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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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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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 Composition: Theory and Practice (Berklee Press) [Paperback] Review

Ted Pease has been teaching jazz composition at Berklee for 25 years, and it shows in "Jazz Composition". I was amazed at how easily Pease broke down the process of writing and composing great jazz pieces. The CD was for me, the most influential component due to the fact that it includes music-writing exercises that have greatly inhanced my writing ability. This book is a must have for any student in a theory class.

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Product Description:
When you think of jazz composers, who comes to mind? Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Bob Brookmeyer. This book is about what they (and many others) do. Jazz composition has evolved into a disciplined art that often evidences great emotional depth and breadth of sophistication. Berklee College of Music legend Ted Pease demystifies the processes involved in writing jazz tunes and in composing episodic and extended jazz works. Jazz Composition: Theory and Practice is a by-product of Pease's 25 years of teaching jazz composition. The accompanying CD helps demonstrate melody, harmony and rhythmic elements of jazz and also includes a variety of music-writing exercises focused on learning these same elements to help you begin producing your own effective jazz compositions.

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Solo Jazz Piano: The Linear Approach (Berklee Guide) [Paperback] Review

I'm a serious amateur jazz pianist who has long noticed that most other jazz piano books--including Mark's Levine's excellent "Jazz Piano Book"--assume you're always playing in a trio or larger ensemble.Consequently, they say very little about the unique problems of solo playing, bass lines, etc.This very well written and organized book contains the best instructional foundation for playing solo jazz piano I've seen anywhere.I had been looking for a book like this for about a decade without success because it was published relatively recently.

After several years of study from Levine's book and others in conjunction with occasional lessons from a couple of good teachers, I decided to study almost exclusively from this book on my own for awhile about a year ago.My solo playing has definitely improved a lot, and studying bass lines in depth seems to have improved my musical ear somehow, making it easier to improvise strong lines in the right hand.

Each chapter of "Solo Jazz Piano" begins with a clear, succinct presentation of the theory that will be drilled throughout the remainder of that chapter.This is generally followed by an etude written out in full (both clefs) that allows the student to feel what it's like to apply the theory immediately.I've learned a lot by analyzing the author's etudes.The etude is then followed by a leadsheet (usually with chord changes the same as or similar to those of the etude).The student is then directed to create an arrangement using the newly learned theory (and techniques learned in prior chapters) to create an original arrangement of the leadsheet.This system is very effective and helps the concepts "stick" in the student's mind, in my opinion.The first part of the book also includes an excellent review of basic chord theory.Once the study of bass lines begins, the author does not abandon the study and use of chords.On the contrary, he reminds the student to play 'comping arrangements in which the left hand plays a bass line and the right hand plays well-voice-led 'comping chords in addition to the usual excercises in which the student plays the melody (with or without added voices in the right hand) and a left-hand bass line.This ensures a well-rounded approach.My only criticism of this book is that it should have been spiral bound like Mark Levine's "Jazz Theory Book" for easier use at the piano.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone desiring to learn how to play SOLO jazz piano.For those just beginning to learn jazz improvisation, I also recommend "The Joy of Improv" (two volumes) by Dave Frank and "How to Improvise" by Hal Crook.Both Dave and Hal have also been faculty at Berklee College of Music.

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A step-by-step approach to solo jazz improvisation for piano. Learn to improvise using the techniques pioneered by piano greats Lenny Tristano and Dave McKenna. This methodical approach to learning the art of solo jazz piano improvisation will free your creative sense of music. It begins with a review of chord symbol interpretation, walks through bass line development, and ends with how to play several melodic lines simultaneously in stimulating musical conversation. You'll learn how to develop solos that embellish and support the melody, and use lead sheets to help you generate your own musical ideas. Twenty-one lessons present techniques, practice exercises, and tunes based on jazz standards. Notated transcriptions of sample improvisations illustrate each lesson's technique, and the accompanying CD lets you hear a master improviser put these ideas to work.

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