Book Description
"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened." In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.
Customer Reviews:
Offensive to jazz fans!.......2007-09-30
Donald Miller, I'd like you to take out the sheet music of Mood Indigo, which I'm sure you've studied extensively, and show me where it doesn't resolve--I think that harmonically it's one of the perfect all time pieces of music, and it resolves better than a lot.
Maybe he's talking about free jazz or bop or post bop or modal jazz or something, but I'm not sure he actually knows what those terms mean. It sounds to me like he's heard a couple of jazz songs at some point and decided that this makes him an expert. Yeah, man, he was turned on to this stuff by Tony, his beat poet buddy, man. Oh, that is so hip!
But even if you're saying on a technical level that jazz music, in some of its more far-flung explorations, abandons established notions of harmony, melody, rhythm and tonality, it can always be explained. You can always notate it, analyze it, study it, and explain it. You can break it down to vibrations traveling through the air and you can know exactly what those vibrations are doing.
You can't do that with Christian spiritual notions, because they're based on assertions of faith that require you to abandon the desire for statements of fact to be proved. It's cute, Donald Miller, for you to say that you're just not interested anymore in the intellectual/theological aspects of Christianity, but it's stupid and ignorant for you to use jazz as a point of comparison. Jazz musicians know exactly what they're doing and they can explain it to you in minute detail, and yes, they could write it down if they wanted to. It's not just getting up in front of people and blowing some BS through your instrument. That's what YOU are doing in your spirituality. Jazz music requires training, education, rigorous practice and relentless creativity. What you do requires a huge capacity for BS and evasive, circular arguments. Guess which one I respect more.
Any jazz solo can be studied note for note, analyzed, and explained. And the person who performed that solo can you tell what choices they made at every point and why, and they can base that on established musical concepts. Once you get to that point, it isn't mysterious anymore, but it is beautiful and special in a way that your unfounded, frightened faith can never be.
Friendly conversation over coffee.......2007-09-25
I don't read a lot of "spirituality" themed books because after a few chapters I feel like the author is trying to convince the reader that his views are right and the reader's are all wrong. This was given to me as a gift and I really did enjoy it. The author didn't seem so much as if he was throwing up his thoughts on you as the reader, but more talking to you about them in a coffee shop conversation. I'm a decently fast reader, but I took some time with this one, reading and re-reading passages and often whole chapters so as to really chew on what the author had to say. The author has a lot to say but says it in a digestible form. Not once did I feel like he was talking over my head. I rarely purchase books for myself unless the book strikes a personal chord with me and I know I will want to read the book several times over; however, I'm glad to play hostess to this book on my shelf.
5th try........2007-09-13
I am on about my 5th try to finish this book. It is hard for me to make it past the first chapter.
I agree that in some ways his approach can be entertaining and "honest," but that does not make it edifying.
I think Miller is sadly confused with many of the vital doctrines of Christianity. Yes I know the word doctrine has come to have some rather poor connotations, yet there is truth Christianity is defined by. I'm not even talking doctrines that are usually debated.
Miller seems to make no importance of sin, and I am still hard pressed to know how serious he is when he says boys usually begin sinning when they are 10, and girls when they are 23. Has he ever even seen a child?
Miller tells of a time when he had a "slot machine god" where he would just screw up, pray, and hope for something good. Though he admits this was wrong, It seems like he is still playing the same slots. Now he is just taking his confusion and using culture he adapts it to the things that he says "make no sense."
Yes, Christians need to be relevant, but we are more importantly to live as new creations, people of a heavenly culture. We are not supposed to ascribe our culture to God, we are to ascribe ourselves to Him.
Anyone confused about this I recommend (lovingly) to read the book of Romans, and if you can't commit to the whole book chapters 6,7, and 8.
Very good, but not great.......2007-09-03
This book was highly recommended by several of my friends and I particularly liked the idea of reading up on "Christian Spirituality". This book had several funny stories in it, and also a few others that were really touching and made you think.
However, there were a few times where Miller decided to go on a tangent about Republicans and how heartless and selfish they were and how churches are puppets for the Republican party (i.e. Ch.12, titled "Churches"). It just really left a bad taste in my mouth which is why I didn't give this 5 stars. I wanted to read a book with anecdotes about Christian Spirituality and not get randomly bombarded by irrational and irrelevant political speech that was aimed at bashing Republicans.
I really hope this wasn't the main motivation for him becoming an advocate for Christian Spirituality or else this book will really lose a lot of credibility in my opinion. It's not because I am a Republican (because I'm actually a Libertarian), it's because political slamming is completely out of place in the book and is really in poor taste considering this meant to be about Christianity and not George W. Bush.
Blue Like Jazz.......2007-08-28
In the book, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller seeks to address Christian spirituality in a nonreligious manner. He relies on experience rather than obscure religious doctrine to convey spiritual truths relating to life, God, community, friendship, love, and the like. In the way Miller relates stories and anecdotes the book is reminiscent of a memoir, but unlike many memoirs Miller's stories have a point and teach a lesson. He does not write simply to entertain, but also to teach and inform.
Miller was born in Houston, Texas, and left at the age of twenty-one to travel around the country until he ran out of money in Portland, Oregon, where he now lives. He published his first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, in 2000. Two years later he published Blue Like Jazz. He continues to write books and also teaches a class at Summit College outside Toronto.
Miller's perspective is refreshing and convincing. Even when he writes about the importance of giving to charity or going to church he avoids coming across as preachy and condescending by backing up his beliefs with personal anecdotes and experience. Instead of relying on Bible verses or well-known evangelists and ministers, he quotes Christian friends and hometown ministers. He expresses the same truths Christianity and other religions present by drawing on rich personal experiences and memories to show the reader his views.
Miller opens the book by saying that in order to love and appreciate something you must sometimes first see someone else loving it. Miller attempts and succeeds at showing the reader how important the words he writes are to him. The philosophies he presents are ones that he has lived by. While Miller writes specifically to a Christian audience, this is a book that cuts across specific religions to appeal to anyone who believes in a higher power.
Customer Reviews:
FORCED TO BUY FOR JAZZ HISTORY.......2007-07-26
This was required for my jazz history class at Sacramento City College (MUFHL 315 - online). It was 125.00 at the college book (packaged along with some worthless CD's). It is not laid out like a normal textbook. At the beginning, it doesn't have a chapter outline or learning objectives. At the end of each chapter, all you have is a sorry summery that doesn't cover any of what the author is trying to say within the chapter. THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER BEEN FORCED TO BUY FOR A CLASS. I am tired people publishing the results of their graduate work as TEXTBOOKS and ripping off poor undeserving student. Reading this book is like watching paint dry.
This book connects the dots..........2006-02-13
I had begun to get serious about immersing myself in Jazz. A little dive around the corner was showing excellent Jazz groups and I had to take the opportunity to discover this great art form. My daughter lent me a textbook she had from college.
I immediately picked it up and for several hours was scanning it backwards and forwards. I kept referencing all the artists and songs I had heard of all my life and this book very handily made the connections. It's loaded with clear and concise and insightful teaching aids.
I can now understand much better the overall experience and history of jazz. The technical parts are still quite overwhelming, but the author's writing is very articulate and non-judgmental. I've rarely seen a more learning friendly book. As I started to mention, you can start anywhere you want in this book and just take what you can handle.
not for jazz scholars alone.......2005-12-20
It has been nearly 30 years since Mark Gridley's first edition of Jazz Styles appeared, and no other treatment of jazz styles comes close to his careful analysis of how jazz has been made since its inception. It is a work of great and serious scholarship, an invaluable resource for students of the genre. Yet, Jazz Styles is also an enjoyable and entertaining companion for anyone who wants to become a more perceptive listener to jazz. The Listening Guides are useful even for those 'veteran'
jazz fans familiar with the works described. Gridley will take you to ever-deeper levels of appreciation for jazz in all its varieties.
