Beyond The Arrangement: Playing Standards Freely

Christopher Woitach shows you how to move past fixed chord-melody arrangements and play a standard freely — making choices in the moment while staying true to the melody and harmony. Working with All the Things You Are, the course walks through every step needed to truly internalize a tune.

Playing arrangements and transcriptions by greats like Joe Pass, George Van Eps, Barney Kessel and Ted Greene teaches us voicings, substitutions and common practice. But on the bandstand, jazz asks for flexibility — the ability to play a tune however the moment (or your bandmates) suggests. That takes knowing the melody and harmony deeply enough to improvise your own treatment.

What's covered

• Taking the melody from a lead sheet and phrasing it like a jazz musician, with several Soundslice examples to try
• Examining the harmony in a way that makes it easy to internalize
• Several approaches to accompanying the melody, including an "off the cuff" Soundslice version demonstrating different textures
• The common-practice introduction often called for on a gig
• Two complete "off the cuff" performances — one swing, one Latin — showing the principles in action

For basic to intermediate players who want the freedom to play standards their own way, every time. Duration: 40+ minutes.