Ways to Dive Into a Standard:1. Play super fast, then again at regular tempo2. Change tempo3. Try it in different keys then return to the original key4. Play the same melody with totally different chords(maybe even in another

key)5. Play it in different styles: swing, shuffle, samba, rhumba, tango, ballad, stride,

boogie, baroque, klezmer, R&B, funk, hip-hop, rock, pop, etc.6. Groove on changes focusing on moving the harmonies7. Play over changes with straight, continuous eighths or sixteenths8. Call and response9. Learn the lyrics, sing the melody while accompanying myself10. Play only a bass-line while singing the melody11. Play tune with only one hand12. Play accompaniment totally legato with one hand (piano)13. Listen to different musicians and try to play the standard emulating their

style14. Play only the melody and variations on the melody15. Choose five notes and only solo with those five16. Play only one note over the changes, experiment with rhythm17. Play the melody 18. Put a metronome on a really low tempo (click per four bars for example) and

just groove/improv trying to stay on rhythm19. Play melodies of different tunes over the changes of this current tune, adjust

as needed20. Take a passage from another piece and throw it over the changes to the tune21. Transcribe!22. Compose a solo23. Play the tune backwards24. Invert the intervals in the melody25. Isolate a small section and play around with it for a while26. Change the meter27. Play melody as part of repetitive pattern (ie. Scale or arpeggio)28. Try playing the piece in different moods (happy, angry, depressed, mournful,

sarcastic, passive-aggressive)29. Try playing with different techniques (ie. Loose wrists vs locked wrists)30. Take a rhythmic pattern and play it over the changes. Then play it with one

hand and solo with the other.31. Play the tune along with a drummer or drum track. Try to lock in with the

rhythm of the hi-hat, kick, snare, etc.32. Play the tune with the lights off33. Play as a medley with other standards/tunes34.