The Young Musician's Survival Guide: Tips from Teens & Pros [Hardcover] Review

This book is filled with practical easy to read information about what it means to learn music.As a music teacher, I find this book to be a great tool for parents and students.It teaches the basic aspects of what isinvolved in learning a musical instrument.It is also written on a levelthat schoolage students can understand.I found it to be simple to read,yet very informative and enjoyable.I am going to recomend it to mystudents - especially the Jr. High students who seem to have lostmotivation.I may even assign them chapters to read and intergrate it intomy lessons.

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The Tombstone Tourist : Musicians [Paperback] Review

Several years ago, my daughter and I went searching for Jimi Hendricks grave while we had some time to kill in Seattle waiting for a plane.I had discovered the name of the cemetery in a book I had read, but it still took us about an hour poking around before we found the actual grave.We left a couple of coins and a note that just said "Thanks Jimi". The experience was quite incredible.We both walked away feeling we had done something worthwhile.We had given something back to the music, and to the memory of a great musician.I was hooked.Since then I have made a point of looking for the graves of people who have left their mark on our culture.Last year I had two major disappointments.I spent a couple of hours early one Sunday morning searching in vain for the grave of Muddy Waters in a suburban Chicago cemetery.A few weeks ago, I spent another two hours in a cemetery in L.A.looking for Frank Zappa and Roy Orbison without success.Two nights ago Amazon.com delivered me Scott Stanton's "The Tombstone Tourist". Within ten minutes, the book had paid for itself.I discovered where all three were precisely located, and why I was unable to find Frank and Roy.They are both buried in unmarked graves, about twenty five feet apart.The book is very tastefully written. It is obvious that Scott has a great deal of respect for all the artists he has taken considerable effort to find.There are excellent bios and an incredible wealth of information and trivia on each of the hundreds of artists presented.The only error I have found is that Chet Baker died in a fall from a Paris hotel room. Actually it was Amsterdam. Close enough.I have not found a better reference book on popular culture than "The Tombstone Tourist". Those of you who feel that looking for dead celebrities is a little macabre should get the book and go out to find someone whose work you admire. You will find it a tremendously rewarding experience.Don't forget to take flowers, or an appropriate gift to leave at the grave.

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Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within [Paperback] Review

I am only about 3/4s through this book, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic. I happen to love Kenny Werner's piano playing--always heard him and thought "Well, I'll never sound like THAT!"-- only toread his book and have him address this very attitude with unbelievableaccuracy.I've already changed the way that I practice my instruments, andI just put some of his approach to work in a 3 day recording session withsome players that I admire very much. While I had couple of briefself-doubt meltdowns, the whole experience was so much easier than I hadeven hoped for, and yes, even "effortless" at times. I know thatchanging my perspective, and my expectations made a huge difference in myability to enjoy the moment, and as a result, the music that came forth. Iam recommending this book for anyone who has ever played a musicalinstrument--at ANY level--and stopped, even if it was a long time ago. Thisbook explains what might have gotten in your way of the music-makingexperience. I also want to recommend it to those of us who playprofessionally but are either frustrated with our own progress or just notenjoying it as much as we did when we were young. There's no reason musiccan't be that fun again.

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Product Description:
Paperback book and CD set. Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within is a book for any musician who finds themselves having reached a plateau in their development. Werner, a masterful jazz pianist in his own right, uses his own life story and experiences to explore the barriers to creativity and mastery of music, and in the process reveals that "Mastery is available to everyone," providing practical, detailed ways to move towards greater confidence and proficiency in any endeavor. While Werner is a musician, the concepts presented are for every profession or life-style where there is a need for free-flowing, effortless thinking. Book also includes an audio CD of meditations narrated by Kenny to help the musician reach a place of relaxed focus.

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Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz The Bebop Years [Paperback] Review

A book about bebop drummers needs to explain 1) what bebop drumming consists of and 2) how the styles of the various drummers profiled diverge. This book does not do either. Instead we are told that drummer after drummer after drummer has "a great feel" and "great time"; we learn nothing.

If it were just that I'd give the book another star for its sketchy and scattered biographical information, but considering how badly written the book is, I can't justify it.

I suggest instead that you buy a copy of "The Grove Dictionary of Jazz" and look up the entry for each famous drummer you want to know about. You'll learn a lot more and have a much better time doing it.

For transcriptions consult Modern Drummer magazine.

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