Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes & All Keyboard Instruments [Paperback] Review

These are not "Chord Melodies". Rather they are chord improvisations over the changes of six tunes: Misty, Billie Joe, a Blues in Bb, Watch What Happens, Sunny and The Days of Wine and Roses.
Very dense chord arrangements showing different harmonic possibilities with the basic changes. I recorded these as I learnedthem, so I could listen to them to really absorb the material.
Joe gives no harmonic analysis at all, so it is up to the reader to figure out the theory, and boy, there's lots of it.
I'm a professional jazz guitarist and teacher....playing nearly forty years, and I still review these and pick chord licks that I like, transpose them to other keys, positions and strings, analyze the voice leading, chord substitutions, etc. I've had this book for years, and lots of it has slowly seeped into my playing. I'll play a piece, pick a chord lick that I like (like any one of them), and then try to apply it to my improvisations in other tunes.
In my opinion, for advanced players, this is one of the best books out there to dig into some really lush and melodic chord playing. I found it tough reading....and I'm a pretty advanced player. But I have worked through most of the major guitar books out there and this one is one of my mainstays.
While I'm here, I'll also recommend:
Fusion - Joe Diorio
Joe Pass on Guitar
Howard Roberts Guitar Manual Chord Melody
For players new to jazz and not so advanced, a standard book is
Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar Volume 1.

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Product Description:
The art of improvising chord-style solos is an important part of any musician's resources. This book has been written to improve that art for guitar, vibes and all keyboard instruments. A careful study of these solos will give you a thorough understanding of chordal playing and substitutions. It is great for voicing as well as improvisation.

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Tons of Runs: For the Contemporary Pianist [Paperback] Review

I'm not a big fan of lick and pattern books, but this one has my seal of approval... and more than that, I HIGHLY reccomend it.There are lot's of ideas in here, some powerful stuff. Really hands on Jazz language material, some that if you're a more experienced improviser you might be using instinctively already, and some you wonder why you haven't touched on all along. The idea is to take them and build upon them...Within hours of getting the book, I immediately tuned out the outside world and was having fun experimenting with it... Some other things I like about it :The licks are in more than one key, suggested fingerings for more difficult ones, they're over a nice variety of patterns, typography is nice, and they're stuff that real people actually play, not just text book prototypes.
I venture to say, that of the books I'm familiar with, this is the best one out !!! Great stuff for professionals as well as folks just getting into improv... and not just for pianists !

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Product Description:
TONS OF RUNS is a wide-ranging compendium of runs, licks, and lines found in the jazz vernacular, each written in three different keys, and presented in a straightforward style without ponderous analysis.This book contains useful phrases derived from chord tones, passing tones, resultant scales, and scale-tone chords that piano players can use right away as vocabulary enhancers. These are the raw material and tools that piano players everywhere can use to polish their performance and improvisation skills, and even create new and more interesting ways to play the music they already know!

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The Definitive Jazz Collection (Definitive Collections) [Paperback] Review

No "fake book", or "real book" this.You get full, well-thought-out harmonizations.This isn't how Jazz pianists acquire their numbers, but hey, this graduate of the weekly visit to the traditional read-the-music-and-play-it-exactly-as-written piano teacher likes it just fine this way.Having played through about 25% of the songs, I'll say there are no really bad arrangements, and quite a few very good ones.The technical difficulty is toward the higher end of the non-classical stuff you find in the music stores -- the average song is about as hard (if you want to play all the notes) as a Chopin Waltz or a Clementi Sonatina.

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Product Description:
A once-in-a-lifetime collection of 90 of the greatest jazz songs ever compiled into one volume. Includes: Ain't Misbehavin' * All the Things You Are * Birdland * Body and Soul * A Foggy Day * Girl From Ipanema * Here's That Rainy Day * The Lady Is a Tramp * Love for Sale * Mercy, Mercy, Mercy * Midnight Sun * Moonlight in Vermont * Night and Day * Skylark * Stormy Weather * Sweet Georgia Brown.

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Clavia Nord Electro 2 61-Key Stage Piano/Organ Review

For the gigging keyboardist, the Electro 61 falls somewhere between a Godsend and a no-brainer.It's hard to avoid hyperbole when discussing this instrument, but anyone who has toted a Hammond rig and a Wurlie and a controller and peripherals and every other blasted thing will get my drift.For 29 years, I've been condemned to driving a cargo van full of vintage keys which weren't designed to leave the living room in the first place.I've herniated myself in the process, and was almost killed in a rear-end collision that flipped my 'B' upside down.I have made every effort to 'scale down' -- Korg CX3, Micro B, Roland VK7, Oberheim, Hammond XM3, and oddball stuff.All of the aforementioned fell woefully short of Hammond heaven, and of course, didn't offer any EP features or anything else.

