MICHAEL GUNDLACH

THE

COCK TAIL PIANO

METHOD
VOLUME

TEC
HN
IQU
ES
OF
ST Y
LISH
PIA
NO
EN
TER
TA I
NM
EN
T

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 4

Table of Contents

Explanation of Contents ........................... 6 ’S Wonderful......................................................48

Harmony – Part 1 Harmony – Part 6

Diatonic harmony.................................................. 8 Passing tones dominant (6,#5,5) ........................53
Basic rules of piano entertainment.................... 9 The ’sus’ chord.....................................................55
Leaving notes out.................................................. 9
Adding notes ........................................................12

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 1

Chord insertions – Part 1....................................57
Harmony – Part 2 Passing chords major / dominant seventh.......58
Minor passing chords dominant seventh..........15
Diatonic passing chords.....................................17

Fills – Part 2
Oh, Lady Be Good...........................................22 Fill / augmented triad with chromaticism.........60
Fill / diminished with chromaticism...................63

Harmony – Part 3
Possibilities for the left hand.............................26
Rhythm for the left hand.....................................28 Strike Up The Band......................................66

Harmony – Part 4
Altering notes ......................................................29 Ending “Basie-Fill”......................................72
Adding the sixth to the chord ............................32

Harmony – Part 5 Harmony – Part 7

The diminished chord..........................................34 Dominant augmented with b9.............................74

Fills – Part 1
Possibilities with fills...........................................39 Harmony – Part 8
Fill / minor7th chord..............................................40 The half diminished chord..................................76
Fill / major7th chord..............................................43 II – V – I – minor cadence...................................76
Fill / dominant seventh chord.............................44
Fill / dominant seventh #5...................................45
Fill / diminished chord.........................................46

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 5

Fills – Part 3 Cocktail Piano Christmas

Fill / Blues scale.................................................. 79 Silent Night.........................................................113
We Wish You A Merry Christmas.....................119

Summertime.......................................................84
Cocktail Piano Classic
Lullaby.................................................................122
Liebestraum........................................................126

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 2

Chord substitutions..............................................88

Cocktail Piano Gospel

This Little Light Of Mine....................................130
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot................................131
I Got Rhythm.......................................................91

Tips and Tricks...............................................136

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 3
Chord insertions – Part 2....................................95

Chord Symbol Glossary...........................139

Swanee River...................................................98
The Intervals....................................................142

Fills – Part 4
Fill / four-note progression...............................103
Blues scales
In All Keys ........................................................144
Intros, Transitions / Bridge
Passages, Endings
Secondary intros................................................105
Free-style intros.................................................106 Chord Tables....................................................145
Transitions / bridge passages..........................108
Endings................................................................110

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 8

Harmony – Part 1

To be able to develop your own stylish piano arrangements from songs you first need a good fundamental knowledge
of harmony. We will work step by step through this chapter on elementary basic principles.

Diatonic harmony

By “diatonic harmony“, we mean the chords that can be created using the notes of the normal major scales. We
will start with the key of C major and the accompanying C major scale:

C major scale

& w w w w
w w w

If you form a four-part chord with each note, or each step (scale degree), of the normal major scale you get the
following chords:

C maj7 D m7 E m7 F maj7 G7 A m7 B m7b5

ww ww www ww ww
& ww ww ww ww ww ww
ww ww w

I II III IV V VI VII

Steps (scale degrees) in Roman numerals

Almost all the chords that you need, to play popular songs, are at your disposal in the major scales. To understand
them better, let’s look at which chords are on which step (scale degree).

Step Type of Chord

I + IV Major7 chord (= major triad with major seventh)

II, III + VI Minor7 chord (= minor triad with minor seventh)
V Dominant seventh chord (= major triad with minor seventh)
VII Half diminished chord (consists of two minor and one major third)

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 11

1a CMaj7 Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7

.. j j j j .. CMaj7
&c
CMaj7 Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7

.. œœ œœ œ œj œ œœj œœj œœ œœj œ œ œœ

.. CMaj7 ˙˙ ..
&c œœ Am7 œœ œœ œœ œœ ˙˙ ..
CMaj7 Am7 Dm7 G7

.. œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ œœj œœj œœ œœj .. œœ

&c œœ œœ
˙˙ ..
CMaj7 Dm7 G7

.. œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ œœj œœj œœ œœj .. œœ

? cc
& .. œœ œœ œœjj œ˙ œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ œœ . ˙˙ .. j
?c .. œ . œ j œ. œ j .. œœ œj ˙
œj ˙ œ. œj œ. œj . œ . œj ˙
?c .. œ . œ. œj .. œ . ˙
?c .. œ . œj ˙ œ.
œj œ. œj .. œ . œj
œ ˙ œ œ. œ ˙
œF.Maj7 .
œGm7 œ .
FœMaj7
j j Gm7j j C7
Dm7 C7

