Jazz Gems: Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 13 [Paperback] Review

Somehow they managed to simplify the arrangements so that they still sound professional, but not so tricky that onlya gifted few can play them. I have many sheet music transcriptions of Bill Evan, Chick Corea, Mehegan jazz studies, etc that I purchased over the years, but most are so technically challenging that you can forget about getting in a relaxed groove, so I ended up just playing some playable classical sheet music from time to time to keep in practice. But this jazz piano series of Hal Leonard has really filled a need, in my opinion.

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Product Description:
21 jazz classics arranged for solo piano with chord names: All Too Soon * Confirmation * Don't Explain * Line for Lyons * Little Sunflower * Naima (Niema) * A Night in Tunisia * Nuages * Spain * Stablemates * Stolen Moments * Topsy * Two Bass Hit * and more.

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BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY PIANO/VOCAL (Piano Vocal) [Paperback] Review

This collection gives us a remarkable cross-section of his work; from On The Town to West Side Story through to rareties from Peter Pan and even Madwoman of Central Park West. For a "Lenny" freak, and for a serious musical theatre lover, this collection is an imperative. Unfortunately, it is currently out of print. Bad move, Boosey. If you are a musical theatre lover, and you can get a copy of this...do so, now!!!

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Product Description:
30 songs from Leonard Bernstein's revered Broadway shows, including West Side Story, Candide, On the Town, Wonderful Town, Peter Pan, and more, with plot notes, insightful facts, quotes from Bernstein and a bio. Includes a foreword by conductor John Mauceri, and the hits: America * I Feel Pretty * Lonely Town * Maria * New York, New York * Ohio * One Hand, One Heart * Somewhere * Tonight * and more.

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Stride Hanon: 50 Exercises for the Beginning to Professional Pianist (Musicians Institute Private Lessons) [Paperback] Review

I purchase three "jazz Hanon" books when I hit my first wall (after about three months) of jazz piano study. This book helped me break through that wall. Especially, being new to jazz, I barely had an understanding of what "stride" meant, and I certainly couldn't play it. This book starts slow with relatively simple, major-minor exercises. Before long, the book has you going up, down, and all around a lot of different areas of the register I'd never really even thought of playing on before. Eventually, as one might expect, I got tired of the "boom-dah, boom-dah" of the exercises, which was when my instructor showed me how to put the exercises into a tune. Then my interest was renewed and I again started making progress. In short, this book is not easy and will require most inexperienced or new-to-jazz pianists to actually work a little bit. It will take some time to get through everything in this book. I believe that anybody who makes the effort and tries to apply some of these exercises will advance significantly enough to become satisfied with their purchase of this book. I know I am.

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Product Description:
60 essential exercises for the beginning to professional pianist, all based on the requisite Hanon studies. The exercises address: stride, ragtime, Broadway, honky-tonk, New Orleans, Harlem stride, 2-beat swing, Fats Waller, Dr. John, Scott Joplin, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Art Tatum, Jelly Roll Morton, and more.

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Marsalis on Music [Hardcover] Review

First the book - buy the book.And as much as you'll love it, anyone under the age of 13 (the book's main target) will love it FACTOR 10.
A treat for the eye with art work and photographs that make adults check thetitle page for a photographer (unlisted - Frank Stewart?is that you?) Atreat for the mind as well.Reading Marsalis' text out loud is a fantasticelixer for verbal sophistication with vibe.An even more intense dosage(which some of us need) is found in his "Sweet Swung Blues . .."
Now, the point of this book is music theory.Can Wynton teachyour child that which you - a grown man with complete power overchild-proof lids - cannot understand?You know how as a little kid, you'dwatch TV (say, ScoobyDoo) and the picture would be a little out of focus? Then your dad would come in and adjust the rabbit ears and - blammo!instant clarity!This is Marsalis discribing music theory.Blammo! Instant clarity!
It is not as good as the videos by the same name, but itfulfills a very worthwhile endeavor of capturing both the information andpresentation of these worldclass videos.The special audio CD includedwith the book is worth the price of the book - easily.
Next - the man. Wynton Marsalis is a 20th and 21st century genius.Don't let anyone tellyou differently, especially music critics(see also: non-musicians).Threeminutes of hearing him play (_especially_ live - don't ever miss him live)is all the defense this paragraph needs.

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Jazz at Christmas (Piano Solo Songbook) [Paperback] Review

When we first received Jazz at Christmas we were disappointed because it was not a fake book with modernized chords, which is the usual for the rest of Frank Mantooth's books. In other words, the songs are all written out arrangements. It didn't even have chord symbols. My wife, who is the real piano player, wanted to create her own arrangments with Sudnow-type chords, so she intended to ignore it. However, just for kicks, she read through a few arrangements (she's not a real strong reader) and was very enchanted with a lot of the fills and structure. She wound up creating a couple of new arrangments using her own interpretation of the chord structure and a lot of the Mantooth fills. They are exciting and colorful as a result, and definitely gave her some insights that she wouldn't have come up with on her own.

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Product Description:
Elegant jazz arrangements of 14 traditional carols, including: Deck the Hall * The First Noel * God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen * Good King Wenceslas * The Holly and the Ivy * It Came upon the Midnight Clear * We Three Kings of Orient Are * more.

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Mel Bay Play Jazz, Blues, & Rock Piano by Ear, Book One [Paperback] Review

The author of these books states that he came out with these books specifically designed for classical pianists who never got a chance to learn jazz. These books come with explanations of scales and chord progressions designed to help you improvise. There are also transcription exercises.

While the material in this book is "good", it is very "basic" and slow paced in the fact that if you already know your scales and basic chords, learning jazz should not be that difficult given that you already have at least a decent ear. I started learning jazz piano from a jazz piano teacher and learned it so fast that I did not even have to touch this book again. I transcended these books in about 3 weeks because I already had a knowledge of scales, chords ect.

This book is not a book for those who have a good understanding of keyboard harmony, scales and chord progressions. It is good for those who are total beginners or classically trained who lack a decent or mediocre foundation in transcribing, scales, improvising and chords.

Even if you have never studied jazz and have a at least a decent skill in transcribing, playing scales, chords and basic improvisation, you should NOT get these books. Instead just study with a jazz instructor.

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Product Description:
There are things in life you cannot learn from books. Jazz, rock, and the blues are among them. To play these improvised styles of music, it's important to look beyond the sheet music and theory manuals. The process involves learning by ear, directly from the music itself. Learning by ear acquaints you with melody, harmony, and rhythm in terms of how these elements sound rather than how they look on paper. This familiarity lies at the very heart of improvising. This book and its accompanying CD will serve as your guide as you develop your jazz, rock, and blues improvising talents. It introduces the experience to anyone with a year of basic piano under their fingers. Improvisations featured on the CD will offer inspiration, and illustrate improvising techniques introduced in the text. Ultimately, you will be prepared for learning directly from the recordings of your favorite artists.

