythmic pushes and lags that sit slightly outside a metronomic grid.
• Use the chord symbols to find colorful voicings on piano that complement rather than double the vocal line, especially on songs with sparse original arrangements like "Ruby Tuesday" or "Let It Bleed."
• Study the original recordings to understand the baseline groove and energy level of each song, then decide whether your arrangement should match that feel or take a deliberate departure.
• Pay close attention to the form and section breaks in these arrangements; many Stones songs use unconventional structures that might catch unprepared musicians off guard in performance.

Feature a Stones song as a novelty or crossover piece in a classical recital, or build an entire rock-focused concert around contrasting selections from this collection. These arrangements also work well in educational settings where you want to teach students about song form, lyric interpretation, and keyboard voicing using repertoire they already know and care about.

• Singing with rhythmic flexibility and conversational phrasing over metronomic accompaniment
• Reading and performing from chord symbols alongside a written melody
• Adapting original rock arrangements to piano voicings and accompaniment patterns
• Understanding song form in popular music (verse, chorus, bridge structures)
• Balancing vocal delivery between serving the lyric and respecting the original melodic character