&b c .œ
F. Maj7
œ Dm7 œj œ œœj Gm7 œœj œœ œœj Cœ7 œ .. F Maj7 ˙˙ ..
1b

œœ œœ
F Maj7 Dm7 F Maj7

. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœj Cœœ7 œœ .. F Maj7

&b c F. Maj7 œœ œœ Dm7 œœj œœ œœj Gm7 œœj œœ œ ˙˙ ..
&b c .. œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ œœj œœj œœ œœj œœ œœ .. œœ ˙˙ ..
? bb
& c .. œœ
.. œ œœ œœjj œ˙ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ .. œœ ˙˙ .. j ˙
c œ œ œ j .. œ
Jœ œ ..
?b œ. œj œj
c .. œ . œj ˙ .. œ . œj ˙
?b c .. œ . œ. Jœ œ . œj .. œ . ˙
œj ˙ œ. œj œj
?b c .. œ . œ ˙ Jœ œ . .. œ . œ ˙
œ. œ. J D7 œ œ.
j Am7j j D7
GMaj7 Em7 Am7 GMaj7

# .. œ œ œ œ ..GMaj7
&# c œœ œœj Am7 œœj œœ œœj D7œ œ œœ ˙˙ ..
GMaj7 Em7 GMaj7

.GMaj7 œ œœ œœ œœ œœj D7œœ œœ ..GMaj7

&# c . œœ œœ Jœ œœj Am7 œœj œœ œœ ˙˙ ..
1c

œœ œœ
GMaj7 Em7

&# c .. œ œœ œœ
œJ
œœ œœ œœj œœj œœ œœj œœ œœ .. œ ˙˙ ..
Em7

c .. œœ œœ Jœ˙ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ . œ
˙˙ ..
&
?# c .. œ . œœ œ œ. œ j .. œœ. œ ˙
?# c .. œ . Jœ J˙ œ. Jœ œ . œj . œ . Jœ ˙
?# .. œ . Jœ ˙ œ. Jœ œ . œj .. œ . Jœ ˙
c œ. Jœ œ . œj .. œ .
?# c .. œ . Jœ ˙
œ. œ . œ.
Jœ ˙
œ J J J
DMaj7 Bm7 Em7 A7 DMaj7

## .. œ j j j j .. DMaj7
& ## c œ Bm7 œj œ
DMaj7 Bm7 Em7 A7 DMaj7

œœj œœj œœ œœj œ œ ˙˙ ..

&1d # c .. œ œœœ œœ Bm7 œœ œœ œœj œœj œœ œœj œœ œœ œœ
.. DMaj7
˙˙ ..
DMaj7 Em7 A7

.. œœ œœ œœj œœ .. œœ
& ## c œ œœj œœj œœ œœj œœ œœ
˙˙ ..
DMaj7 Em7 A7

.. œœœ œœ œœ œœj œœ .. œœœ

? # ##
& c
c .. œ œœ œœjj œ˙ œ œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ
œ.
œœ
œ j ... œ ˙˙ .. j ˙
? ## c .. œ . œ. j œj . œ . œj ˙
? ## .. œ . œj ˙ œ.
œj œ. œj .. œ . œj
c œj ˙ œj œ. œj ˙
? ## c .. œ . œ. œj .. œ . ˙
œ ˙ œ.
œ œ. œ œ
œ. œ.

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Oh, Lady Be Good
Oh, Lady Be Good Music: George Gershwin
22

Lead sheet

G # dim
# c .
G C7 G A m7

œ œ   œ œ  œ œ œ
& . œ 
3 3

 
1 2

# j
D7 G D7 G7

 ‰ œ. œ #œ .. ‰ œ œ œ œ œ
6

&  w
Fine

D/F #
# œ.
C D7 C/G G
œ  ‰ œ. œ œ œ. œ  ‰ j
10

& J J œ œ œ œ œ

E m/D # E m/C #
# j
Em E m/D D7

& ‰ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. ‰ œ. œ #œ ..
14

œ 
D.C. al Fine

We’ll practice what we just learned with the song “Oh, Lady Be Good”. If you bought a songbook in which you
have only the melody and chord symbols to work on, the song would be notated as in the above lead sheet.

