August 3

2 comments

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE By Billy Joel

By Thomas Gunther

August 3, 2018

Jazz Piano, Pop Piano, Sheet Music

Piano Accompaniment Tutorial

Sorry, this post is currently under construction. Please check back again soon!

What you will learn as it relates to the song

  • How to accompany a singer or instrumentalist in pop-ballade style
  • How the chord progression works
  • A guide to how to create good sounding piano accompaniments in that style

About the song

The song Just The Way You Are is a famous pop ballad by Billy Joel. It features a beautiful chord progression that is worth analyzing. The colorful chords give the song an almost jazz like character.
The bottom line is that there is a lot we can learn from analyzing and learning this song.


Thomas Gunther

About the author

Thomas Gunther (alias Thommy Günther) is a versatile internationally active jazz pianist and keyboardist, music producer, and music educator. Born in Germany, Thomas moved to Chicago after receiving his masters in teaching popular music and jazz, with focus on piano and electronic keyboard performance from State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart/Germany.
In Chicago he soon become the principle pianist with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble let by Stan Kanton's music arranger and composer William Russo. Soon he formed his own bands playing piano and keyboards all over town and touring Europe regularly.
He has produced and recorded lots of music as a leader and sideman, appearing on over a dozent albums. He also offers music arranging and orchestration services. Thomas currenly serves as adjunct Professor of instruction at Columbia College Chicago where he designs and teaches courses for the Contemporary Jazz & Urban Music Program. The courses he has been (or is currently) teaching include Pop-Jazz Keyboards, Music Theory, Applied Music Production, Contemporary Arranging & Music Production.
Thomas is also the creator and owner of several educational websites such as PopJazzKeys.com and MusicTrainingOnline.com. He also teaches group and private lessons on Zoom.
Visit http://www.ThomasGunther.com for more info.

  • Hallo Thomas

    Your cords to "Just the way your are" are stunning and the instructions as well. Would like a sheet with all the cords. Is it possible ? I could of course make screenprints when the screen changes, but it would be lovely to get them in one sheet.

    Anyway nice work and have a nice day over there.

    Would like to hear from you anyway.

    Grüsse von Kopenhagen

    • Hallo Carsten!
      Sorry for the delayed responds. Thank you so much for your kind words all the way from the beautiful city of Kopenhagen. Yes, I think this is a great suggestion. Give me a few days and I will make the pdf available to you under this post.I will email you when it’s there. Best wishes from Chicago!

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