The buzz about the Nord was intriguing, so I checked one out at a local store.Typically, the young, cooler-than-thou clerk could barely get the thing to power up, and I was pretty much left to navigate on my own.But five minutes on the Electro made me a believer (of COURSE I ordered one online -- any dope on the floor of a music store who can't get a keyboard that produces five sounds to work doesn't get his commission from me).

Here goes (note -- run this guy stereo, even if ya have to buy a little PA to do so): the Hammond end of things is simply exquisite.I did a little EQ stuff (the Electro features EQ and presence knobs on the dashboard.What a concept!You know, you can actually tweak your sound during performance...), rolled back the key click, and entered my own registrations.Fat, juicy, and soulful.Big, even in the high harmonics.Not a trace of cheese.Outlandish chorus.Completely persuasive percussion.The best Leslie ever, and I don't mean 'pretty good.'It sounds like the real deal.I personally don't have an issue with the 'draw-buttons' and I like controlling the Leslie speed via footswitch.The last thing I want is another broken bakelite switch hanging pitifully on my 'board.

Rhodes: ya want Richard Tee?Yassah."Just the Way You Are?" (you'll actually want to play the old warhorse) -- roger roger.Steely Dan ala Victor Feldman and/or "Nightfly" stuff?Yes jones.Through the Electro, younger players might actually discover what a Rhodes really sounds like.Twenty years of screaching over-cranked synth knockoffs did the Rhodes sound no favors.

Wurlie: intitially, I couldn't find one quite 'mean' enough, but five minutes with 'presence' did the trick.Early Ray, in a big way.A little tremolo and it's Mussel Sholes central.Just like my 200.Plays like it too.Light, but CONFIDENT feeling.

Clavs: good grief.Perfect.

CP80:Back in the day, I wanted one desperately.But, of course, like every thing else back in the day, I coudn't afford one.Now I OWN one.I LOVE it.Newbies probably won't 'get' the CP80, but us old timers will have our fun.

Piano: contrary to most opinions, I think the piano is very good.I don't like it as well as my Kurweil 1200 Pro I, but it's entirely usable.I re-EQed it, rolling off some of the not-so-pleasant highs.Prior to a gig recently, I played some standards using the piano sound.I was testing the waters to see if the relatively short keyboard and on-board piano would work for jobbing.Absolutely.It won't cut stride, but an Evans-esque approach is A-OK.

Conclusion: the Electro 61 is hands-down the most impressive and exciting 'keyboard' I've ever owned, and I have had a ton of stuff.Unlike a synth, it is designed for the player to make music on it.In that sense, it is a bonafide musical instrument.

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Product Description:
The Nord Electro 2 is the next big step in the development of the Nord Electro series of stage keyboards. Among the features of the Electro 2 you'll find the new Mega Clavinet sound which offers all the filter and pick-up variations of the original Clavinet D6! This means that you'll be able to access no less than 60 + 4 different Clavinet D6 sounds in the Electro 2!Thanks to the remade piano sample playback engine, the polyphony for the piano sounds is now greatly enhanced. The new piano sample playback engine also made it possible for Nord to digitally model the sounds you get when you release keys on a piano instrument. For example, the Clavinet and the Wurlitzer have very characteristic key release sounds. In Nord Electro 2 this is very faithfully modeled. The new sample playback engine also allows for playback of stereo pianos. In the new factory sound library Clavia has included a great new Acoustic Grand piano - in stereo. The Electro 2 also features great new vintage-style effects in the Effects section. Nord has also beefed up the Overdrive distortion to sound more like an overdriven tube amplifier.Nord Electro 2 fully supports USB download of Nord Electro piano samples. Now you will be able to download new piano instrument samples using Nord's specially developed Electro Tool sample dump program for Mac and PC! Additional piano sounds are available on the CD-R that comes with the Nord Electro 2 and also for download at www.clavia.se - free of charge! More...

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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 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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Scott Joplin Collected Piano Works: Rags, Waltzes, Marches (Belwin Edition) [Sheet music] Review

This wonderful collection of the piano music of Scott Joplin (1867 - 1917) was originally published by the New York Public Library in 1971 and edited by Vera Brodsky Lawrence.With additions in 1981,the book includes the score for virtually all of Joplin's solo piano works, including 41 "original works",7 "collaborative works",3 "miscellaneous works", and 3 additional rags added to the volume in 1981 when permission was secured from the holder of the copyright.I have had this volume for many years and continue to study and learn from it, in playing familiar works and learning new pieces.The volume is an endless source of delight and inspiration.

Born in east Texas to a father who had been a former slave and to a free black mother, Joplin showed musical talent at an early age and received free piano lessons oriented towards classical music from a local white teacher who recognized his talent.At 14, Joplin left home and assumed a wandering life in hopes of furthering his dream to become a composer and musician. He ultimately settled in St. Louis and Sedalia, Missouri where he began to compose the ragtime that would make him famous.Late in life Joplin moved to New York City where he continued to compose ragtime while spending most of his energy on his opera "Treemonisha."His music was in danger of being forgotten until interest revived in the early 1970s through the use of his music in the movie, "The Sting", the revival of "Treemonisha" and the publication of this volume of his music.

This volume includes familiar and unfamiliar Joplin. The most familiar of his ragtime works are the "Maple Leaf Rag" (1897) and "The Entertainer" (1902) which became famous when used in "The Sting."Among the other rags I have enjoyed and learned to play over the years are "Elite Syncopations" (1902), "Weeping Willow Rag" (1903) , "Pine Apple Rag" (1908), "Wall Street Rag" (1909), and several others.Joplin also combined with friends and students in writing some pieces, including "Heliotrope Bouquet" (1907) with the gifted but troubled Louis Chauvin and "Swipesy" (1900) which Joplin wrote with his young student, Arthur Marshall.Joplin also wrote beautiful waltzes, including "Bethena" (1905) and "Binks Waltz" (1905). He also wrote a tango called "Solace" (1909).

Joplin's musicis varied, strongly syncopated, and melodious.Joplin tried to combine African American and classical music idioms to help create a distinctively American music.This is an elusive goal that has been pursued by many other composers.His piano music is not easy to play but is generally within the reach of determined amateurs, such as myself.Joplin wrote a set of exercises, the "School of Ragtime" (1908) to help aspiring pianists learn the skills needed to play his music.Joplin also said regarding his works:

"That real ragtime of the higher class is rather difficult to play is rather a painful truth which most pianists have discovered. Syncopations are no indications of light and trashy music, and to shy bricks at `hateful ragtime' no longer passes for musical culture."

In addition to the musical scores, this book includes a lengthy introduction "Scott Joplin: Black-American Classicist" by ragtime scholar Rudy Blesh which offers an excellent overview of the composer's life and music and of performance practices. Over the years, I have played Joplin for my own enjoyment, for friends, and at various venues on a volunteer basis. When I play for others, I generally combine classical works, with a performance of Joplin's "Bethena" together with some of the ragtime works.I find that Joplin's music is almost invariably the best-received of the works I perform by both knowledgeable and less-knowledgeable audiences.

Scott Joplin remains an American treasure. As Joplin wished, his music breaks down claimed musical boundaries between classical and popular.This volume will bring joy to lovers of the piano and to serious pianists, whether amateur or professional.

Robin Friedman

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Product Description:
In addition to the 54 original and collaborative works presented in this impressive volume, Scott Joplin: The Collected Piano Works includes 34 pages of scholarly insight and history that help the pianist determine performance practices and authentically reproduce the sound and style Joplin intended. With editions of 19 publishers reproduced in this volume, a colorful variety of music typefaces and printing styles is offered. Together with the evocative original cover designs, they present a vivid panorama of the Ragtime Era. Because study of the original publications has revealed great numbers of errata of various kinds, and since this edition is primarily intended for study and performance, the editors have incorporated corrections into the facsimile pages rather than perpetuate original errors for antiquarian interest.

Titles include: Maple Leaf Rag
* The Entertainer
* The Chrysanthemum
* Rosebud
* Eugenia
* Gladiolus Rag
* Wall Street Rag
* Solace
* Paragon Rag
* Lily Queen
* Heliotrope Bouquet
* Kismet Rag
* School of Ragtime
* Swan Rag
* Treemonisha and more.

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The Ultimate Beginner Series: Blues Keyboard Basics, Steps One & Two Combined [Paperback] Review

I am a beginning piano player, but this book had me playing the blues within hours. First listen to the CD while following along in the book and I'll bet you'll be so stoked you will stop and try the exercises! This is a winner!

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Product Description:
Take the first step towards experiencing the fun of playing blues keyboards. This book/CD will guide you through everything you need to knowto begin playing blues keyboards: the 12-bar progression, shuffle patterns, triplet feels, inversions, and much more!

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