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Ferdinand Jelly Roll Morton: The Collected Piano Music: Piano Solo (Piano Collection) [Paperback] Review

The transcriptions of Jelly Roll's piano pieces are unbelievable; An exact (as far as I can tell) note-for-note transciption of piano rolls, recordings, solo's, and the majority - live performances. There is also great information on each piece. For Advanced piano players only.

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Product Description:
A stunning, comprehensive volume prepared in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institute. The world's first jazz critical edition. Contents: New Orleans Blues (New Orleans Joys) * Grandpa's Spells * Wolverine Blues (The Wolverines) * Mamanita * Frog-I-More Rag (Froggie Moore/Sweetheart O'Mine) * London Blues (London Cafe Blues/Shoe Shiner's Drag) * Shreveport Stomp * Big Foot Ham (Big Fat Ham/Ham and Eggs) * Tom Cat Blues (Midnight Mama) * Stratford Hunch (Chicago Breakdown) * Perfect Rag (Sporting House Rag) * Mr. Jelly Lord * Black Bottom Stomp (Queen of Spades) * Dead Man Blues * Cannonball Blues * Billy Goat Stomp * Wild Man Blues (Ted Lewis Blues) * Georgia Swing * Boogaboo * Seattle Hunch * Frances (Fat Frances) * Dixie Knows * Kansas City Stomp (Kansas City Stomps) * Jelly Roll Blues (Original Jelly Roll Blues/Chicago Blues) * Fickle Fay Creek (Soap Suds) * Jungle Blues * Sweet Peter * Hyena Stomp * State and Madison * Bert Williams * Freakish * Pep * Creepy Feeling * Spanish Swat * The Pearls * Fingerbuster (Fingerbreaker) * Honky Tonk Music * The Crave * Mister Joe (Buffalo Blues) * King Porter Stomp *

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The Lighter Side of Jazz (Piano Solo Songbook) [Paperback] Review

I've played many of the pieces in this book before, but when I bought it I found the transcriptions were actually variations of the real pieces.Some pieces have bits of improvisation added to them(which really defeats the purpose) while others were in entirely different keys.By changing keys (for example they changed "Take Five" from Eb to Bb) it really just complicates the fingering in certain pieces.I'm no vituoso at music, but I don't think this is worth the money. :-(

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Product Description:
Piano solo arrangements of 24 of the most-requested jazz tunes of all time: Desafinado * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * How Insensitive * I'm Beginning to See the Light * Satin Doll * Take Five * Take the "A" Train * more.

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Jazz in Black and White: The Photographs of Duncan Schiedt [Hardcover] Review

If you recall those days of creative Jazz Cats & Kittens jammin' with their new sounds - you need this book.

No time in modern music has there been more creativity and long hours of enjoyment.

Dig this one ~ NOW!

Curt Erler
[...]

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Jazz Hanon (Private Lessons) [Paperback] Review

This book's major drawback is its lack of variety. The left hand voicings for the first 13 exercises I practiced over a period of eight months were the same, using the root, perfect fourth, and flatted seventh. The right hand involved variations on a minor pentatonic scale, moving chromatically through two octaves. Though I enjoyed the serious practice and development of certain fingerings, I have reservations about its improvisational value. In fact, I don't think it's always wise to practice exercises that have little practical applications. Technique is not an end in itself, and I would have preferred exercises and etudes based on real jazz progressions that incorporate more than just pentatonic ideas. The latter half of this volume seems a bit more inspired, but there's room for improvement. Overall, I give it four stars because some benefits may be derived from this inexpensive book, but what should have been a modern approach to Hanon's original exercises in a jazz context turned out to be stylistically limited and of questionable use. With some imagination, this could have been a far more versatile effort.

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Product Description:
This one-on-one lesson with Musicians Institute instructor Peter Deneff features 50 exercises for the beginning to professional jazz pianist, covering: angular lines, large intervals, pentatonic patterns, blues scales, irregular chromatic melodies, double-note patterns, suggested fingerings, suggestions for practice, and more. Also available by Peter Deneff - 695226 - Salsa Hanon.

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Blues and Jazz Complete (Book & 2 CDs) [Paperback] Review

Dr. Konowitz presents a thorough, pedagogically sound introduction to blues and jazz. The book is spiral bound, so it lays flat on your music stand. A variety of blues and jazz techniques are meticulously illustrated. New chords are introduced with a nice full page guide to the keyboard fingering. It is a bit cookie cutter, but having the fingering written out below and above the staffs is a plus. My only complaint is that the "band" seems to be a cheesy concoction of General MIDI instruments played through an inadequate sound engine. The CD sound quality is irritating. One word of extra advice: You will not need the CD for the companion book, Chords Complete, because it only contains incidental backing rhythm tracks for the chord exercises. I have four books authored byKonowitz. The sound quality of the CDs are uniformly cheesy except for the Listen and Learn Blues Book published in 2002.

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Product Description:
Save lots of time searching for ways to play Blues and Jazz. All you need to know to begin playing these great styles is carefully organized here by master teacher and performer Bert Konowitz. Learn to play blues scales, chord voicing, progressions, left-hand accompaniments and improv techniques. Unlock the basics of Latin, Rock, Bebop, Pop Ballads and Fusion styles. Start playing Blues and Jazz now!

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Jazz Classics: Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 14 [Paperback] Review

Somehow they managed to simplify the arrangements so that they still sound professional, but not so tricky that onlya gifted few can play them. I have many sheet music transcriptions of Bill Evan, Chick Corea, Mehegan jazz studies, etc that I purchased over the years, but most are so technically challenging that you can forget about getting in a relaxed groove, so I ended up just playing some playable classical sheet music from time to time to keep in practice. But this jazz piano series of Hal Leonard has really filled a need, in my opinion.

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Product Description:
Rich piano solo arrangements of 21 of the best jazz gems of all time: Bernie's Tune * Birdland * Donna Lee * Footprints * Impressions * On Green Dolphin Street * Red Clay * Robbin's Nest * St. Thomas * Turn Out the Stars * Windows * Yardbird Suite * and more.

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Piano Essentials: Scales, Chords, Arpeggios, and Cadences for the Contemporary Pianist (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

I got this book about 3 weeks ago and already its improved my skills in a number of areas. Everything is organized in such a way that you just automatically progress. The incluion of every scale with chords gives you a good warm-up for every practice.
The really cool thing about this book is it doesn't overwhelm you with theory, but has just enough for you to understand (or remember if you forgot)the basics. I feel that even after you advance you could still use this book as a review and a warm-up. Great for beginners and those of us wanting a a good basis for review or practice. The only thing I wish they would've thought of was to use a ring binding instead of regular book. That way you can lay the book out on the music stand better.

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Product Description:
Learn piano basics, as required of every piano major at Berklee College of Music. The exercises featured in this book will help you improve your sight-reading skills, and memorize new material in less time and with more confidence. Scales, chords, arpeggios, and cadences will improve your tone, dynamic range, and sense of rhythm. You will become more comfortable with fingerings, develop speed and agility on the keyboard, and will build a foundation for further study.

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Claude Bolling - Toot Suite: Trumpet and Jazz Piano (Transcribed) [Paperback] Review

This is basically a Baroque piece for trumpet and rhythm section. It's pretty solid as a composition.
If you listen to Maurice Andre play it you will be enthralled.
If you try to play it you will be more impressed with Maurice Andre's abilities.

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Product Description:
Transcriptions to Toot Suite featuring the jazz piano of Claude Bolling as well as the solo trumpet parts of world-renowned player Maurice Andre.

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Big Book of Swing (Piano/Vocal/Guitar) [Paperback] Review

This book featured piano and guitar reductions of some of the most famous pop tunes of the Swing Era. The music is primarily accompaniment for vocals, though. Only "Air Mail Special" and "In theMood" don't come with lyrics. That's great for singers, like me, butmy friends who are pianists were disappointed by the lack of complexity inthe accompaniment.

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Product Description:
Over 80 swingin' favorites: Air Mail Special * Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar * Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy * Cherokee (Indian Love Song) * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) * Five Guys Named Moe * I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm * In the Mood * Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby) * It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) * Mood Indigo * On the Sunny Side of the Street * Route 66 * Satin Doll * Take the "A" Train * Tuxedo Junction * You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You * and more.

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A Classical Approach to Jazz Piano: Exploring Harmony [Paperback] Review

The first part deals with voice leading and is very informative. It provides useful and practical concepts.I suppose it's intended for the intermediate level student.
The second part give us more advanced concepts like block chords, upper-structure triads and quartal harmony. I've never seen before the relationship between quartal harmony and the pentatonic scale - and it's well done here.

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Product Description:
A serious and thorough discussion of harmony for the literate pianist, this book by Professor Dominic Alldis of the Royal Academy of Music in London addresses accompaniment models, basic jazz theory, polychords, reharmonization, upper structure triads, block chords, pentatonic harmony, and many more subjects, drawing harmonic parallels from classical composers. Alldis includes key excerpts from the greatest jazz standards to illustrate his points.

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Swinging Jazz: Jazz Piano Solos Series, Vol. 12 (Jazz Piano Solos (Numbered)) [Paperback] Review

I've reviewed a couple other titles in this series and wasn't thrilled because I felt only a few titles in each book were really useful."Swinging Jazz" is an exception.Easy reading, interesting reharmonizations and nice little solo sections.Most of the titles are well-known to the 'boomer' generation and their parents.From the copyright assignments, it appears that several arrangers were at work here, although the basic approach is similar in all songs.

Here's the disclaimer:I'm a classically trained pianist who sight-reads well, but beyond simple fills and chord substitutions, no one would mistake me for a jazz pianist.I'm sure these arrangements would be "baby steps" to a real jazz musician, but I'm guessing there are plenty of other pianists like me who need something more interesting than sheet music with a few added arpeggios and grace notes.

I'd put the "Jazz Ballads" (volume 10) in this category also: lots of good titles! (But the difficulty level varies more between the arrangements.)Oh, I should mention that chord symbols are included in both books, so it's not hard to add your own touches.

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Product Description:
Hip piano solo arrangements of 23 swinging classics, including: Ain't That a Kick in the Head * All of Me * Beyond the Sea * Bluesette * Come Fly with Me * It's Only a Paper Moon * Just in Time * Route 66 * Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) * Steppin' Out with My Baby * Witchcraft * and more.

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Jazz Blues: Jazz Piano Solos Series [Paperback] Review

Somehow they managed to simplify the arrangements so that they still sound professional, but not so tricky that onlya gifted few can play them. I have many sheet music transcriptions of Bill Evan, Chick Corea, Mehegan jazz studies, etc that I purchased over the years, but most are so technically challenging that you can forget about getting in a relaxed groove, so I ended up just playing some playable classical sheet music from time to time to keep in practice. But this jazz piano series of Hal Leonard has really filled a need, in my opinion.

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Product Description:

This collection presents 17 jazz-blues classics served up for solo piano. Artist represented include Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and other greats. Songs: All Blues • Au Privave • Birk's Works &b

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Jazz Standards [Paperback] Review

Ever start singing a show tune you'd just heard in a furniture store, and get stuck on a line?"Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night, it could happen to you..."That's where this book comes in.It gives you words and melody line for 100 songs and these are strictly A-list of the Great American Songbook (plus some bossa nova, a nice touch), with no filler.Put together the 10 books you've been allowed to take on your Desert Island trip, then slip this one in your back pocket.

As others have pointed out, it's not really suited for instrumentalists.But that, along with the fact that you can probably find all this material on the Internet, is undoubtedly what allowed the publisher to offer this collection at such a low price.

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Product Description:
50 songs, including: All the Things You Are * But Beautiful * Come Rain or Come Shine * Honeysuckle Rose * I Could Write a Book * In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning * Misty * The Nearness of You * Stardust * What'll I Do? * and more.

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Miles Davis: Jazz Piano Solo Series, Vol. 1 (Jazz Piano Solos Series) [Paperback] Review

We pianists all know that you have to be careful when you buy music books.Too many publishing houses put out poorly arranged music to make a quick buck.This book isn't like that.These piano arrangements actually sound good.They aren't easy, but they aren't dauntingly difficult either.An advanced pianist could immediately play many of these tunes.Intermediate pianists will have to work a bit to play them. Not for beginners.

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Product Description:
New piano solo arrangements with chord names of 19 classic tunes by the great Miles Davis: All Blues * Blue in Green * Boplicity (Be Bop Lives) * Circle * Dig * Eighty One * Flamenco Sketches * Four * Freddie Freeloader * Half Nelson * Miles * Milestones * Nardis * Seven Steps to Heaven * So What * Solar * Somethin' Else * The Theme * Tune Up.

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Exploring Jazz Piano - Volume 2: Book/CD (The Schott Pop Styles Series) [Paperback] Review

This volume and volume 1 follow "Improvising Blues Piano," which you might look at first if you're just starting to search for ways to go beyond sightreading music.Definitely go through volume 1 of "Exploring Jazz Piano" before going on to this volume 2.This volume assumes you have that volume, and that you've learned what's in it.This volume seems like--after providing a foundation in volume 1 for how to play jazz (as opposed to just sightreading sheet music of jazz standards)--Tim Richards had a list of things he thinks you should also know, and he tossed them all in here: playing in modes, quartal harmony, bebop scales, various exotic chords, etc.There's a kitchen sink full of things to choose from.There are also jazz standards, with explanations of how they're made and how to improvise over them, and there's the CD that not only plays the exercises but also provides a drum and bass accompaniment to play along with.If you get this book and the other two, and put in the practice time to learn what's here, I'm thinking you'll be amazed.

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Product Description:
Volume 2 deals with more complex and colorful harmony, from suspended fourth, sharp eleven and thirteenth chords to diminished and altered scales. Advanced voicing, accompaniment and improvisation techniques are examined in detail, including the following topics: Quartal harmony, modal improvisation, long and short II V patterns, altered dominant chords, polychords, stride piano, Bossa Nova, clave and Partido Alto, Lydian and Locrian modes, how to make scales swing, building bebop lines, bebop scales, R235 patterns, the b3 pentatonic scale, rhythm changes, turnarounds, minor IIVI, playing in 3/4 time, playing in double-time, tension and release, transcribing, practice routines.32 pieces by the author appear alongside special arrangements of well-known jazz standards, including: Beautiful Love * Blue Bossa * Blue in Green * Caravan * Impressions * Ladybird * Misty * On Green Dolphin Street * Softly as in a Morning Sunrise * Summertime * Tune Up and Yesterdays. Also included are transcribed solos by Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly and Hampton Hawes.

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Improvising Rock Piano [Paperback] Review

This is a brilliant book!
The focus here is on playing idiomatically in a number of "rock piano" styles, starting off in the fifties with Fats Domino-style triplet ballads and moving through Aretha-style gospelsoul, Fess-like early New Orleans, Dr John-ish later NO, Elton John, LeonRussell-y eights-time rock, Carole King soft rock...¨
Now, this is not,mind y'all, in the form of straight transcriptions, but rather after athoroughly analysis. Every style is related to earlier styles, rythmicallyand harmonically, and typical figures or runs is shown, together with thetypical basic rythms and accompaignement patterns. Then comes a wholepiece, either a transcription of a well-known song (f'rinstance "Mo'scocious") or an original in that particular style, where all thedifferent elements are put together and shown in context.
The result isthat one gets not only a few licks to pop off, but rather that one gets theidea of *how* to make a stylisticaly fitting lick, how to achieve the basicgroove, and how to put it all together as a cohesive song.Brilliant.
Criticisms: Well, it goes no further than 1978, obviously,since that was when it was published. However, to me at least, not muchimportant has happened in rock piano styles since, so I stand by my 5stars. Go Get!

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R&B Keyboard: The Complete Guide with CD! (Hal Leonard Keyboard Style) [Paperback] Review

R&B has always had a certain appeal to me, maybe it's just because it's something different, but this book breaks it down into an easy to understand format.As a mainly classical piano player, that is all I really feel comfortable playing, even though my listening enjoyments fill a broad spectrum. I have a few of the other books in this series and find them all great! This book includes important information about scales and modes, voicings, chords, inversions, comping, harmony, and much more.It goes through early R&B, Motown soul, Memphis soul, Philly Soul, Funk, Disco, R&B Ballads, Dance/Pop, and even into Neo-Soul.This book covers any generation that you may have grown up in and brings something new to the table for those just starting.The book moves quickly but provides the information that is important for those of us looking to play. It comes with a very handy CD which allows to hear what it's supposed to sound like. I highly recommend this book.

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Product Description:
This comprehensive book with CD will teach you the basic skills you need to play RandB keyboard. From soul to funk to disco to pop, you'll learn the theory, the tools, and the tricks used by the pros. The accompanying CD features many of the examples in the book, including seven complete songs performed either solo or with a full band.

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Contemporary Music Theory - Level Two: A Complete Harmony and Theory Method for the Pop and Jazz Musician (Piano) [Paperback] Review

Mark continues from Contemporary Music Theory Level 1 to take you through chapters on 'II-V-1' progressions, 5-part chords, substitutions, harmonic analysis, voiceleading, 'upper structure' chords, and pentatonic& blues scale applications in this Level 2 continuation. Again, likethe Level 1 book, Contemporary Music Theory Level 2 has very detailedexplanations and exercises to test what you've learnt. An excellent seriesof books by Mark Harrison.

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Product Description:
The Music Theory series is designed from the ground-up to explain the terminology and musical structures needed for modern applications. Level One is an introductory course which covers music notation, key signatures, basic scales, intervals, modes, diatonic relationships and 3-and 4-part chords. Level Two is an intermediate-level course covering larger chord forms, "definitive" chords in major and minor keys, substitutions, analysis of key centers in tunes, "upper structure" chords, voiceleading, and pentatonic and blues scale applications, a complete glossary of terms, and hundreds of written theory exercises with answers.

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Jazz Keyboard Toolbox [Paperback] Review

This book provides a very understandable set of basic, but useful, concepts that apply to playing Jazz on the keyboard.As a percussionist, I think the information is also appropriate for mallet students. The CD is very helpfull, and supplies you with plenty of time (with the recorded material) to work with the tunes/techniquesin the book.Bill Cunliffe did a commendable job with this book.He put as much into this 48-page book as one could/should expect.

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Product Description:
Now you can learn to play jazz keyboard without knowing a lot of complicated music theory. This step-by-step method uses listening and play-along techniques that make learning to play jazz fun and easy, with just enough theory to understand the concepts. You will gain a solid knowledge of the basic tools needed for accompanying and soloing in any jazz setting. A CD is included, so you can play the examples and tunes along with a professional jazz band.

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Play Piano in a Flash: Play Your Favorite Songs Like a Pro -- Whether You've Had Lessons or Not! [Paperback] Review

I'm 43 years old and have never played piano before. That is, not until now. I got Scott's book about 2 months ago after seeing his special on PBS. The reduction from 2 staffs to a single staff with chord symbols made sense to me, so I took a chance. And boy, I'm glad that I did. As others have said, the book is very entertaining and helps build your confidence that "Hey, I can really do this." Page 36 is especially helpful in showing you how determine finger placement for all major, minor, seventh, etc. chords.
So, armed with this new-found knowledge and confidence, I made another wise decision. I ordered several "fake books" by Hal Leonard Publishing (all can be ordered through Amazon) containing the lead sheet music with chord symbols that Scott suggests. I now have "Your First Fake Book," "The Best Fake Book Ever," "The Ultimate Fake Book," "Gospel's Greatest," and "The Ultimate Christmas Fake Book."
Now, here's where I get to brag. I have learned 14 new songs in just over a month! These are the songs that I have learned in the order I learned them:
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Do-Re-Mi
When The Saints Go Marching In
Seventy-six Trombones
Blue Suede Shoes
Maria
Beauty and the Beast
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Angels we Have Heard on High
Auld Lang Syne
Away in a Manger
Frosty the Snowman
Deck the Hall
Do You Hear What I Hear
And the best part is that I have learned them all by heart now. That will leave my books free for those who want to sing along because all of the books I have mentioned come complete with the lyrics. As you can see, I'm quickly trying to learn some Christmas songs to impress my family and friends this year.
Now, here is the best part for you. I know you can do it too. I spend just one hour per night practicing. It usually takes me 2 nights (i.e., 2 hours) to completely learn a song and to start to play it reasonably well. Almost every night I spend the first part of practice playing my entire repertoire before going on to the next song. This system seems to work very well for me.
I know you can do it too. Scott is right. The best way to learn chords is by playing them in songs. Bless you, Scott, for unlocking the dream. I love the piano!
P.S. My 6-year-old son has been taking traditional lessons for 2 years now. He is currently learning a little 2-liner called "Grumpy old Troll." But I can see a little envy in his eyes when I sit down and whip out a nice version of "Beauty and the Beast." We may start to have a problem if he sees his father getting too good too soon.

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Product Description:
As seen on public television stations nationwide, a revolutionary new approach to playing non-classical music on the piano.
Have you ever wished you could play the piano? Well, now you can! Scott"The Piano Guy" Houston teaches you to play the way the pros play, in a style enormously simpler than traditional classical piano and with an absolute minimum of note-reading. By focusing on playing the melody with the right hand (one note at a time) and simple chords with the left hand, Houston gives you the tools you need for a lifetime of musical enjoyment. Best of all, your tour guide to this adventure forces you to have fun along the way!

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Jazz [Hardcover] Review

Starting with the iconic photo of Dexter Gordon on the dust jacket through to the last page, this book is an outstanding presentation of the history and musicology of America's classical music, jazz. It is a book that should be useful to the die-hard jazz fan, the jazz novice and everyone in between.

The book begins with a chapter on the basic elements of music, followed by a chapter covering the basics of jazz styles and improvisation. This introduction is followed by 17 chapters covering the history of the music, from its roots in spirituals, the blues, and ragtime up to the jazz (what there is of it) of today. There is also a useful glossary and a short section on record collection and jazz films.

Many books on jazz history are available, some covering the entire century-plus of the music, and others concentrating on certain periods. There are also a few books on jazz musicology, most notably Mark C. Gridley's outstanding "Jazz Styles". But Gridley pointedly avoids any discussion of the personalities and the non-musical activities of the musicians, as though they created their music in a vacuum. This leads to such oddities as a section on Bud Powell, for example, in which Gridley notes that Powell was "only sporadically active during most of his career", without explaining that Powell was a diagnosed schizophrenic who suffered not only from the disease, but also the horrific "treatments" of the day. Not for "Jazz" authors Giddins and DeVeaux is this `hands off the personal lives' approach. They include brief biographies of the most important musicians, warts (of which there are many) and all. This is essential, in my view, to understanding the music that these men (and a very few women) created.

But this book also contains sufficient discussion of the technical aspects of the music, if not employing quite the music school language of Gridley's book, which is fine with this non-musician fan, and probably for most readers. And while the authors must have their preferences, one will not find them imposed on the reader, as is common in some books. While I appreciate and use such books as the "Penguin Guide", I find Cook's and Morton's sometimes quirky and avant-garde taste not always to my liking.

An interesting feature of the book is a bar-by-bar (almost) account of some of the most important performances in jazz history. In order for this feature to be useful one must, of course, have the recordings to listen to while reading the discussions. Like many jazz fans and collectors, I have most of the performances in my record collection, but for those who don't, the authors provide a 4-CD set that goes along with the book, though at the hefty price of $60 on Amazon. This would be essential for the serious jazz novice without access to a jazz record collection; for jazz-o-files, it would be useful and convenient, but perhaps not worth the additional cost. I'm still trying to decide if it's worthwhile searching my collection for each of the correct tracks, or paying up for the CD set.

If there is any complaint that I could about this excellent book, and it is a minor one, is its the lack of discussion of the jazz scenes today outside the USA, where jazz continues to be vital a musical culture, while it atrophies here in its home country. The UK, and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe, along with Australia and even parts of Latin America are where jazz is prospering in the 21st century.

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Jazz Anecdotes: Second Time Around [Paperback] Review

If you were intrigued by the musicians portrayed in Ken Burns' "Jazz" series, this book will deepen your appreciation of the musicians' humor, problems, and triumphs.Though limited to short anecdotes, jokes, and short but histories, the book, much like Gene Lees' great "Meet Me at Jim and Andy's, offers a whole pie of jazz life its intimate slices.
Crow provides a lot of jazz history to introduce the topically arranged anecdotes (e.g., Good Lines," "On the Road," "Beginnings," "Hirings and Firings," "Prejudice"). The lines and stories are very good, and give insights into personalities and jazz, in general.There are one-liners: "Shelley Manne gave an interviewer his definition of jazz musicians: `We never play anything the same way once,'" and longer stories such as the legendary fight between Juan Tizol and Charles Mingus on Ellington's bandstand (We get Tizol's and Mingus' versions of what happened, including Mingus' revealing recitation of what Duke told him afterwards about the fight "I congratulate you on your performance, but why didn't you and Juan inform me about the adagio you planned so that we could score it?."
There are short sections focusing on one or two famous jazz musicians, such as Mingus, Armstrong, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Bessie Smith,"Fats" Waller, Dizzy, Bird, Eddie Condon and others, as well as funny stories about lesser known players: "[Joe] Puma dropped in at a small New York Club where Jim Rainey was working.The club wasn't doing much business...there was a fire department sign on the wall... `OCCUPANCY OF THESE PREMISES BY OVER 116 PEOPLE IS UNLAWFUL.' Jimmy penciled neatly underneath: `AND UNLIKELY.'"
Sources include autobiographies, interviews, biographies, oral histories, and Crow's own experiences.Under "Acknowledgements," the book includes a great bibliography of jazz-related writings.No pictures, but an index, and, as mentioned earlier, lots of information mixed in with the humor.Very highly recommended.

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Product Description:
When jazz musicians get together, they often delight one another with stories about the great, or merely remarkable, players and singers they've worked with.One good story leads to another until someone says, "Somebody ought to wrie these down!"With Jazz Anecdotes, somebody finally has. Drawing on a rich verbal tradition, bassist and jazz writer Bill Crow has culled stories from a wide variety of sources, including interviews, biographies and a remarkable oral history collection, which resides at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, to paint fascinating and very human portraits of jazz musicians.Organized around general topics--teaching and learning, life on the road, prejudice and discrimination, and the importance of a good nickname--Jazz Anecdotes shows the jazz world as it really is.In this fully updated edition, which contains over 150 new anecdotes and new topics like Hiring and Firing, Crow regales us with new stories of such jazz greats as Benny Goodman, Chet Baker, Ravi Coltrane, Buddy Rich and Paul Desmond.He offers extended sections on old favorites-Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, and the fabulous Eddie Condon, who seems to have lived his entire life with the anecdotist in mind. With its unique blend of sparkling dialogue and historical and social insight, Jazz Anecdotes will delight anyone who loves a good story.It offers a fresh perspective on the joys and hardships of a musician's life as well as a rare glimpse of the personalities who created America's most distinctive music.

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Soul Jazz: Jazz Piano Solos Series, Vol. 11 (Jazz Piano Solos (Numbered)) [Paperback] Review

Within hours of recieving this book I sightread through the entire thing in about an hour and I can't wait to play them some more and work with some background percussion. I own much of the HL jazz solo series and this is by far the best collection yet. The arrangements are fun and kept interesting throughout. A nice twist on some of the familiar tunes like Unchain My Heart, and a fairly decent arrangement of Ray Charle's What'd I Say. I use fake books for a lot of this stuff and get a little bored with my own arrangements. This book freshens a lot of them up for me, still including the Chord symbols if I choose to add something. Something a pianist can really sink their fingers into!

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Product Description:
Solo arrangements of 20 soulful tunes: Dat Dere * Hot Toddy * The Jody Grind * Sister Sadie * Soul Eyes * Unchain My Heart * What'd I Say * When the Sun Comes Out * You Are My Sunshine * and more.

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The History of Jazz [Paperback] Review

Anyone purportedly writing a "History of Jazz" faces a daunting task: A complex history of interwoven musical strands, the linkages and evolutions (sometimes skipping a generation), the geographic spread to Europe and elsewhere, the eventual fragmentation of jazz into diverse sounds and approaches, and the opinions of knowledgeable, rabid fans.
Ted Giola succeeds magnificently: This is the best single-volume history of jazz I've seen.While not without some minor flaws (see below), this is a comprehensive, generally very well written, and intriguing story of the genesis and development of jazz. It is a compelling story, and Giola writes without mythologizing jazz, or constantly needing to remind us that this is, indeed, art. The giants of jazz-- Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Holiday, etc. are critiqued rather than lionized.
Giola proceeds through the now familiar African, American, African-American, and European roots of jazz that emanated first from New Orleans.He traces its developmental routes through Chicago and New York, the Armstrong solo evolution, and the diverse "territory bands" such as those of Bennie Moten and Count Basie.
Fortunately, Giola does not limit himself to a strictly chronological narrative.He interrupts the timeline with revealing excursions into topics such as the development of instrumental styles (e.g., piano, trumpet), and jumps ahead to show the impact of early influences on later styles (e.g., Lester Young and bebop).He also pays attention to cultural, technological, and economic context, without letting these subtexts blare over the music.Giola knows music from the "inside" as well as the outside, and his discussions of jazz technique and harmonic and rhythmic innovations are detailed and precise.His deconstruction of various solos and styles is illuminating: Charlie Parker's "Indiana" is a version "where almost every bar features one or more altered tones-an augmented fifth, a major seventh played against a minor chord, a flatted ninth leading to a sharpened ninth...a textbook example of how bop harmonic thinking revolutionized the flow of the melodic line in jazz."Yet Giola is also astute in directing our attention to the "core of simplicity" ...the "monophonic melody statements" in bop.
Giola's critiques of various musicians are generally fair and accurate, and he discusses the famous as well as the overlooked.Every jazz fan, however, will probably find some favorite musician given insufficient coverage, or will disagree with a Giola critique.There's no mention of Carmen McCrae, about half a page on Sarah Vaughan, very little mention of European jazz, not much discussion of Miles Davis' or Basie's later work ("The Atomic Mr. Basie," for example).For my tastes, there is not enough on Mingus' sidemen (other than Eric Dolphy and Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and he describes the Mingus Town Hall Concert as a fiasco. (Organizationally it was a disaster, but musically it succeeded.)Giola's statement that "Mingus was the closest jazz has come to having its own Ezra Pound," is baffling.To a large degree, however, these are editorial(the book is only 395 pages long), as well as critical decisions.Not everyone would agree, as I do, with Giola's dismissive statement that Kenny G. "sold over $20 million of emaciated pseudo-jazz to a devoted audience.A critic cannot and should not please everyone.
Giola commands our respect because of his thorough knowledge of jazz and its web-like variations and influences.He knows his material well, whether it's the origins of jazz or the "Third Stream" and "Free Jazz" movements of relatively recent years.I recommend this book very highly to both musician and non-musician alike, jazz aficionado and novice.You may read the book as an introduction to jazz, or to achieve a greater synthesis of what you already know.It may also serve as a springboard to more narrowly focused jazz writing, such as Rosenthal's "Hard Bop" or Lees' "Meet Me at Jim and Andy's."There is a general index, an index of songs and albums, 15 pages on recommended listening, eight black and white photos, some notes on sources, as well as suggestions for further reading. This book, and perhaps a copy of the "Penguin Guide to Jazz," could easily serve as the core of a jazz lover's bookshelf.

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Bossa Nova: Jazz Piano Solos Series, Vol. 15 [Paperback] Review

Most of the books in this Jazz Piano Solo series are quite good and Bossa Nova is one of the stonger ones. Good selection of well known classics mixed with some more obscure gems. Arrangements are strong yet still quite playable by intermediate/early advanced players. Most arrangements even have a modest solo added in for a bonus. I also like the chord symbols over the staff - they are a good aid to memorizing and analyzing the structure of the tune, particularly usefull for the complex bossa harmonies.

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Product Description:
Solo arrangements with chord names of 20 swinging Latin standards: Agua De Beber * Call Me * Estate * The Girl from Ipanema * Meditation * Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars * Watch What Happens * Wave * more!

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Jazz Standards for Piano (Piano Solo Songbook) [Paperback] Review

This book contains 19 standards arranged as jazz piano solos. The solos are not the standard sheet music for these songs. They are arrangements at an early to mid-intermediate level, very clean (no big runs or fills) yet very full sounding.The chord voicings are jazz oriented. So even with no improvisation, the music sounds like real jazz. The chord symbols are there (some nice extensions and substitutions) so you can learn them and improvise if you want, however, the songs do not include a written out improvisation.The nice thing is that if you just want to learn a song as a recital piece with no improv it will still sound great.For the money this is a great book.The notes are all there, just add the swing.
The arrangements are by Thomas Coppola. The following songs are included:
Alice In Wonderland, April In Paris, Autumn Leaves, But Beautiful, Everything Happens To Me, Girl Talk, How High The Moon, I Didn't Know What Time It Was, I'll Remember April, Im All Smiles, Lush Life, The Nearness Of You, People, Stella By Starlight, Sweet And Lovely, There Will Never Be Another You, The Touch Of Your Lips, What's New?, You Are Too Beautiful

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Product Description:
Jazz Standards for Piano Solo is arranged by Tom Coppola, who has toured with the likes of Peggy Lee and Marvin Gaye, recorded with Herbie Mann and Paul Simon, and wrote, arranged and produced music for Saturday Night Live from 1984-1990.

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Jazz, Blues, Boogie & Swing for Piano [Paperback] Review

I'm a self taught amateur who can just about crash through a hymn at about 1/4 speed third or fourth time around sight-reading-wise, but, these arrangements I can play (apart from the left hand tenths)given about two months per tune, (doing two or three at once) because they don't seem to get boring even after the 100th attempt. There is enough "guts" in the arrangements to hold my attention long enough for me to learn them.
They are particularly "easy" to memorise, that's the trick and also they are short.
If you don't want too simple or grindingly chromatically brainy but do want the "open" clean sounds of happier times from honest nostalgia to gutsy-slow-blues to brain-twisting-makes-ya-grin-boogie then this is for you!

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Product Description:
Various A collection of the original sheet music for 48 songs from the era, featuring the arrangements of 'Fats' Waller, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Count Basie, Clarence Williams, Jay McShann, Billy Kyle, Zez Confrey.

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Essential Elements For Jazz Piano Bk/2CDs (Instrumental Jazz) [Paperback] Review

This is a fabulous, simple and straightforward method for learning the elements of jazz.I was so impressed with it that when I found the seconc CD in the used book I originally bought was cracked, I went out and bought another copy (for clarinet and direct from the publisher).Very highly recommended.

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Product Description:
Specifically designed to teach jazz basics to students with 1 or 2 years playing experience, but with no prior experience playing jazz. Great for individual or classroom use. Teaches the basics of swing style in a step-by-step approach using well-known songs. Improvisation is made easy starting with simple 2-measure phrases. Scales and basic theory are introduced in a simple and easy to understand approach. 2 CDÃ-s are included with recordings of all exercises and arrangements. Other features: 7 full band arrangements, sample solos, jazz history and people.

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Jazz Singer's Handbook: The Artistry and Mastery of Singing Jazz (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

From the very first page of this book, I knew this was what I was looking for.I teach jazz vocal styles at a university.It is sometimes a challenge trying to express to new students the importance of how to be expressive in singing jazz. This book breaks it down in revealing the many expressions, such as interpreting if the lyrcis are informative, poetic, etc.This book is for the serious jazz vocalist that really would like to learn how to sing, how to express the lyrics, how to become one with the song and how to draw an audience into a world of unforgettable and intimate singing.

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Product Description:
The Jazz Singer's Handbook provides an inspiring and practical window of insight into the world of professional jazz singing. Drawing upon an impressive career as an arranger, teacher, singer, pianist, and clinician, Michele Weir (faculty, UCLA) has distilled her experiences and observations into two handbook sections: the artistry and the mastery of singing jazz. Also included is a jazz chord library, a professional resource guide, a review of music fundamentals, and an index of terms and symbols. The CD includes sing-along tracks for standard songs, many of which are in two keys for different voice ranges, plus recorded examples of the performance and arranging concepts presented in the text.

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Mel Bay Jazz Piano Scales & Modes [Paperback] Review

What separates this scales book is that the author lays out each mode or type of scale by key. Not only does it contain all the "church scales" (Aolian, Dorian, Ionian, etc.,), it also has the major and minor pentatonic, the blues scales, Bebop, and many others including Neapolitan, Japanese, Hungarian Minor scales, again, all in notation form and in every key! I've been looking for this for a long time. My only wish is that it would be in spiral binding. Other than that, this is better than any of the other scales books I've purchased.

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Product Description:
Following the best-selling Jazz Piano Chords, this informative volume provides a scale reference and practice tool for any pianist wanting to learn to play jazz. Starting with diatonic, pentatonic, symmetrical and exotic scales, more advanced composer and jazz scales are introduced. The following discussion of polytonality, alternating scales, using scales with chords and scale chords represents the dominating concepts of contemporary jazz. The book ends with extensive 12-key libraries of scales, and scales arranged by chords. Learning to use these scales will help any pianist play with more tonal and modal variety, color, freedom and interest.

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Jazz Piano & Harmony : An Advanced Guide (w/CD) [Paperback] Review

I was drawn to this after purchasing Mr. Ferrara's first book - Fundamental Guide....my daughter is currently majoring in music in college and beginning her second year. The first proved invaluable to her so the choice to purchase this book was a natural "progression" (pun intended!).
From Mr. Ferrara's Basic Improvisation Review through advanced topics such as Minor Harmony, Superimposing Models, Voicings in Fourths and Modulations (with a Blues section to boot)...the author again draws upon his very obvious strength....teaching - guiding the beginner and experienced Jazz student/player through the all too often mysterious road of learning Jazz piano.
A MAJOR PLUS is the FREE CD included with the author not only playing all included transcriptions but also adding a commentary when required. This gives the student the feeling of personal attention which should have easily doubled the price of this book.
Bottom line - highly recommended. Should be used by every Jazz teacher and serious student.

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Product Description:
This book contains material for the intermediate to advanced pianist/musician. It covers modes, modal harmony and composition, superimposing modes over modal as well as non-modal tunes, chord scales, blues, pentatonic scales and their use in improvisation, minor harmony and analysis, dominant chord substitution, upper structure triad voicing techniques, voicings in fourths, diminished chord patterns and substitutes, and modulations. The CD contains 30 tracks of lectures and playing examples by the author that cover every detail of the book. There are many music examples, and the student can both listen, and play along with them as a learning guide. This book is the second in a series; the first book being Jazz Piano & Harmony:A Fundamental Guide.

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The Beatles For Jazz Piano (Piano Solo Personality) [Paperback] Review

If you are used to the standard arrangements in Beatles Songbooks and want something new this is a good book to try.This is a piano solo book, with chord symbols, no lyrics.The songs are arranged with more extended chords and some substitutions, as compared with the usual arrangements. Not all the songs are in the keys the Beatles played them in. However, the arrangements are complete and you can play them as is.They do not include any written out improvisation; however, you have some fresh chords to improvise over.Some of the songs sound good adding a jazz swing feel others don't.Some of the songs sound a little strange at first with the extended chords but grow on you.This book is at an intermediate level.
The following songs are included: Get Back, All My Loving, And I Love Her, Eleanor Rigby, The Fool on the Hill, Here There and Everywhere, Michelle, Nowhere Man, Strawberry Fields Forever, With A Little Help from My Friends,

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Product Description:
11 classic Beatles songs specially arranged in jazz-style for piano solo...complete with guitar chord symbols. Songs include: All My Loving * And I Love Her * The Fool on the Hill * Here, There and Everywhere * Michelle * Yesterday * and more.