Book Description
Endorsed by Jamey Aebersold, James Moody, Dave Liebman, and others, The Jazz Theory Book presents all the information any student of jazz needs in an easy-to-understand, yet thorough, manner. For intermediate to advanced players, and written by one of the acknowledged masters of jazz, it is used by universities around the world.
Customer Reviews:
The Jazz Theory Book review.......2007-09-13
An excellent comprehensive text by Mr. Levine that details the core of what is needed to begin and progress as an improvisational jazz musician regardless of what instrument you play.
Jazz Theory .......2007-06-27
This book covers it all and leaves no "gray areas".
You can "dip into" it or work through it systematically.
It's of value if you've been playing jazz for 50 years or are new to the art form. Takes the mystique out of chord substitution.
Hghly recommended.
good but not the only jazz theory book.......2007-06-19
This book is very good and I recommend it to any serious music student. I learned a lot from it and it gave me plenty of new information and insights. It is also valuable as a reference with excellent indicies and appendices, for example a long list of contrafacts based upon standard song forms. My main criticism of it is that it is very piano-centric. Most examples are given in complex two-handed piano-score format which is great if you can sight read complex piano parts, but are not immediately helpful if piano is your second or third instrument. Also, examples and contexts reflect the author's own personal tastes heavily. There is nothing really wrong with these things, but for a book that seems to present itself as the authoritative text on jazz theory, it's not. I think Bert Ligon's series of books presents a more comprehensive, accessible, and balanced overview of jazz theory, and is more oriented towards musicians in general, not only pianists.
Excellent.......2007-06-17
Great book that not only explains theory, but explains it in the context of what great musicians have done with it. I know this is going to be a lifelong reference. A must have theory book on the bookshelf of any Jazz student.
The definitive book on jazz theory........2007-06-13
This book will whip you into shape. Big time. The incredible amount of information on all facets of playing jazz (including but not limited to: altered scales, harmonic progressions, reharmonization, form, playing the changes) is impressive enough, but the book also references hundreds of recorded examples of jazz giants to better illustrate the concepts discussed. The language used is not so complicated that topics become incomprehensible and at the same time not so simple that the information is too confusing or vague. The wealth of, not only useful but, vital material in this book makes it essential for anyone even remotely interested in the theories of jazz.
Book 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.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book for what Ails you.......2007-09-23
The ideas in this book about self-awareness and practicing music are so profound -- and so true -- I've read this book three times this year.
Werner describes the thought process behind becoming a jazz musician. No one has previously described the mental pitfalls and hangups more clearly, sometimes it's like he has transcribed dialogue from ones own head. This book has made a difference in my playing and outlook, and for some of my friends.
For these reasons, I can't recommend this book enough (even if I disagree with him that meditation is the primary solution to the problems he describes).
Effortless Redundancy.......2007-08-29
In my estimation, this is not a book for anyone who is struggling with how to develop a clear method for practicing the piano or any instrument. In fact, book seems to be more focused upon Mr. Werner's ideological views about society than with the real issues of serious piano practice. For instance, he spends several paragraphs discussing the downfall of society as a result of women being able to use pain killers during child birth and humans being able to eat canned peaches. Then he makes some offhand comment about menopause. One begins to wonder whether this man has serious issues of his own and should be therapy. The bottom line is the book is extremely redundant and is of no help. I wouldn't recommend this book to any of my students as it would be a complete waste of their time. This book is really nothing more than a reflection of Kenny's stream of consciousness: a submerged mysogynistic and puritanical view of society that would have been better served if humans had not discovered the benefits of technology.
If a student really wants to become a master, then he or she should study the harmonic form of the piece and immerse oneself in the beauty of that experience. As Webern said, "your ears may tell you where you're going, but you have to know why."
Everyone should read this book.......2007-08-05
Even though, as a previous reviewer has noted, many of these truths should be self-evident, we forget them often. If nothing else as a reminder of what we already know, this book is a gem.
I would recommend this book for any musician.
Calling All Serious Muscians.......2007-07-18
This book is simply and profoundly inspirational. I've already noted a positive shift in my perspective towards my playing and improvising. If you are serious about your music and want deepen your musical and spiritual practice, I would highly suggest reading this book over and over!
Highly recommended for musicians of any instrument or style.......2007-07-12
I'm a drummer, and although Kenny is a pianist, the principles still applied.
He's a jazz man, and I prefer and play Rock, but his message still propels me to recommend this book. The only reason I rated 4 instead of 5 stars, is that I am Christian, and some of his "lessons" will definitely conflict with that faith. Disregard those passages, and you're still left with awesome material to internalize, and learn from.
Book Description
The Breakers, the Waldorf, the Biltmore, the Sherry, the Pierre—these landmark hotels are synonymous with grand luxury and style. When they were built, in the 1920s, their refined elegance and grandeur set the bar for hotels and resorts the world over. Responsible for creating these and countless other hotels throughout the United States, were the partners of a single architectural firm: Schultze & Weaver. Together, this duo—an architect and an engineer—virtually invented the glamorous lifestyle made famous in films like Grand Hotel. Catering to the social elite of which they were themselves a part, Schultze & Weaver synthesized the Old World style of Renaissance Italy, Moorish Spain, and Georgian England with all of the modern amenities that made hotel living luxurious.
This book presents portfolios of fifteen of the firm’s most spectacular hotels, culminating in the Art Moderne masterpiece of the Waldorf-Astoria. Over two hundred period photographs and hand-colored architectural renderings chart the ascent of the American hotel in all its glory and glamour, before the Great Depression forever changed the lifestyles of America's rich and famous. Essays address the cultural and technological developments that underpin the creation of resort and residential hotels, including the elemental role played by Schultze & Weaver.
This book is published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, Miami, held in celebration of their tenth anniversary.
Customer Reviews:
Jazzed.......2006-01-21
This book is a wonderful tribute to the gradeur of an amazing time in American History. These hotels are just spectacular, they really just don't have the masons or the desire quite frankly, to build buildings like this anymore. The black and white images in this book are simply breath taking, they are so crisp and elegant. The reader really gets a feel for what the hotels looked like at their inseption, at the time they where inspired. The Jazz Age was an era of unbelieveble wealth for a lucky few and they enjoyed spending it and expected only the best, there was a real sence of America starting her accendency to greatness and the affluent wanted to show that the best of America could rival anything in Europe, this was the catalist for these sumptuous hotels. The Jazz Age is of course long gone, but we have examples, like these grand hotels, to remind of an era of opulent wealth..and no income tax.
Product Description
This must-own collection includes more than 625 songs spanning all jazz styles from more than 9 decades - from traditional to swing to modern jazz, carefully chosen chords with common practice chord substitutions, lyrics to accomodate vocalists, easy-to-read music, and composer and performer indexes. Songs include: Maple Leaf Rag Basin Street Blues A Night In Tunisia Lullaby Of Birdland The Girl From Ipanema Bag's Groove I Can't Get Started All The Things You Are and many more!
Customer Reviews:
THE ULTIMATE JAZZ FAKE BOOK.......2007-06-27
This product reached Golden Bay New Zealand in a few days-thanks AMAZON
I ordered it for Duke Ellington's "Do nothing 'till you hear from me" and also have marked another 30 items that will suit our group[Violin-Guitar-Drums ] If you want to bring back swing, this is it! BUT-Why are they called 'Fake' books--this is the real thing. Alan S.
The Ultimate Jazz Fake Book C Edition.......2007-01-04
This book crams a tremendous amount of music into one book. Is a great reference for anyone playing with a group or by themselves for that matter. I play with three others and they all have fake books similar to this one and we are constantly refering to them. A great source of music.
Memorize this.......2006-12-17
These songs are ment to be memorized. Unlike the Real Book, the Ultimate Jazz Fake Book gives a clear and concise approach to playing many of the standards most know and love. There is some filler, but there is a lot of filler in the Real book, as well. I found this book very helpful while learning to play jazz -- in other words playing and then imrovising over the chord changes given to me in each song. I had a great time with most songs except The Peacocks (Lord, what were they thinking)and Cherokee. I ended up transcribing my own piece for Cherokee. All the others seem to be helpful. If you are a piano player or a guitarist, this book is for you!
