This song is my favorite cut by the late great Jim Croce, released as a single the day after his untimely death in a plane crash. He wasn't on the job long enough to rank him among the best singer songwriters of all time, but man did he ever get off to a great start, reminiscent of Buddy Holly's tragically short career.  I often wonder what great music we missed out on from both of them.

This song is another great example of my favorite of the 4 "essential feels" that we teach here at the "Piano Man Approach", the "Syncopated Feel"....or as we affectionately named it, the "Heartbeat Feel".  As do most songs, it offers plentiful opportunities to mold the rhythm pattern into a perfect fit for the tune with simple chord based improv modifications.  

The biggest challenge with this song is holding a solid tempo with the left hand while dressing up the right hand with all kinds of fun tricks, and some will be better off for a while simplifying that right hand to just quarter notes until it is rock solid under their fingers.....let's dive in!

Enjoy the masterclass of this song, and check out Jim Croce's beautiful master recording below. 

If you'd like to explore my piano method more deeply, my best students use my video courses and join me for conversation and twice monthly Q&A Livestreams in my private community...you can find it all HERE. Thanks.

If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube

If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube