How to Play Guitar in a Big Band [Paperback] Review

I love this book! It goes into different style, voicings, gear, musicianship, and other topics that I always thought about and to see it in a book is just great! The best part is the psychology of the big band guitarist, amazing! A must have for the student/teacher/guitarists! Good information even if not into big band, but into jazz guitar.

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Finale: An Easy Guide to Music Notation, Second Edition [Paperback] Review

I bought this book after being hired to score a complete musical for an arranger.I did not know FINALE at all.I decided on this book because it was from Berklee Press.... I am a Berklee grad.

This is not just a book.. it's a complete COURSE on Finale.It is structured like you are in class, so it progressively introduces you to the program.Constantly reviewing and reinforcing what you have already learned.I was up and running in no time on the program, and I am happy to report, I'm almost done scoring an ENTIRE MUSICAL!

Highly Recommended!

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Product Description:
Everything you want to know about music notation with Finale! Master Finale step-by-step with the most complete how-to guide available. Designed for both novice and experienced users, this is your detailed resource to fully understanding and applying all of Finale's remarkable capabilities. Easy-to-follow instructions help you to: create publisher-quality music notation; learn to use the tools of Finale while writing your own music and arrangements; get started immediately with hundreds of professional templates, partially completed notation files, and libraries available on the companion website (www.FINALEBOOK.com); print transposed parts from scores automatically; write standard notation, guitar tablature, drum set parts, and more with this comprehensive hands-on tutorial. Teachers can create warm-up and practice exercises; write their own compositions, arrangements and method books; and simplify parts for students. The companion website, www.FINALEBOOK.COM, offers: * Tutorial Files * Samples of partially completed and finished music notation files for each of the hundreds of hands-on exercises in the book * Libraries of articulations and dynamics * Additional chapters * Professional Templates: Choral, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Marching Band, Orchestra, Single Line and Grand Staff, Pit and Show, and Sketch and Utilities templates including a Cue Sheet for radio and TV. "This book excels at teaching Finale in an easy-to-understand, sequential manner. Rudolph and Leonard have loads of experience. Beginners and seasoned Finale users will benefit from what these two teach." - Tom Johnson, Finale Product Specialist, MakeMusic!, Inc.

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The Contemporary Keyboardist and Expanded (Instructional) [Plastic Comb] Review

John Novello is an amazing musician.Having a book that gives insite into his approach would be quite valuable all by itself, but he has put together a very comprehensive work that is a must have for any musician looking to expand his/her knowledge and abilities.In this modern age where the electronic keyboard provides the easiest access to the world of instrumentation, as a songwriter/arranger I find John's Contemporary Keyboardist to be an essential reference, especially as my main instrument is the guitar.

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Product Description:
This comprehensive, 562-page method, called "Solid, readable and relevant" by Keyboard magazine and "The major work for today's pianists" by International Musician, is divided into four sections. The first, "A Philosophy of Music," deals with communication, cause-effect principles and practice disciplines. The second section, "Mechanics," covers all the basics of keyboard music and playing (notation, harmony, improv, sight reading, etc.), as well as their applications. The third section, "The Business Scene," contains guidelines and industry advice for contemporary keyboardists. Section four, "Interviews," provides insights into the artistry and technique of famous players such as Herbie Hancock, Henry Mancini, Edgar Winter, Keith Emerson, Paul Shaffer and many more. Includes an index.

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Essential Styles for the Drummer and Bassist: Book 1 [Paperback] Review

This book could have easily won a 4 or 5 star rating from me, but there is one serious deficiency in this book --- huge portions of what is actually being played is not transcribed. This may be more of a problem for the bassists who are interested in this book, since the drum parts generally are static most of the time. For the first half of the book the bass transcriptions range from very good (and complete) to partial transcriptions ranging from just a couple bars to several bars transcribed while several bars are just left blank, for you to figure out by ear. For nearly the entire second half of the book, the bass player / transcriber (could be a different person I suppose) just decides to entirely stop transcribing the bass part. That's right, for about half the tunes in this book they do not even bother transcribing the bass part. By today's standards, where any guitar / bass book you purchase will have full transcriptions as well as TAB and recordings.....this just doesn't cut it. Yes, even just listening to the tracks could be educational, but.....if I wanted to just learn by listening, I would actually just go buy some CDs of my favorite artists, and do just that....The entire point of purchasing an instructional book is defeated by this lack of complete transcriptions in this book.

The book is more orientated towards blues / funk / jazz styles, which is fine, but there are also many other styles that would make this book more complete and useful as a reference. All of the tracks on the CD are of top quality and true to the styles they represent and are the main reason for the 3 stars in my rating.

Another deficiency is the total lack of explanation of what the bass player is thinking or doing when creating the bass lines. What scales are being used, or theoretical tools, etc...Yes for some, just hearing an example and learning it by ear is enough, but for others like myself I do like to know in more depth what is going on with the scales and harmony.

If you just want to sample and hear different styles, with minimal instructions on how to reproduce it yourself, then you can't go wrong with this book as all the examples are excellent and the playing and recordings are of top quality. If you like to have a bassline fully transcribed, and some explanation as to why the bassist chose the notes or rhythms he did, then this book will fall short. The small amount that is transcribed is in standard notation only, so for those of you who don't read standard notation that would be another reason not to buy it.