The Great Jazz Standard Book.......2006-03-13
There are a few mistakes, but very few. Very good for 625+ songs from the 30's thru the 60's. It's also a classroom in one book for standard jazz progressions. Well worth every penny. If you play the nursing home circuit this is the book.
Poor.......2001-06-10
This is a book worth buying only if you are a singer looking for melody and text to jazz/dixie tunes. The chord progressions are weak, with many faults and flaws. The lineup is poor as well, as the compilation process has forced the songs to be typed with no concern to form etc. No four-bars-per-line here. No book to bring along to the gig, but a great resource for old-and-nearly forgotten tunes.
Book Description
Anyone with a knowledge of basic chords and guitar scale fingerings can dig right in and start learning to play jazz right away. Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way up to extended chords and the modes, this book features a full-length etude or song to go with every new concept introduced. Beginning Jazz Guitar 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. Clearly organized into easily mastered segments, each chapter is divided into separate lessons on harmony or improvisation. All music is shown in standard notation and TAB, and the CD demonstrates the examples in the book. 96 pages.
Customer Reviews:
Complete and accessible.......2007-09-09
DVD/book combo make this introduction to jazz guitar very complete and accessible for even the most novice player. Doesn't get much better than this.
Excellent Intro to Jazz Guitar.......2007-08-15
Jody Fisher deserves a lot of credit. He's written an accessible introductory jazz tutorial with progressively skillful lessons that address both melody and chordal harmony. Believe it or not, this is a rarity in jazz instruction books - I find they are often elitist and condescending. Fisher instead is both welcoming and inclusive.
Fisher assumes you already know the basics of guitar mechanics (and are probably self-taught) and are a decent enough musician to want to learn to play something with more musical sophistication. He respects the reader in a way that most jazz authors don't. He also presents an amazing variety of scale fingerings in different positions - while also placing them within useful musical contexts.
All the examples in the book are also included on the DVD, along with some video lessons. Somewhat surprisingly, the video lessons elaborate on the content of the second volume of the series, not the present volume. Furthermore, the audio quality of the video lessons isn't very good - the overall volume is too low and there's too great a disparity in volume between the music and the instructional information. While it's nice to have a DVD instead of a CD, I'd rather have seen the DVD with the volume it seems to have been intended for and would have preferred better audio quality. That is the only reason why I docked this book one star.
Regardless, this is one of the most useful guitar tutorial books I have ever seen. I was already an experienced electric guitarist when I picked up this book, but I improved tremendously as I worked through Fisher's excellent tutorials. If you already have a few years experience playing blues or melodic rock and want to explore the wonderful world of jazz guitar, this is the book you ought to buy. I can think of no warmer welcome to improvisation.
Finally...the right method for Jazz!!!.......2007-07-17
What else can I say? I am a Blues/Rock self taught guitar player, and I have been trying to get into Jazz for 3 years! I did a summer workshop that got me so frustrated when I realized that I was simply not able to follow the bands because I just did not speak the language (I also have to admit that the students were a bunch of jazz snobs belonging to a sort of superior species of musicians...).
This book has allowed me to enter the world of Jazz (trying not to become a snob). It is a strange feeling to review some things that I almost already knew, but all of a sudden, it just makes sense. I don't know if it is also because I was getting ready after having gone through some of those concepts, but anyhow, this book was the key. I moved on to the second of the series, but I come back very often to this one too. As the author says, "a lot of material is covered", and it will take more than a couple of exercises to master it! One small flaw? The tunes which illustrate the different chapters are not really exciting...
Good book with some flaws.......2007-06-12
This book is a great overview of the basics of Jazz for the beginner. By the end you'll have learned lots of theory and the necessary tools to apply the theory (diatonic harmony, modes, etc.). However, I really can't give this book 5 stars for a few reasons. 1. The backing tracks that come with the book are terrible, it's just one guitar strumming along with no variation and no drums or bass and no matter how smokin your solos may be, it just isn't exciting to play with. 2. He overdoes it with the chord voicings he wants you to learn. The whole first half of the book is just filled with voicings for tons of chords. I'm a pretty experienced player so I knew many of the voicings but even I was overwhelmed. No way can anyone learn all of this in one go. If you try to learn every voicing you wont ever finish the book. He also gives you chord forms with no root so you have no idea where to play them. Overall though, Fisher has written a great book for beginners. I would try not to get too caught up in learning every last bit though because it's pretty imposisble for a beginner. He should've mixed in some rhythm/comping excercises to make it more exciting.
Where's the Jazz?.......2007-04-25
I didn't find this book helpful at all. None of the example in the book sound even remotely like jazz. All this book has you do is play a bunch of boring chord tones and scales. Since so much of it is based on major chords, there is no bluesy sound to the examples. Souless and rote. Just the opposite of jazz.
Book Description
The Real Books are the best-selling jazz books of all time. Since the 1970s, musicians have trusted these volumes to get them through every gig, night after night. The problem is that the books were illegally produced and distributed, without any regard to copyright law, or royalties paid to the composers who created these musical masterpieces. Hal Leonard is very proud to present the first legitimate and legal editions of these books ever produced. You won't even notice the difference, other than that all of the notorious errors have been fixed: the covers and typeface look the same, the song list is nearly identical, and the price for our edition is even cheaper than the original! Every conscientious musician will appreciate that these books are now produced accurately and ethically, benefitting the songwriters that we owe for some of the greatest tunes of all time! Includes 400 songs: All Blues * Au Privave * Autumn Leaves * Black Orpheus * Bluesette * Body and Soul * Bright Size Life * Con Alma * Dolphin Dance * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * Easy Living * Epistrophy * Falling in Love with Love * Footprints * Four on Six * Giant Steps * Have You Met Miss Jones? * How High the Moon * I'll Remember April * Impressions * Lullaby of Birdland * Misty * My Funny Valentine * Oleo * Red Clay * Satin Doll * Sidewinder * Stella by Starlight * Take Five * There Is No Greater Love * Wave * and hundreds more!
Customer Reviews:
Great compilation.......2007-09-22
Pretty much every jazz standard is here, and the chords are finally accurate. I'd recommend it for anybody trying to put together a jazz set!
5th Edition is gone--WE HAVE NO CHOICE!!!.......2007-08-23
I've heard a lot of jazz players complain about the "legal" edition of the Real Book. It is missing a handful of tunes and some say the changes are "wrong" on a lot of tunes. Others say that the changes for those tunes are "wrong" in the old 5th Edition and the 6th Edition is a timely, welcome correction. Perhaps it would be more accurate on both ends to say that the changes in the two versions of the books are different; Any melody note works with any cord, just functioning as different upper extension. Some options are simply tastier than others. If you don't like the changes, pencil in something different. In any case, now that you don't have to deal with black market production to get the thing, it's only around twenty bucks.
What you should really do is get your hands on at least a dozen different fake books, compare changes on all the different tunes and memorize them. When was the last time you went to hear one of your jazz heros in concert and saw them flop a Real Book down on the stand? It doesn't happen and I'll tell you why: Time spent with your nose in a music stand is time not spent zoning in on the bass player's right hand and the groove swinging on the ride; you can't really put it in the pocket unless your paying close attention, watching and listening to the band.
This book is a good resource for initially learning tunes, but let's get on with it and learn the tunes so we can leave the books home. The magic happens when everyone hears it and feels it together. No fake book will help you with that, no matter what edition it is.
Gets the job done.......2007-08-23
It's the Real Book, everyone knows of it and most musicians own it. A great library of standards and tunes that will keep you playing for a long time. Wonderful for the amateur jazz musician. I assume most professionals already own it.
More Than Enough Jazz.......2007-08-11
Excellent edition. The music is clearly laid out and easy to read. There's more than enough music to keep any jazz musician busy for the rest of their lives! All the standards and more. Also recommend Volume 2.
A Great Choice for Musicians.......2007-06-08
The Real Book is a Musician's best friend. It is a reference guide to some of the best standards know to man. Whether just jammin with your friends, or playin alone, this book is highly reccommended. I have played many pieces out of this Real Book for each of these stated purposes, and many more. Not only does this Real Book give you more selections of music to play, it allows you to broaden your musical ability, by learning more styles and chords.
Book 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.
Customer Reviews:
A Treasure.......2007-08-22
This is the book I have been waiting for for many years. Levine has come up with the ultimate tool for teaching both yourself and others. It is amazing how skilful he is in proceeding progressively, building on previous chapters as he goes along. He convincingly pieces things together one by one. Following these steps you are invariably gaining competence and confidence in negotiating the piano. A bit of background knowledge in (not necessarily Jazz) harmony and scale theory on the side of the reader would be useful, but it is certainly not indispensable, since in this respect Levine takes nothing for granted, unlike many other authors who seem to relish in building up walls and talking to the initiated few exclusively. Particularly helpful are the suggested tunes to work on and the suggested recordings to listen to. They make you understand the points at issue by putting them into practice. Conversely, it is exciting to suddenly hear and understand often quite familiar compositions and solos on a different level by seeing how they "work".
The book may be a little hard, though, for beginners on the piano. The density of the material together with too many technical difficulties regarding playing would simply be overburdening. But an intermediary level of skills is perfectly sufficient, technical brilliance by no means necessary.
I should not forget to mention Levine's enthusiasm grounded on a breathtakingly complete command of the material. The pleasure he obviously has in teaching is also quite contagious. It must be wonderful to have him as a teacher.
The spiral binding is a rather good idea, since it keeps the pages in place. And the book smells alright when opened - not altogether unimportant, given that you are likely to sit in front of it for hours on end.
Wonderful one volume work on jazz piano...........2007-05-05
If you are already a piano player and have some knowledge of music theory, this book will help you take your understanding of jazz to a new level. It covers a LOT of musical ground and places it within a historical context.
This is not a book that is loaded with exercises, but it is packed with concepts that one could apply and that would take most pianists years to master. Even if you are very good, you will not outgrow it anytime soon.
The Jazz Piano book goes into various types of chords, voicings and how to use them. It also talks about modal harmony, constructing various types of scales and how to apply these ideas to improvistational solos.
This book is well-organized, fascinating, filled with good pictures, examples and ideas. It is a bargain at any price.
If you are new to the jazz world and classically trained, I recommend Jazz Improvisation for the Classical Pianist. This will help you to get away from thinking in patterns on a page with specific fingerings and get you to develop your ability to hear tones and intuit music in intervals. This is an important step toward being a good jazz pianist. It will also help you to break a lot of the conditioning that comes from many years of classical training that does not serve you well within jazz.
I also think it is essential for pianists getting into jazz to apply what they are learning as much as possible. For this reason, I recommend Vol. 3, The II/V7/I Progression: A New Approach To Jazz Improvisation (Book & CD Set) and anything else by Aebersold because this gives you experience playing. The specific link above covers a progression that constitutes 70% plus of most standards. Therefore, this is a good place to get started.
Only for the advanced piano player.......2007-02-17
I consider myself to be an intermediate piano player. But this book I found to be very challenging and intimidating. It is only for the advanced piano player. And unless you have an extensive Jazz music collection, you will won't recognize a majority of the songs in this book. So that makes it even harder to play and learn the material.
The book would probably make a great reference....but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are already a professional Jazz piano player, if not someone who is already playing in a Jazz trio or quartet.
Great Book!.......2007-01-30
I am a Jazz keyboard beginner. I have taught traditional piano lessons for 24 years. But Jazz and other areas of piano are in very separate worlds of learning.
The book seemed to be something I could read to help my learning to play the Jazz styles.
It is a little more advanced than I had hoped. I am sure though, that I will eventually get to that level and then I can enjoy it.
Great resource!.......2007-01-06
I love the fact the Levine's Jazz Piano book is very thorough. The layout is also very logical. One has to be very diligent to work through it, but if you do, there's no limit to the opportunities that will be available to you as a player. It's a lifetime of information for the price of one private lesson.
Product Description
For guitarists, the technical learning curve for improvisation is fairly steep. For this reason, it is important to find multiple uses for the musical structures that you learn to execute. This approach decreases the learning curve considerably. Jazz Guitar Structures shows you how to expand your improvising vocabulary by combining small, easily identifiable melodic ideas (structures) into longer, more complex lines. In standard notation with companion CD.
Customer Reviews:
Clever and clear.......2007-09-10
Very clever book, I never read the notions explained here anywhere else,
or maybe it was because it wasn't clear enough. The material is precisely
organized and the examples sound great. This gave me another way to hear
bebop, recognizing some structures.
You have a lot to work on this stuff to make it comes naturally, but the
challenge is really worthy, so good luck !
peace
A comprehensible approach for the advanced player.......2007-02-02
This book, though limited to just a few melodic structures, gives a very good insight to what improvisation is about: telling your own story, using coherent and consistent melodic structures. It goes to the basis, and because it doesn't overwhelm you with all possible modes/scales/structures but just sticks to a few powerfull tools, enables you to understand and implement. A must for the advanced guitar player.
boost your soloing with these structures.......2006-10-28
This book has been the stepping stone I need to get to applying arpeggios all over the neck and combining different sounds with them. I've only gotten through the 1st section (minor arpeggios) and I'm not only more able to connect arpeggios over the neck but also able to substitute them in over other chords. For instance, before this book I didn't know how to substitute and play only minor arpeggios over a ii V I progression. Now I know multiple ways and can very the sound depending on degree of the chord I build off of. There is a lot of information and so much to get out of the book. The other sections that I haven't even gotten to yet covers in the same way how to use and apply major triad +2 and minor tetrachords.
The best thing about Andrew's two books I have (Comping is the other I have) is they way he presents things. The examples he gives allow you to understand the concept and then later know how to easily apply it. So many books give too few examples that are so easily applicable outside the book.
To get a better idea of the contents of the book, check out Andrew Green's website at www.[...]com. This along with his Comping book have been two of my favorite books in a while. Know that both of these books require reading skills (no tab) and they are not aimed at beginners.
An excellent resource.......2006-05-18
I have all of Green's books and they are uniformly excellent. Structures gives you a wealth of applicable information. Not scales, or licks, or weenie theory, but applicable ideas. Intermediate++.
A MUST for the modern guitarist!.......2006-01-21
I bought Jazz Guitar Technique a little over a year ago and am still working my way through it. My wife bought this book for me for Christmas and let me tell you, these books are DEEP. There is so much information in this series of books that you'll be picking them up again and again before you feel like you've absorbed everything they have to offer. Andrew Green's instructions in this area are key: Don't try to learn too many things at once as it waters down the learning process.
Before I go further though let me warn you, these books are not for the total beginner looking to learn jazz guitar. Also, if you can't read music AT ALL then this book is not for you. My music reading isn't that great, but I can muddle along slowly and actually this book is helping me in that regard as well. Mr. Green's exercises are usually in eighth notes so the rhythms aren't complex. He encourages the readers to try the exercises not just in other keys and positions (which we should all be doing anyway) but in other rhythms as well, truly making them your own.
The content itself is very easy to understand and work with. If, like me, you've been practicing the same sort of stuff for years, the material in here will not only beef up your lines and overall knowledge of the instrument, it'll make you feel like you ran into the phone booth as Clark Kent and came out Superman. After I had a few things down and started trying to improvise with them it was scary how fast I was able to adapt the ideas into my style and how they instatly added a whole world of melodic depth to my playing. Even when I wasn't trying to sound "jazzy" I still found that the things I ws playing sounded much more interesting and relevant to the chords I was playing over.
It's strange that there are probably more guitarists today than there ever were previously and yet there are almost no heroes. There are a GAZILLION of us and yet so many of us are still trying to emulate Hendrix or Page or Montgomery or Christian. As a rock guitarist with a strong love for jazz I feel that this book and Improvising Jazz Guitar can help us learn new ideas while at the same time feeling inspired to achieve new heights in our own development as well as the development of the language of popular guitar. THANK YOU ANDREW GREEN!!
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