Piano Week 19: Turnarounds and endings

Weekly Focus

Week 19 is about owning reliable turnaround and ending options you can execute under performance pressure.

Success this week means final cadences land cleanly, and your ending decisions are deliberate instead of last-second.

Repertoire & Chord Map

Primary song is Fly Me to the Moon, with Misty for ending transfer. Keep a small toolkit: three turnarounds and two endings.

Core cadence toolbox loop:

iim7 | V7 | Imaj7 | VI7 iim7 | V7 | Imaj7 | bII7 iim7 | V7 | Imaj7 | V7

Daily map task: choose one turnaround before each take and commit to one ending shape before the last A section.

Supplementary Listening & Ear Training (Required)

This selection is deliberate for “Turnarounds and endings” and should feed immediately into your comping/improv decisions.

Weekly listening pick:

• Stella by Starlight — Miles Davis

Why this track now: It highlights non-obvious key centers and nuanced cadences, which matches Week 19’s goals.

Ear tasks (10–15 min, at least 3 sessions this week):

1. Listen once without the instrument and name the key center by ear (major/minor/modal). Then verify the key at piano.
2. Find one cadence or arrival point, then play: root + shell ii-V-I (or closest functional equivalent) in that key.
3. Lift a short 4–8 bar fragment by ear, play it slowly, and record ~30s so you can compare your hearing vs. the recording.

Extra challenge (optional): transpose your lifted fragment to the weekly priority ladder when possible (F → Eb → G → Bb → C).

End-of-Week Reflection

Which turnaround and ending choices now feel dependable in full takes? Keep one default ending and one alternate turnaround ready for Week 20.