Q about Sudnow Method

I want to use the Sudnow Method to learn his style of 'cocktail piano.' Since it will take a lot of practice, I want to know from other Sudnow students if, over time, you really learn to just look at the chords and melody and play?

It seems to me that if I just learn some of the songs by repeating over and over from the top, that I'll just memorize the song, and not really have a clue about the chord notes I'm using, even if I methodically figured them out at first. Do you really acquire a sense of rapidly figuring out the voicings with lots of practice this way?

The Sudnow 'method' acutally is a good way to get a starting point for many songs, especially slow standards.

You're right that he skips over the theoretical background. I would combine Sudnow with a good theory course. One you can do yourself is the series 'Contemporary Music Theory' by Mark Harrison (available from Amazon and many other places.) This is a 3-volume set of books that explain almost everything you need to know about pop theory. The books go very slowly, and everthing is reinforced with written exercises.

And, of course, you may want to get a teacher, too!