Parts of the melody can be played very well with the fourth sixth chords of the major scale. Because the piece is
in the key of Gmaj, we need the chords from the G major scale:

Fourth sixth chords of the G major scale

G Am Bm C D Em F #mb5

# ww ww ww ww ww
& www ww w w w w
w w
#
G

&  œ œ
I II III IV V VI VII

Already in the first bar we can use these triads in the right hand:

notated in bar 1: what you can play:

#  # 
G G

& œ œ &  œœ œœ
œ œ

#  # ‰ jœ œ œ
G7 C
œ. œ 
G

&  œœ œœ & œ œ J
œ œ
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 #  œ # ‰ jœ œ œ œ . œ 
& G  œ
œ œœ œ & G7 œ œ J
## 9and 10 weœ have the dominant of the key of Cmaj and must # ‰thereforejjuse
C
theœfourthœsixth œ  of the
23

 œ # œ œ . chords
G G7 C

& œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ . œ
J
& G7 œœ œ C ‰7 œ œ œ
In bars
C major scale.
œ & J
# j œ. œ  # can play:j œ œ œœ .. œœ 
G C
notated in bars 9 and 10: œ
& G7 œ ‰ œ œ œ J & G‰7 œœ n œœœ œœœ œœ œœ Cœ . œ 
what you

## G 7 jj œ œ Cœ . œ  ## G 7 œ jj œ œ Cœœ .. œœJ 
C

& ‰ œ œ œ œ . Jœ 
& G‰7 œœ œ œ œ J & ‰‰ œœ n œœ œœœ œœ œœ œœ .. œœ 
& D7 œ n œ œ œ œ J
# j œ œ œœ .. œœ 
C
# œ œ J
‰
& G 7 œœ n œœœ œœœ œœ œœ Cœ . œ  & D‰7 œ . œ # œ
G7 œ J15, the dominant can be #varied
As we# have already j learned fromœpage . œ 
# ‰ j œ œ œ
œ œ . œ  and Bm are.. the œ
# œthree## œœvariation chords, that can be
C
‰ œ
D7
In&the key ofœGmaj œœ the œ œœ œ œis..a D7œchord  and Am, Bbm&
in the right hand with three minor chords.

& ‰ œ
7 8œ and
n œ
n œœalsoœ inœ bars œ œ 
œ 16 and 17Jdue to the chromatic&melody.
dominant
‰ œ
#
used in Dbar
œ J #
D7

& Din‰7barœ .8: œ # œ & youD‰can .. œœ b n b œœœ

œ play:
7 œ œ
D7 œ.
notated what

## #
. œ # œ # ‰ œœ .. œœ bb n bb œœœ
D7

& ‰
‰ œ
œ . œ # œ & ‰
& D7 & D 7 œœ .. œœ n œ
# # j
& D‰7 œœœ ... œœœ b n b œœœ & Dœ7. œ  ‰ œ. œ #œ
##
D7
. œ b œ ## œ . j
j ‰ œœ .. œœ ## œœ
‰ œ b 17:œ
D7

& ‰ œ . œ
œ b n b œ & œ . œ
œ 
 ‰
& D 7 œœ .. œ n œ & D7
notated in bars 16 and what you can play:

# j # j
& Dœ7. œ  ‰ œ. œ #œ & DCœœœ77... œœœ  ‰ œœ .. œœ b n b œœœ
## D7 j  œ. œ
## œ . jj
D7
‰‰ œœ .. œœ ## œœ & # œ . œj  ‰ œœ .. œœ bb n bb œœœ
& œ . œœ  & œ . ‰
& D7 & Cœœ7.. œœ  œœ .. œœ n œ
# C 7. j œ 
In& œ œ  ‰ œ ..we find b œœ with a ninth# inCthe7 melody-voice.
œœ ba dominant  Thus the dominant with the
œ
Dœ7.. œ
D7 weœlearned
ninth,#which
two bars of “Oh,

Lady Be Good”
œ
œ . œ n œ
 on page 12, inevitably comes into practical & # use:
& ## . j
j . œ b œ & b  

& œ
œ bar 2:œ
. œ  ‰
‰ œ
œ . œ
b
b n b œ
œ
& Cœœ7.. œœ 
notated in œ
œœ .. œ n œ what you can play:

# C 7 # D 7
C7

&# 
 & # b  œ . œ œ
& b   & ‰

# D 7 # D‰7 œ .
what youDcan
œ œ
notated inCbar
7 11: 7 play:

& # b  œ .  & # œ.
œ œ œœ œœ
& ‰ & ‰ œœ .. œ œ

# D‰7 œ . œ œ # ‰ œœ .. œœ œœ
D7 D7

&Try# to putœ .into practice

œ œ that which you have learned from& œ . from
the#lead sheets œ “Oh,
œ Lady Be Good” before you
‰
& to play œ . œ œ
œ . the œcomplete & ∑
œ composition!
Tip:
attempt

