5 comments about Scott The Piano Guy's Favorite Piano Fake Book.

1. I really like this fake book as he includes the chord diagrams (beginner and advanced) at the top of every song. It is published by Hal Leonard so you get their familiar music layout. Melody, lyrics, and rhthym are displayed.
   
   It has a nice selection of songs from broadway, jazz, pop, etc. My only gripe would be that it would have been nice to have a few modern pop tunes from the past decade but what can you do.
   
   In short, it is one of the better fake book complilations I have seen, and should give me years of use.



2. This piano book is full of classic songs (both old and newer)that are really fun to play. The book is also really easy to understand for beginner to intermediate players.



3. After struggling with trying to pick up the piano off-and-on over the years, i stumbled across Scott Houston's TV show on a local PBS station a couple of years ago. It was a revelation -- here was an approach to quickly learn songs i liked without trying to read sheet music note-for-note. After watching several episodes of the show, i purchased this book and enjoy it. Yes, some (or many) of the songs are not to my tastes, but even making use of just a dozen tunes is worth the price of admission. I am online today to buy the 2nd 'Fake Book' Scott Houston has produced.
   
   Using lead sheets seems like a well-kept secret. You could probably find this book useful even without seeing the show, but see the show if you get a chance.



4. This product has a variety of songs that cover a range of music that should be appealing to everyone. If you want something simple so you can just start playing piano this is a good book to have.



5. This guy is very practical, good range of songs worth learning and playing.
   Unlike other fake books I have. This one gives a layout of suggested chords with some variations, including note layout and fingering. I like it and found it a good learning aid.

5 comments about 101 Bass Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use.

1. Interesting arcane and off-beat tips, probably already known by the master bassist but helpful reinforcement; or good to know stuff for the beginner starting out on the career. CD attached with some useful examples.



2. this book should be read by not just bass because it's tips roll over to all guitar players. I am taking up bass and have been playing 6sting electric and just loved the book.



3. The 101 tips that modern bass master Gary Willis lays out in this excellent book will help bassists of all levels improve their craft in a variety of ways. Take me for example. I had been obsessing over the lack of mids in my tone, tweaking my preamp and considering introducing an expensive EQ pedal into my effects chain. Then I read Tip 49, and backed off the volume on the neck pickup of my Jazz(tm) bass. Wow! There was the articulation and punch I'd been looking for. I had also been feeling guilty for watching my alma mater's football games on Saturdays ("there goes another three hours that I could have been practicing!"). Then I read Tip 96, and bought a length of 2x4, some rope, and two screw eyelets. Presto - I had the perfect "bass" to focus on the mechanics of right hand slapping with my thumb, isolated with no need to worry about what my left hand was doing, all while watching football. Features a CD-ROM of audio tracks that you play over for some of the Tips.
   
   [...]



4. This is one for the library. Totally recommend getting the Tascam MPB-T1 Mobile Bass Trainer - MP3with a leather case from ValetStand com. Just down load the cd to the Tascam trainer and you can practice anywhere.



5. This book is for you if:
   You already know your way around the fingerboard, and know some theory, and have a solid beginner's grasp of the instrument, and are looking for some ways to improve or aid your playing/gigging, *outside* of basic technique, reading and theory.
   
   many useful tips, some more so than others, depending on your level. An excellent supplement to the fundamentals.

5 comments about The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier.

1. I've had this book for ages but didn't get around to reading it until recently -- and was able to read it straight through in a single sitting. Wonderful story, very educational -- I enjoyed learning about the different makes of pianos, particularly the Faziolis and the French Pleyels and Erards, enjoyed reading about the author's experience at a master class, enjoyed meeting the quirky characters he encounters -- the tuner who drinks too much (Jos) and the other piano lovers. Although I enjoyed Perri Kinze's Grand Obsession (which I would also recommend), I liked this a bit better; both books are educational as well as entertaining. At one point, the author was describing an occasion when he overheard someone playing Beethoven's Diabelli variations -- which he compared to Bach's Goldberg variations. I was not familiar with the Diabelli variations, so I turned to the back inside cover of the book to make a note to myself -- I was delighted to see that a previous owner of the book (I purchased it used) had already made that note there -- obviously, the book spoke to both of us in a similar way. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about pianos, Paris, or music in general.



2. Don't try to read this book unless you have a passion for the piano, for pianos, and for the wonderful sound they provide. But if that is the case you will love this book loaded with serendipidy finds and beautiful sound. The setting is Paris, the once in a time center for high art and music. The book will inform about pianos and about listening to perfect pitches.



3. I came across an excerpt from this book in a magazine some time ago and decided I needed to read the whole story! I just love this book. From the time I was a very small girl, I have loved pianos, especially grand pianos. My dad taught in a small college when I was a teenager, and in their chapel was a magnificent old Steinway that must have been built in the late 1800's. How I loved to slip into the chapel when no one was around, and "commune" with that piano.
   
