Complete Fingerstyle Guitar [Library Binding] Review

I have received a request to review this book from Amazon.
Unfortunately, Amazon never delivered this book.
After about month wait, they sent me a message that the book was unavialble.
I gave three stars, because I am sure that one of Stefan Grossman's books, of which I have several, would have deserved 4-5 star, and Amazon derserves 0.

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Product Description:
This comprehensive text covers the spectrum of fingerpicking technique and styles. Preformance and stylistic notes, fingerstyle guitar solos and a listening guide are presented for each section of the book. Sections include; Gospel Songs; Country Blues; Ragtime Blues; Rags and Dances; Appalachian Fiddle Tunes; Celtic Airs; Jigs and Reels; Classic Rags; Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar and Fingerstyle Guitar Duets. All solos are in notation and tablature and are written by noted fingerpicking guitarists Stefan Grossman, Elizabeth Cotten, Dean Sires, Ton Van Bergeyk, David Laibman, Rev. Gary Davis, Duck Baker, Seth Austen, Steve Tilston, John Morris, Sid Percy, Tom O'Farrell, Jim McLennan, Leo Wijnkamp Jr., Lasse Johansson, and Claes Palmqvist. 237 pages. The 2-CD's contain 43 of the 60 songs in this book.

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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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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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Improvising Blues Piano (w/cd) (Music Sales America) [Paperback] Review

Martan Mann can most definately play piano.The accompanying CD may almost be worth the price to hear him play.However, you're looking for instruction if you're reading this.I don't want to slam his product too hard.I'll just say he doesn't teach well and there's not allot of real meat here for beginners.I've also purchased Andrew D. Gordon's 100 Ultimate Blues Riffs.Riffs in all keys with many many different basslines and virtually zero instruction.Then, finally, I got my hands on something I absolutely love and can recommend wholeheartedly to anyone without a vast musical background who wants to play the blues.Check out the book/cd combos level 1 and 2 by David Bennet Cohen.You won't be dissappointed.I just ordered "Improvising Blues Piano" by Tim Richards and am very excited about it as well.One more you might look into.

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Product Description:
Unlock the mystery of blues improvisation as you develop an understanding of different blues styles and express yourself through your music. Contains scores of exercises designed to get you playing the blues.

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Improvising Blues Piano [Paperback] Review

This is a great book! I'm a beginning/intermediate piano player, I went through the first two Alfred's All-in-One Adult piano books and really enjoyed them (and recommend them!). But I found myself at a fork in the road: I was happy to continue memorizing "pieces", and practicing "technique", but I found myself wanting to know more about improvising. I play drums in a blues band, and I've had some music theory for keyboard percussion, so I'm not a total musical-novice. I tried out some other books (Mark Harrison's "Blues Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series", but it's still a little over my head, perhaps in a year or so it'll be good for me. Also "David Bennett Cohen Teaches Blues Piano: A Hands-On Course in Traditional Blues Piano", but it really didn't light my fire either, and if I recall correctly, didn't have finger markings which I still find helpful.)This book pulls it all together for me: some blues music theory, some blues history, clearly-marked "assignments", a CD included, (a spiral binding that lays flat on the stand!) ... I'm hooked!

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Product Description:
The basic principles of blues piano explained for the intermediate-level pianist in an easy-to-grasp fashion.

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Jazz Harp (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

Richard Hunter is an excellent harmonica player and his contributions to the harmonica community are well received. Jazz Harp was published in 1980, it comes complete 6 cuts which are used with practical examples through out the book - BUT, the cuts are on Vinal, so be warned. This book is written for BOTH chromatic & diatonic harmonica.
Richard starts with a light practical primer on Jazz theory, enough to get going, followed by chapters using a number of popular pieces of music over a wide range of 11 Jazz artists & their style - ordered by difficulty, and discusses how to approach them on the harmonica.Each music example is transcribed in music notation and harmonica tab.Each example finishes with additional discographys, so Richard has done his homework.Its a good practical approach to getting up and running with Jazz styles on the harmonica. The last part of the book covers a number of points regardingplaying techniques on the harmonica including a quick description of how to "overbend" the diatonic harmonica to get some missing notes. There is an Exercises chapter which can also be used in part as a reference to chords & scales.Its music notation with tab for diatonic harmonica. And at the ending is an interview of Toots Theilsman, arguably the best Chromatic Harp Jazz player to date.Its a nice touch.
I'd recommend purchasing additional good music theory book &jazz theory book for seriously indepth music theory studies.Richard also recommends finding teachers, and asks that you find the tracks given in each chapter so that you can follow his explicit references.
This is a good book, well written and presented. If you are starting to learn Jazz on the harmonica: this is the one.

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Product Description:
Music, exercises, theory, and technique in the jazz and pop styles of Stevie Wonder, Toots Thielmans, and others. Note-for-note solos for chromatic and Marine Band harmonica.

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How To Play Chord Symbols In Jazz And Popular Music [Plastic Comb] Review

When you read and play the chords described throughout this beautiful, spiral bound (!) book, a world of expressive and gorgeous chords will be heard. Incredible harmonic and jazzy sounds that are easy to play are covered. These are the meat and potatoes of all fake (improvisation) books. This is how those musicians create such wonderful expressive chords and tones in gigs. Everything is clearly written, absolutely clearly illustrated, and comprehensive in description. I am amazed that for under $12. I found such a music book treasure. Go ahead, become a much better piano/keyboard player with this easy to afford and learn book. Amaze yourself!