# ‰ œœ .. œœ œœ #
D7

& # œ. œ œ
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& ∑
 24

Oh, Lady Be Good Music: George Gershwin

Arr.: Michael Gundlach

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 29

Harmony – Part 4

Altering notes

Single notes of a chord can be raised or lowered a half-tone. In technical jargon we call this “alteration”. In
this chapter, for the time being, we want to concentrate on the altered fifth of the chord. A lowering of the fifth
is shown by the sign “b” before the number (b5) and sometimes with a minus sign before the number (-5). An
example:

D m7b5

& b wwww

The D G 7#5 fifth is notated with a sharp sign before the number (#5), or with a plus sign before the number (+5).
raised
m7b5

&
& b# wwww
Sometimes we see a plus sign without a number after the chord symbol (e.g. “G+”). The raising of the fifth in the
dominant seventh chord adds a wonderfully
G7#5
new tone color to the music, very popular among cocktail pianists.
Therefore we want to examine this altered dominant chord more closely. A G7 chord with a raised fifth looks like

& # ww
this:

12 w
∑
G 7#5
&
& #4ww
ww ?
w
12 ∑
The upper three notes of the chord are played with the right hand and the root is played with the left hand:

& G7#5
4
&
G7#5 G7#5

# www
& # www & # www
?
? w ?
w w
The three notes of the right hand can be played in two inversions:

1st inversion
G7#5 2nd inversion

& w
G7#5 G7#5

# www
& # ww & # www
?
? w ?
w w
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G7#5
 40

Certainly the most attractive fill for many pianists is inventing his own little melody. The question naturally arises,
which notes can I play and how can I best put them together? The last example shown on page 39 already gives us
an indication: The notes of the triad in the right hand have been separated into single notes and played one after
another. A variation of the melody fill exists therefore in the use of the single notes of a chord.

Fill / minor7th chord

Let’s take a Dm7 chord:

D m7 D m7

&Dwwwwm7 & wwww

&Dwwwwm7
& ww
& www Dm7 chord& w
In a Dm7 chord there is, apart from the root “D”, an F major triad:

&w
Root F major triad

& www
& & www

& www
& www w &w w w
&w w
F major triad separated into single notes

&w w w

& w∑ w & ∑
& w
The three notes of the F major triad lend themselves very well to playing a fill with a Dm7 so we want to practice

& ∑
this extensively. Every one of the following examples consists of three exercises, each with two bars. In the ex-
amples 14a – 14c we will practice the fills in an ascending movement, while the examples 15a – 15c are given in
Fill / Moll7-Akkord
∑
a descending movement. Furthermore, in each case the examples are printed in three keys.

&
œ
œœ w œœ œ w
14a Dm7 G7 Dm7 G7 Dm7 G7

œœœ œ
‰ œjœ œ
4

& c ‰ jœ œ œ w œ
4 2

œ œœ
1 2 4 1 2 4 4 1 2 1 2 1 2 4 1

œ œ

?c ˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙ ˙˙
˙ ˙
˙ ˙ ˙
° ° ° ° ° °
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 57

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 1

If you analyze the songs of popular music, you will often find the same, or rather similar harmony sequences
(cadences). If you know these (and can master them and play them well) your own interpretation of songs will be
much easier.

Chord insertions – Part 1

Typical harmony sequences are often already notated in a lead sheet. If such cadences are not already available,
these can be created through inserting additional chords later and therefore enriching the song harmonically.
Let’s assume we would find in the music score a C major chord that was in three consecutive bars (key of Cmaj,
Ist scale degree):

C C C

The first alternative (in order to avoid boredom) would be to insert just one chord, for instance the dominant:

1st variation C G7 C

Instead of the dominant you could insert a sus chord

2nd variation C F/G (Gsus4) C

These two variations have already been practically implemented in “’S Wonderful” (page 50 bars 15–17) with the
chords Eb, Ab/Bb and Eb.

With cocktail piano, the dominant with the raised fifth also fits nicely:

3rd variation C G7#5 C

If you have one and the same chord over a longer period of time you can, of course insert more chords. So our
three bars of Cmaj can be augmented with a II. and V. scale degree:

I II V I
4th variation C Dm7 G7 C

In addition to the II. and V. scale degree, the VI. Scale degree could also be inserted:

I VI II V I
5th variation C Am7 Dm7 G7 C

It is a matter of personal taste as to which of the five variations are employed. You must consider, however, that
the melody must fit with the newly inserted chords. If this isn’t the case, melodies can be modified and made to
fit in.