   And today my very own precious antique baby grand, an anniversary gift from my husband, stands in my living room...........
   
   Thad Carhart's story struck a very "strong chord" for me. His stories of the various pianos that he met while visiting Luc in the piano shop revealed how each was almost like a living breathing individual to him. I learned so much about these gracious, tuneful instruments from his book: how they are constructed, and the fact that different pianos lend themselves to different types of music, etc. His descriptions of Paris draw me to that city! The way he wove his family life into the story and his dips into his past piano experiences when he was a boy make for a joyous reading experience.
   
   From one piano lover to another, thank you, Mr. Carhart, for writing this book!



4. with so many rave reviews, but I found the book a little slow moving and light on substance. I liked it well enough and don't want to be too critical -- it's the author's first book -- but it would have been a lot better at half the length.
   
   There's not much to the story, and almost nothing to let you know it takes place in Paris if the author didn't keep reminding you. Some unforgettable characters could have easily offset these weaknesses, but in 300 pages you'll meet very few Parisians, none of them all that interesting or particularly French. (Carhart admits having trouble getting to know the French.) And even for an American ex-pat, he's unnaturally fond of the bygone, of the quaint and picturesque.
   
   There's also plenty of veneration of great names, of both piano makers and composers, and readers with a taste for that, or those who like to poke around inside old pianos, should probably add another star.
   
   If your piano interests are farther ranging, however, you're going to be disappointed. There's little in the book to indicate anything has happened since the 19th Century or that France of the 1990s could have Carrefour "hypermarkets," TV, McDonalds, and Disneyland -- as well as be-bop, blues and jazz.
   
   For further history of the piano, its mechanics, innovations and cultural impact, I can highly recommend James Parakilas' "Piano Roles."



5. There just was not enough plot to carry my interest through this book. The continuous exploration of the history, construction and care of pianos was of some interest, but not enough to carry an entire book for me.

5 comments about Schaum Note Spellers Book 1.

1. Book is helpful for teacher to have a material for their students to drill in note spelling, but it is not the best...



2. Great to help kids ( or adults) learn how to read music. As must for any piano program.



3. It's difficult to find notespeller books and was glad to find this one on Amazon. It's a great addition to the curriculum I am currently using for my piano students.



4. As an "older beginner" to the piano, I found this speller to be a very helpful work book.



5. As a piano teacher of over 20 years, this is one of my favorite tools to help get beginners solidly on the road to reading and recognizing the notes of the treble & bass clefs. It will be a little tedious for any child who is not a beginner, but for the rest, it will be a valuable tool to help them with this critical skill.
   
   It begins with the most basic recognition of the lines & spaces, then adds note names to them, and helps with drawing the clefs as well. Recommended!

5 comments about Art of Saxophone Playing.

1. This book is a staple among saxophonists of all veins (jazz, classical, and anything else). It is a must-have, and for good reason. It gives insight in to every aspect of being a saxophonist, including some brief but helpful information on doubling. Some chapters are very in depth, though others are less so. A great find and worth every penny.



2. I have recently started learning the basics of saxophone playing. My knowledge of playing the Saxophone, and indeed any musical instrument, and also music theory is limited. However I found that the information in "The Art of Saxophone Playing" was very informative and the way it is set out has certainly been of great help.
   I think that the more advanced player will profit more from the information given in the later chapters. I'm hoping that as I improve I will better understand these chapters.



3. Great book!
   I just started learning to play the sax, and this book has given me
   an invaluable insight into the instrument and how to play it.
   I recommend it to anyone starting to play the saxophone, but the information is valuable even for established and professional players.



4. This book is considered by many to be the "Saxophonist's Bible." A great book with many illustrations and practical advice for playing the saxophone.



5. When it comes to the saxophone, this book covers it all. Embouchure, posture, the parts of the horn, the history of the horn, reeds, fingering, you name it and it's in this book. It's surprisingly in depth on every front, even having a section on the altissimo register. This really is among the must haves of any saxophone player's library.
   
   Having said that, this is in no way the ONLY book you should have. While it contains warm up exercises, actually buying a decent scale/chord study book should be a high priority. Also, if you're serious about learning the 3rd and 4th octaves, you need to buy a good high register book.
   
   Ultimately, for me at least, this book comes down to more of an encyclopedia as opposed to a bible. It can take you really far, but you're eventually going to need to buckle down with specialty resources.

5 comments about Make Your Own Electric Guitar.

1. Fed up with my local musical instrument retailers, I set out to build my very own guitar armed with this book: Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock. I have to say I learned A LOT from this book, it's got a lot of very detailed information. However as an absolute beginner to this art who has a lot of questions, I can say it has some shortcomings.
   
