How do I play this? Different voicing a over an octave apart

[mattheww1718]

How do I play the right hand of this bar? I can’t reach from an A to a C a compound 3rd above!

[themeandvariation]

It being a pop tune, the ties needn't be so literal.  You could use pedal for the measure, which would be fine, or you could just leave out the bottom note of the RH chord - (the A below the staff). Either way is just fine.

[j_tour]

It being a pop tune, the ties needn't be so literal.

I think that's exactly right.  If I'm not wrong about music publishing, that representation is meant to be a printed record that happens to be in the grand staff form, that can be played on piano as an arrangement, with some fiddling around.  The publishing company pays people to transcribe the tune and put it into a legible format.

I guess you could just dance around the melody with your pinky in RH, but that doesn't seem like much fun.

Or minor tenth in the LH (F# + A).  (edit:  actually, I think that's the best compromise until the A has to be dropped to grab the bass line.)

But IMHO themeandvariation has the best solution:  just leave out the lower A in the "RH."  Or hit it at the beginning and just let it decay naturally or give it a touch of pedal if desired.  The sound of the chord is already well established without needing it, via the melody and the bass line.

(Oh, whoops:  for some reason I thought that was an F#m7,11 chord....looking at the chord spelling in the hidden staff beneath, probably not...well, whatever it is, the same principle applies, just down a half step!)

[lelle]

I agree with the above posters. Either skip the bottom A entirely, or let it go early and keep it with the pedal.