My name is Richard Goodman.  I live in the suburban Philadelphia, PA area.  Recently, I landed a weekly gig at a Philadelphia restaurant.  If I have a philosophy as a cocktail pianist it would be that "less is more."  By that, I mean hat I try to play simply.  "Simply" does not mean elementary or beginner level.  "Simply" can often mean "effective."  I use a lot of rootless voicings in the left hand.  I emphasize melody.  I don't have the technical skill to impress diners with keyboard wizardry.  They wouldn't care, anyway.  I play a lot of Gershwin, Porte, Kern, Rodgers, Berlin, and he like.  They have done the hard work.  They wrote great material.  I just try not to to get too fancy;I don't want the audience to miss their collective brilliance.  

   I'm an unashamedly, cocktail piano geek.  I listen to lots and lots of this genre.  I love to discuss all aspects of this sometimes maligned craft.  I'm looking forward to virtually meeting all of you.

@richardgoodman

Posted by: @Anonymous

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"Simply" can often mean "effective."

 🍻 I totally hear you. Less is more. "Music is the space between the notes." - Claude Debussy

I'm totally new at playing standards. Currently, I have the lead sheet up on my piano stand for Fly Me To The Moon in the key of C. I just want to play it slowly as a ballad. Any advice that someone can offer me is appreciated. My left hand right now is limited to playing 7th chords. Inversions... well, I'm starting to get the hang of them. I think it's nice to have a place like this that I can refer to.

The founder of this site, Dave L., has lots of tips under, "TV Tips".  Kindly follow his advice.  At this point, I'll add my two cents.  Practice the chords of the tune by playing the root, the fifth, and then the tenth, one note at a time.  Playing the notes of the chord, one note at a time is call an "arpeggio."  Dave, in one of his demonstrations, illustrates this concept of playing the root,  skipping the third, playing the fifth and then playing the letter of the third, only an octave higher.  That note, that is spelled with the letter of the third, but played an octave higher, is called the tenth.  That should be a good starting point.  Good luck and welcome to the site.