   For one, as another reviewer mentioned, there are way too may pages spent babbling on about the history of the electric guitar. This would all be fine and good, BUT it is mixed in with the instructional text, so there's no way to skip over it or read around it. It's not like you can just skim until you find what you need because when building a guitar, missing the slightest detail can leave you completely screwed. You actually have to read it all to get the details you need, and it isn't always interesting or relevant. The history content should have been separated from the instructional text, the net result is a book that is not very clear or concise.
   
   Secondly, I hope you're a fan of Fender and/or Gibson, because the entire book is centered around them. You'll learn the history of these two brands from the very first one built onwards. Also all the specs for the building are based on those of Fender and Gibson. I don't mind this, as I am a fan of both, but this book does not give an answer-all formula for any style guitar, if such a thing exists.
   
   Melvyn describes the craft in a very great amount of detail and he is very honest, but to me the book was more discouraging than anything. Perhaps I could save you some time right now before you even buy this:
   
   -To build a guitar you need some ABOVE AVERAGE woodworking skills. If you just woodwork in your spare time or you never have, do not even attempt this.
   -You need a lot of tools that I can almost gaurantee you don't have in readily available to you.
   -Building your own guitar wil NOT save you money. You will most likely end up spending more money than you would on a brand new guitar.
   
   Those are just a few of the many things you should be aware of perhaps even prior to purchasing this book. Hope this was helpful, thanks for reading!



2. This book does have useful information and reference, but is not the 'Fantastic', 'Electric guitar bible', that it has been touted to be here and on luthier sites.
   Book is organized logically, but it doesn't exactly flow, and even though some bits are humorous it doesn't make up for drab writing. Melvin is a great builder and does make nice guitars.
   
   The book probably is worth the money for the first time builder, but not for someone who has built one or two already.



3. I am a hobby builder and, like many, I suppose, had made some beginner mistakes and was unsure of some proper techniques. This book is excellent whether you are building a guitar from scratch and making every part by hand, or using some ready made parts (perhaps neck and body) then assembling and setting up an instrument yourself. The wiring section is particularly helpful, both for builders and repair people. The book is written in a self effacing, witty British style. Lots of good photographs and diagrams are included as well.



4. This is quite an informative book for a beginner electric guitar or other electric instrument maker. There are three chapters which follow the course of making two guitars and a bass, and different neck/ body constructions are covered pretty well through these instructional examples. Different techniques for different applications are examined. I think the structure could be more logical and progressive for this book, but it's not a major detraction. I think that there could be a more fundamental analysis of constructing a guitar rather than basing the work on traditional and contemporary practices. In this way guitar makers could come up with there own ideas and approaches, but overall it's a good book in a subject area that seems pretty scant for want of information. Also sometimes the author is a little misleading for the sake of telling a joke, for instance about 'bashing in' frets. It could be edited better.



5. Excellent book for building and electric guitar. The instructions are wonderfully clear. There is also loads of general guitar information you'll pick up as you read through it.
   
   Worth reading for any guitar enthusiast whether you or not you are considering building one yourself.

5 comments about How To Play Popular Piano In 10 Easy Lessons (Fireside Books (Fireside)).

1. I feel that though the book makes learning seem easy, there is still a lot of work to be done by the individual to learn the piano. It does however break learning into easy steps, and is a great tool for the person who would like to take a more laissez faire attitude to learning, or who cant afford a teacher just yet.
   
   It has also helped me rekindle my interest in playing. Nice idea indeed.



2. My first venture into piano lessons and I have enjoyed it. Using basic chords I was playing nice sounding music in no time; not the one finger tunes. I recommend this to anyone who wants to play the piano and sound good from the start.



3. a good introduction to playing a piano.easy to follow but got a bit to techinal at the end as if the writer wanted to finish the book .



4. Easy and usefull. Just the essential for an absolute begginer explained in a plane manner.



5. Just what I`ve been looking for. A not so intense and fun
   way to learn how to play piano and take advantage of all
   those great Fake Books available.

5 comments about Berklee Music Theory Book 1.

1. This book is great to get you started as an undergrad in music or even just to learn basic theory. I highly recommend it!



2. To enhance our studies some of us often learn the most by looking at an answer and reworking the question. If that were possible, my rating would be five stars for the presentation and content of this book, but until that is available, it gets a measly 3 stars from this critic. The book would seem daunting to any novice without some help from someone in the know. So be forewarned to use it with a teacher with a very solid foundation in college level music theory and composition. This appears to be a great book for anyone from the impression given by the back cover--a splashy description of how anyone can improve their skills with this manual in basic music theory. The actual content of the book and the rapidly moving accompanying audio CD is dandy along with a very logical sequence of exercises presented in the book. In fact the book is comprised of MOSTLY exercises...So, if you are on your own it may be rather nebulous and perplexing to the layperson, sans instructor. Could the answers be requested? Inquire with the publisher's customer service dept. and some sarcastic clerk will send you links to sign up for their $500 online class. Indeed! Not everyone who reads this book plans to attend Berklee College of Music in the flesh or online, so how is the layman using this as an introduction to Music Theory going to check their work without tangible answers listed at some point in the book? Nevertheless, I usually deem all publications I've purchased, thus far, from the Berklee Press with very high regard and will continue to trust their books, but will look a bit closer next time around. I imagine with enough requests from certain people, who bought this not knowing it is actually a "textbook" in disguise, they may eventually post the answers in an appendix by the next edition for the rest of us.



3. This book is very clear and concise in teaching the basics of music theory. Each chapter is followed with excercises to apply your knowledge and each group of 3 or so chapters has even more excercises reviewing the topics covered in the past 3 or so chapters. There was one HUGE problem however. NO ANSWER KEY!!! Why anyone would make a book like this and not give an answer key is beyond me. It's easy to learn from this book, but how do you know if you've mastered the material if you can't check your work? If you can find someone to check your work get this book, otherwise I would look elsewhere for a book with an answer key.



4. Where are the answers to the exercises??? For a novice, the material seems to be what is needed, BUT there's no way to tell for sure if the lessons are being finished correctly. An answer key would be VERY helpful!



5. When I researched this book and read reviews for it, I saw many complaints about there being no answer key included... And, furthermore, people who had contacted Berklee Music College to inquire about it had been told that there was no answer key available... and that to get the answers they would need to enroll in the course.
   
   Well, I spoke with a Berklee College Student Advisor who connected me to someone who could help,
   and I was sent an answer key via email that same day - so, as of now, there IS an answer key available - just contact the college to obtain it.
   (None available yet, though, for Music Theory Book 2... hopefully soon, though)

2 comments about The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences: Includes All the Major, Minor (Natural, Harmonic, Melodic) & Chromatic Scales - Plus Additional Instructions on Music Fundamentals.

1. I checked many online sources, but this was the best price. It arrived in just 6 days.



2. Alfred's Books have always been some of the best learning materials available. This book is no different. The book has all the scales every student should master as well as some informative information regarding music fundamentals. The book is of high quality with bright big text and is very easy on the eyes. They used quality paper and ink for this book. The paper stock is thick and sturdy so it can stand up to some abuse. The one thing I wish was included was a spiral binding. Once you get into these types of books, it becomes difficult to lay flat on the piano desk without the pages closing. Minor gripe, you can take it to Fedex office to get it binded for around $6 if it becomes too bothersome to you.

5 comments about The Fender Stratocaster Handbook: How To Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Strat.

1. The book is very interesting and full of great pictures to clarify what is being said. It is excellent to see all that good information in one book.



2. This book has a lot of good things, stories about players, beautiful pictures of strats, tech data and in general good manteinance advise for your axe!!
   But.. it is redondant in so many aspects, for ex., when the author analyze different kinds of Strats(MIM, Japanesse, Korean etc.) it is obvious he did copy- pasted most of the paragraphs and at some point you stop and wonder, Am I reading the same thing once again, why?



3. Bought a Squire strat. It had rough unfinished frets, loose whammy, misc rough spots and I had new pickups to put in. I bought this book and did all the work myself- the first guitar work I ever did. It was easy because he gave the specs in various places and explained how things worked. I smoothed the frets, evened the neck, tuned the bridge and put Seymour Duncans in from another strat I had, Adjusted and st the wang bar and now it smokes better than any other strat Ive had. Saved me an extra 250 - 700$ buying a Mex strat, or an american standard. If nothing else- this will teach a newbie like myself how to tear a strat apart and put it back together again making improvements along the way. A good investment.



4. An excellent primer for background information and maintenance of the beloved Stratocaster. Many setup tips from experts as well. If you get only one Strat book, get this!



5. Beautifully illustrated,and jam packed with information on how to maintain,adjust and set up Strats for maximum playing comfort and best tone.There is a downright pretty Strat photo(often a detailed close up shot) on every page.
   We learn,at last the really significant differences between American made Fender strats and their lower budget,Asian made cousins known as the Fender Squire strats,not to mention the mid priced made in Mexico models.
   One big difference?A much thicker,heavier,more resonanat trem block is used on the USA guitars.
   Unfortunately,corners were cut in the physical construction of this book.
   Covers are soft and easily scratched and the quality of the binding leaves a lot to be desired.Handle it gently or eventually it will start to fall apart.
   Overall,I am happy with this book.I learned a lot and I love the clear,sharp,brightly colored photos.
   Malcolm Leonard