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Product Description:
The purpose of this book is to develop facility in reading alphabetical chord symbols at the keyboard, with the ultimate goals being the ability to play fakebook leadsheets and understand popular sheet music chord symbols.

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Jazz Improvisation: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles [Paperback] Review

This serious, authoritative book turned me on to jazz.The author presents the material inbite size chunks.He has a gift for pulling structure from the chaos. This is not Jazz-For-Dummies.The reader isexpected to be hard working, but needs no previous experience with jazz. The reader should have access to a piano to play the various chordsequences, but the lessons are invaluable to all instrumentalists.
Onedownside to this book it that you have to learn the author's unusualnotation (figured bass), but the power of this notation is also the book'sgreatest strength.The notation reveals the structure of jazz and thesimilarities between the songs.And, hey, Bach used the same notation, soit can't be all bad.
The author gives the chord changes to many commonjazz songs.Usually no particular artist or recording is referenced.So,the reader has to hunt around to find performances that resemble thechanges the author has given.
Once again, this is my favorite book on thesubject.It is never unnecessarily pedantic.It never waters downdifficult concepts.The way the book talks about music is how musiciansthink about music.If this book is not enough, other books in this seriesby John Mehegan pick up where this one leaves off.

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Product Description:
The fundamentals of jazz are here explained and systemized in 70 lessons based on 60 jazz standards. It covers the styles of musicians from Buddy Bolden to Dizzy Gillespie.

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Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine - The Drop 2 Book [Spiral-bound] Review

This book is a welcome follow-up to Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book. The only frustration I had with the Jazz Piano Book is that it could not tell me EVERYTHING. The Jazz Piano book only introduced Drop 2 techniques, leaving the voracious student wondering where to find more information. The Drop 2 Book fills that void with the same clarity and pace that made the Jazz Piano Book so useful and popular. The book explains major, minor and dominant progressions, tweaks to make chords sound "modern", applications, problems and work-arounds, soloing, comping, the Altered Bebop Minor Scale, and suggested practice routines. Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine(With CD) can also be purchased with recorded examples. Most students at this level could hammer out the examples, but the relative volumes of the left and right hands are important to this technique. Such nuances cannot be expressed clearly with standard music notation, so the CD is more than just a nice afterthought. If you have worked through the Jazz Piano Book and feel ready to explore Drop 2 voicings in greater depth, this book will take you there. Buy it and recommend it to all your friends so that we can see more Masterclass books by Mark Levine.

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Product Description:
The 'Drop 2 Book' is the first and only publication to explore the 4-note, block-chord approach to jazz piano playing---as used by piano masters like Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton and Bill Evans. In this book, world-renowned educator and pianist Mark Levine gives the reader a comprehensive, step-by-step, beginning to advanced Masterclass on this fascinating approach to voicing chords. Included in the book are complete chapters on: The basic Drop 2 approach More advanced Drop 2 techniques Soloing and 'comping in Drop 2 Techniques for practicing Drop 2 Plus a CD is included of Mark demonstrating each exercise! An invaluable insight into the harmonic minds of some of our greatest piano players, by the author of "The Jazz Piano Book".

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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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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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Post-Bop Jazz Piano - The Complete Guide with CD!: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series [Paperback] Review

As a jazz enthusiast, this book was something new that went beyond all other jazz teaching books that I have come across.It has given me a new outlook on the jazz of the 1950's.Left-hand voicings, two-hand voicings, scales, tonality, modality are just some of the main ideas that this book goes through.One thing that really caught my eye, is the in depth look at the impression Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett use in their music.The book is a great option for those looking to expand their jazz knowledge and incorporate their own style.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 and CD package will teach you the basic skills you need to play post bop jazz piano. From comping to soloing, 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 performed either solo or with a full band. THE HAL LEONARD KEYBOARD STYLE SERIES provides focused lessons that contain valuable how-to insight, essential playing tips, and beneficial information for all players. Comprehensive treatment is given to each subject, complete with a companion CD.

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The Jazz Piano Book [Spiral-bound] Review

Before Mark Levine's Jazz Piano book came out, choosing a book on how to play piano was a lot like selecting a presidential candidate - - you may not have been crazy about the choices but... (blah blah blah) What makes this book different is that it walks a fine and brilliant line between theory, application and stylistics and it is never dry, and further it is contemporary. By chapter 10 and beyond he's getting into fourth chords, upper structures and "so what" chords. Most books sort of finish up just when Bud Powell is hitting the scene. This book however will take you up to McCoy Tyner and Kenny Barron. - - Unlike other books, his book also sites practical song examples and specific listening examples.
If you're entirely on your own, I think this book, along with a few Aebersold play-a-longs and Amadea's Harmonic Foundations for Jazz and Pop Music would really take you a long way. Your ultimate goal should be able to sit in at Jam sessions and with real players... that's where the real learning begins. Do what you have to do to get to the point that you can hang with a blues or Real Book standards.
(Regarding suitability for beginers vs. advanced players : This book is pretty good for players of all levels, though if you're starting from scratch another book to consider is Brain Waite's "Modern Jazz Piano : A Study in Harmony" or Amadea's book, then this.)

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Product Description:
Endorsed by Kenny Barron, Jamey Aebersold, Richie Beirach, and more, this book presents all the information a student of jazz piano needs in an easy-to-understand, yet thorough, manner. For intermediate to advanced pianists, written by one of the acknowledged masters of jazz piano playing.

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