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Product Description:
Essential Styles for the Drummer and Bassist, Books 1 and 2, are two innovative book and play-along CD packages that teach 50 essential grooves from today's jazz and popular styles. The books include written-out charts of each selection and performance tips for both drums and bass. All of the grooves have been recorded with a rhythm section and woodwinds, with drums mixed on the left channel and bass on the right, so either instrument may be dialed out. In addition, many of the tracks contain open choruses of comping so any instrument can practice playing solos! Essential Styles emphasizes the most important aspects of solid group playing- locking-in between the drummer and bassist- providing a strong rhythmic foundation and creating an authentic feel for whatever the style demands.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Jazz Piano Best of Bk/Cd (Signature Licks) [Paperback] Review

I don't remember exactly what I was thinking when I purchased this book, but it had something to do with learning licks and styles from accomplished jazz musicians. That is to say, I was looking for a shortcut. I'm finding out what I already suspected, however: there are no shortcuts. What this is then is a road map, with signposts giving a clear concise sampling of solos and riffs in differing styles from eleven great jazz pianists. There are some easy runs and some hard runs, and some slow songs and some fast songs, bits of fifteen different songs in all. There's no fingering marked in the text, so having an instructor to point things out will make this book more practical. The book is staple bound so it works well on the music stand. As near as I can tell, this contains only pieces of songs, so the serious musician will definitely have to have a songbook handy (but what jazz pianist doesn't already have The Real Book: Sixth Edition?). The highlight of this book is the CD that comes with it, which contains samples of the songs, usually both with a backing band and without, as well as examples of the solos at a slower pace and at speed. Fast forwarding through them and back to them is a bit of a chore (there are 94 sample tracks), but having that resource is really great, and the book includes markings for where each track is used, making the pair way more useful. There are also brief biographies of each of the musicians covered, which I think is a nice touch. In short, it is hard not to like this book and CD set. It is well thought out, well executed, interesting, and productive. No, it isn't a shortcut and you will still have to practice. (Sorry.) And though it might not fit every pianist's concept of a learning tool, it fits mine to a `T' and I will get a lot of use out of this book for quite some time.

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Product Description:
Learn the piano styles and techniques of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, Nat "King" Cole, Ahmad Jamal, and more with this great book/CD pack. Rizzo teaches the styles using examples from actual songs, 15 in all. Includes: Caravan * Come Rain or Come Shine * How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky) * I'll Remember April * In a Sentimental Mood * It's Only a Paper Moon * No Moon at All * On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) * Satin Doll * Speak Low * St. Louis Blues * Stompin' at the Savoy * Take the "A" Train * There Is No Greater Love * Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away). CD includes demonstrations of each.

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

I've played music for years, and now that I'm retired, I wanted to understand more about what I was playing.I picked up Mark Harrison's Contemporary Music Theory Book level 2 and made my way through it.I was stunned to find that I had been instructed incorrectly on several points.That was one reason I purchased the book.I wanted to clean up some confusion I had with theory. Now I've just finished the level 3 book.Mark Harrison's books are structured with achievable learning steps.His lessons are followed up with exercises after the chapter to reinforce concepts taught in the chapter.The answers follow the exercises.This is greatly appreciated because it gives the reader immediately feedback.The reader can check the answers, and if there was an error made, the reader can go back and correct any misunderstanding before moving on.If you want to learn more about music structure and harmony, these books are an excellent source without having to go through music theory classes.The lessons are clearly written out and understandable.These books provide the reader with skills so they can not only understand the movement and progressions of chords, but be able to substitute chords in any key for harmonies they may want.Mark Harrison is an expert.This is the best set of theory books that I've ever seen.

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Product Description:
This book is the product of Mark Harrison's experience teaching hundreds of students at the world-famous Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. Suitable for instrumentalists, vocalists, composers and songwriters, this Level 3 course covers the chord tones, extensions and scale sources for all major, minor, dominant and diminished chords, and then applies the contemporary shape concept to create voicings, polychords, and to harmonize melodies.

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Complete Jazz Keyboard Method: Beginning Jazz Keyboard [Paperback] Review

This book is a great investment if you are new to piano and love jazz or are stuck in major/minor boredom and want to look into more exotic chords and scales. I am a drummer/guitarist who wanted to learn more about theory, finally go beyond the "hunt-and-peck" stage on my keyboard, and understand the world beyond the pentatonic scale on my guitar. I feel very enlightened, and especially love the tables that summarize all the key info, and a CD is always a bonus. Enjoy!

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Product Description:
Anyone with basic keyboard skills (equivalent to Alfred's Basic Piano, Lesson Book 2) can dig right in and begin learning jazz right away.Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way through 7th chords, pentatonic scales and modulating chord progressions, this book features a full etude or tune demonstrating every new concept introduced.Beginning Jazz keyboard breaks the age-old tradition of dry, intimidating and confusing jazz books, and provides an actual step-by-step and enjoyable method for learning to play in this style.The CD demonstrates examples and offers opportunity to play along.

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