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 98

Swanee River

Swanee River is one of those songs that display, in it’s original, a very simple harmony, as the lead sheet shows:

Swanee River
Swanee River Traditional
Lead sheet 1

j œ.
C F C G7

&c  œ œ 
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w

j œ.
C F C G7 C

œ
5

& œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w

œ œ j
G C F C

& œ. œ œ
9

J œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ w

j œ.
C F C G7 C

œ
13

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w

The song is in the key of C major and in the original version, uses the chords of the I., IV. and V. degrees. The ob-
vious suggestion, therefore, is to insert the new harmony sequences from the previous chapter. Although there
are only 16 bars in the complete piece, you can use this harmony sequence several times. If you analyse “Swanee
River”, you will find the harmonic sequences from the I., IV. and I. degrees altogether four times, in the bars 1–3,
5–7, 10–12 and 13–15:

I VI I
C F C

Transformed into the typical harmony sequence, the three bar cadence looks like the following:

C C7/E F F#dim C/G

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 99

Besides inserting the typical harmony sequence, we will also insert (in bars 3 and 4) a VI chord and a II chord
converted into a dominant (compare “Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 2”, explanation to the variation No. 5,
pages 89–90):

written in bars 3 and 4 augmented harmony sequence

C G7  C/G Am7 D7 G7

If you notate all of the explained chord augmentations in the music, the lead sheet will look much more interesting:

Swanee River
Swanee River Traditional
Lead sheet 2

F # dim
j œ.
C C 7/E F C/G A m7 D7 G7

&c  œ œ 
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w

F # dim
j œ.
C C 7/E F C/G G7 C

œ
5

& œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w
F # dim

œ œ j
G C C 7/E F C/G G7

& œ. œ œ
9

J œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ w

F # dim
j œ.
C C 7/E F C/G G7 C

œ
13

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w

Before you play the following piano arrangement of “Swanee River”, try to play through this second lead sheet,
with the new additional chords.

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 100

Swanee River Traditional

Arr.: Michael Gundlach

61

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 MICHAEL GUNDLACH
THE

COCK TAIL PIANO

METHOD
EXERCISES
VOLUME I N AL L K E Y S
1

TEC
HN
IQU
ES
OF
ST Y
LISH
PIA
NO
EN
TER
TA I
NM
EN
T

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The Cocktail Piano Method – Exercises in all Keys
Table of Contents

Harmony – Part 1
Cadence exercises ................................................................................................................... 4–5
Dominant with added ninth .................................................................................................... 6–9

Harmony – Part 2
Minor passing chords dominant seventh............................................................................... 10–11
Diatonic passing chords....................................................................................................... 12–18

Harmony – Part 4
Dominant seventh #5.......................................................................................................... 19–27

Harmony – Part 5
The dimished chord............................................................................................................. 28–29

Fills – Part1
Fills – Part 1 – minor7th-chord.............................................................................................. 30–36
Fills – Part 1 – major7th-chord............................................................................................... 37–39
Fills – Part 1 – dominant seventh.......................................................................................... 40–42
Fills – Part 1 – dominant seventh #5..................................................................................... 43–45
Fills – Part 1 – diminished chord........................................................................................... 46–47

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 1

Passing chords major – dominant seventh............................................................................ 48–49

Fills – Part 2
Fills – Part 2 – augmented triad with chromaticism............................................................... 50–53
Fills – Part 2 – diminished with chromaticism ....................................................................... 54–57

Harmony – Part 7
Dominant chord embellished with a flatted ninth (b9).......................................................... 58–62

Harmony – Part 8
II – V – I – minor cadence.................................................................................................... 63–66

Fills – Part 3
Fills – Part 3 – Blues scale.................................................................................................... 67–76
Fills – Part 3 – Blues scale / Intros and Transitions................................................................. 77–81

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 Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 2
Chord substitutions............................................................................................................. 82–98

Typical Harmony Sequences – Part 3

Chord insertions................................................................................................................ 99–105

Fills – Part 4
Fills – Part 4 – four note progression................................................................................. 106–110

Intros............................................................................................................................ 111–119

Endings....................................................................................................................... 120–133

Please note:

This PDF file contains practice examples from the book in all keys, except for the keys already printed in the
book. The sequence of the examples correspond with the topics addressed in the book. Because the notes of
the G flat major scale and the F sharp major scale are essentially the same, we’ve omitted the F sharp major key
in the PDF file.

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 4

Harmony – Part 1

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