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Gospel Improv: Jazz-Style Improvisations for Solo Piano (Sacred Choral) [Paperback] Review

Wow, what an incredible collection of piano arrangements!Many people might think that Gospel and Jazz don't mix.And, in many churches, arrangements such as these could very well result in some "sour" looks.But for those who are in an environment that welcomes Christian music in contemporary styles, this book is terrific.

I am an accomplished pianist, but my formal training has been almost exclusively classical.Add to that the fact that I have been a church accompanist for many, many years, and that adds the ability to apply many of the fundamental elements of classical study (e.g., scales, arpeggios, common chord progressions, etc.) to standard hymns and other worship music.

But one of my weaknesses has always been my inability to "grab hold" of jazz music.This book provides me with the means to "get into" that genre -- and on a platform that I enjoy (e.g., church music).

Be aware that the arrangements range from medium-difficult to advanced.Most pianists will probably not pick up this book and sight-read through the arrangements.(Those with a good jazz background might be able to do better in that regard than I could.)But all in all, it has been a "fun" book for me.

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Product Description:
This collection gives a new twist to 12 tried and true gospel melodies. Each song begins with a rather straight arrangement, followed by transcribed improvisation with scales, licks and chord voicings. Includes: At Calvary * His Eye Is on the Sparrow * Nothing But the Blood * This Little Light of Mine * 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus * and more.

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Chords and Progressions For Jazz and Popular Keyboard - Baker (Music Sales America) [Paperback] Review

In this book, Kenneth shows you different kinds of chord progression, mostly leading to the Tonic ( I chord ).He explains the use of all kinds of chords, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, etc. and how these can be applied in yourchord progressions. Examples are given and there are just tons ofinformation on how to add 'color' to your progressions. An excellent book.

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Product Description:
The most complete set of chord charts ever published, covering 576 chords in every key. Fully explains the use of modern chord symbols and the use in modern harmony of chords. All left-hand fingerings given.

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Jazz Piano Play-Along (Book & 2 CD's) (The Steinway Library of Piano Music) [Paperback] Review

What a wonderful music! Level: semi-professional/professional. Unfortunately, the trombone solo is missing on track 2 of the minus-piano-CD. With a little experience and corresponding software, however, you can cut it from the original CD (copy, paste and burn a new CD). The sheets contain some typographical faults. Therefore only 4 of 5 stars. Nevertheless: buy it!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Jazz Piano Play-Along (Book & 2 CD's) (The Steinway Library of Piano Music) [Paperback]

Product Description:
Book & 2CD's. Arranged for piano. Jazz pianist and arranger Noreen Lienhard has made thousands of pianists sound better than they ever had before. And her elegant, sensitive and swinging fingers have enhanced the music of such stellar artists as Stan Getz, Joe Morello, Pepper Adams and Rufus Reid. Now, Noreen leads an ensemble of top professional musicians in scintillating arrangements and improvisations on some of the best jazz tunes of all time- On Green Dolphin Street, I Only Have Eyes For You, I Got Rhythm, A Day In The Life Of A Fool, I'll See You Again, Summertime, Body And Soul, I Love You, Invitation, and I'll Be Seeing You-recorded beautifully on Disc 1 of this amazing package. Disc 2 gives you the arrangements minus the piano part-so you can fill in! And that's where the book comes in: every arrangement and improvisation has been written out for you to play, note-for-note! The Best Tool Ever To Improve Your Jazz Skills! What an opportunity to improve your own playing! You'll hear great jazz musicians at work-in fact, you may want to play Disc 1 simply for the pleasure of hearing those fantastic sounds! But you'll also be able to follow along with the written score... study how a pro gets those wonderful sounds... and learn to do it yourself at your own keyboard. Finally, you can practice playing with the ensemble by putting Disc 2 into your CD player... and become the group's pianist yourself! Learning to play jazz has never been easier, or more fun!

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Cool Jazz: Jazz Piano Solos Series [Paperback] Review

The Good:

I really like the arrangements in this book. Many books aimed at beginners will oversimplify the songs so that they don't sound that good when you play them. This book contains arrangements which can be played by intermediate level players and sound really good. I particularly like the Miles Davis songs. I would give this book five stars if my copy had held together better.

The Bad:

After only a few days of the book started to fall apart at the spine as a result of me trying to get it to open flat. This has not happened with any other book I have owned for such a short period of time. I was able to get Kinkos to comb-bind it for $2.99 and it is now opens flat.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cool Jazz: Jazz Piano Solos Series [Paperback]

Product Description:
18 tunes from the '50s and '60s jazz cats who invented "cool," including: All Blues (Miles Davis, George Benson) * A Ballad (Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz) * Con Alma (Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz) * Django (Modern Jazz Quartet, Vince Guaraldi) * Epistrophy (Thelonious Monk) * Killer Joe (Art Farmer, Benny Golson) * Nardis (Bill Evans, Joe Henderson) * So What (Miles Davis, Chet Baker) * Take Five (Dave Brubeck, George Benson) * and more.

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Mel Bay Jazz Piano Chords [Paperback] Review

"Jazz Piano Chords" is a well-thought-out and equally well-layed-out book for the beginning as well as the more experienced jazz pianist. There are many chord dictionaries on the market, but this one is specifically designed for jazz pianists, and it goes into detail about how chords are structured and when to use and not use specific types of chords. Preceding the chord charts are about twenty-five pages of text with explanations of the basics of what intervals and chords are and how they function in different musical settings (solo piano, as an accompanist, in a combo, etc.). The text then moves into voicings and a thorough exploration of the various kinds of chords with many charts to illustrate how these chords are built and used. Next follow the chord charts for all keys, charts of chords used for harmonizing in all keys, and charts of quartal harmonies in all keys. The final chart is spelling suggestions for the various chords. An award-winning jazz pianist as well as a composer of many different styles of music, Misha Stefanuk shares a wealth of knowledge in a concise and very readable fashion. An easy-to-use reference book as well as an excellent textbook, it is recommended for any pianist who wants to learn how to play jazz and to understand the fundamental structure of jazz piano.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mel Bay Jazz Piano Chords [Paperback]

Product Description:
This informative volume provides a chord reference for any pianist wanting to learn to play jazz. Starting with the most basic intervals, the text explains how chords are built and how they are used in different performance settings.After covering the basics, advanced chord types such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, drop voicings, and the blues chord are presented and explained.The functions of chords are described, as are substitutions, clusters, and polytonal clusters. Numerous charts are provided which can be helpful for practicing and for quick and easy reference as to which can be used with given bass notes.The Melody Harmonization Charts show chords based on fourths. Learning to use these chords will help the pianist play with more harmonic variety, color, and interest.

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