1 comments about Harmonization at the Piano.

1. This is one of very few books that covers cord progressions and typical rythms found in music. However, the book is almost completely free of explanations. It is just a collection of short scores that demonstrate a principle in each chapter. The principle that is being demonstrated is not explained. It is possible but difficult to work out the point of each chapter for yourself. The book is not really appropriate for self-study.

5 comments about The Jason Robert Brown Collection: 24 Selections from Shows and Albums.

1. I'll admit that I was suspicious of a collections of JRB songs. I already had the vocal selections for his shows, "Parade", "Songs for a New World" and "The Last Five Years". I just thought it was another way for the publisher to make a few more dollars. That was until I looked at the contents. This collection had things in it that are not available anywhere else...Particularly songs from JRB's album "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes", among others.
   
   The music is very challenging and is arranged to be very close to what Jason actually plays. This authenticity is something I enjoy about all of the vocal selections from his composition.
   
   Buy this collection and enjoy an emerging Broadway super star composer.



2. Jason Robert Brown is one of the leading names in the "new" musical theater. Outstanding collection for students, teachers and GREAT audition material.



3. Jason Robert Brown's music is eclectic and impressive. I bought this book after learning "Christmas Lullaby" and have already found several other songs I want to use in this collection. In case you have never heard of Jason Robert Brown, he wrote the music and lyrics for "Songs for a New World" among other musicals. Brown's music is intriguing and not your usual Broadway stuff. The collection contains twenty-four selections from his musicals (Songs From a New World, Parade, The Last Five Years, and Urban Cowboy), as well as other songs from CDs of his music (Songs of Jason Robert Brown, Wearing Someone Else's Clothes.) The piano accompaniments are full and not watered down - an important benefit for serious performers and pianists. One caution: the songs and piano accompaniments are challenging and require careful preparation to be performed successfully. The necessary effort will yield rich rewards in terms of increased musical knowledge and enjoyment.
   
   If you are looking for unusual but eminently worthwhile audition or performance material, this book is a great place to go.



4. I particularly enjoyed the selections from "Parade", it's an amazing show. Jason Robert Brown is an amazing composer, and everyone should have this book for some of the brilliant songs in it.



5. For this price, to get so many great song - great deal! All the songs from the Lauren Kennedy Album (that aren't from other shows) plus songs from the "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes" album. Also a great selection from Last 5 Years, Songs For a New World, Parade, and Urban Cowboy. Even if you have some selections books, you still have great additions.

5 comments about Disney Mega-Hit Movies: 37 Contemporary Classics from The Little Mermaid to Lilo and Stitch.

1. We bought this for our two kids who are playing level 3 piano and found it to be more difficult that expected. They have lost interest in playing the songs right now, but we hope that in a year or so they my try again.



2. This is a great product. The music is easy but not to easy!! A must buy for any disney fan.



3. It's a good book with many Disney favorites in it. However, as a book to sing with students, it is pitched to high for many elementary singers. I have a Disney Mania Cd for the Roller Coaster Ride from Lilo and Stitch and the music in this book does not match the order of the words in the Cd. I had to listen, look for the correct parts (it took me over an hour to do this), and re-type it in the correct order to go with the Cd.
   
   If this is not a priority for you and you want a book just for playing piano, it is a nice book for that.



4. I loved this book. There are different stages of "beginner," I've learned, and there is something for every type in this book. And since there is a good variety of music, it's easy to pick one or two songs at a time that mean a lot to you and dedicate time to learning it. I will say though, that there are a few other Disney easy piano books that had some better song choices... but this is still a safe buy.



5. This book was not described as an easy piano book when I purchased it. If you have better eyes than I do, you might catch the 'easy piano' at the top right corner. Great songs, I gave it to my niece who is more of a beginner pianist.

5 comments about The Elton John Keyboard Book.

1. I found this book to be a great resource not only for performing Elton's songs but to analyze his stylistic traits and chord progressions from a theoretical standpoint. After sitting down for two hours just listening and reading along (which I recommend doing), I feel like I real know Elton (musically, that is). A must-have if you plan to cover these songs in a band or just entertain yourself and your friends.
   
   Having said that, I think the editors got a little lazy in parts. The 'fills' as they call them are not consistently written and hard to follow when playing. There are also a few 'throwaway' songs, made to make the book longer but having no real appeal to anyone except EJ freaks. I'd much rather have Levon, Take Me To The Pilot, Grey Seal, Burn Down the Mission and Funeral for A Friend than Empty Garden, Blue Eyes, Friends and Little Jeannie. We'll have to hope for additions in the 3rd Edition, but what's in there is more than enough to get your feet wet! Enjoy!



2. This book has revolutionized the way I play the keyboard. Often times, printed sheet music is only a loose guide for what is actually played on a recorded track. This book is almost verbatim what Elton is playing on the original recored versions of the tracks. This book is a definite for any serious musician and or Elton fan. It is very accurate and wonderful for an average player and for a seasoned player to expound upon and improvise. I agree with another reviewer that they should publish volume 2 for sure!!! and 3 and 4!!!



3. I am interested in getting the original EJ piano music as I had a similar inclusive book years ago- and I HATE the silly chord melody arrangements-
   BUT AMAZON NEEDS TO LIST WHAT ALL THE SONGS ARE SOMEWHERE just like they do in a CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get with it Amazon- it is hard to buy when you do not know what is in there!



4. These songs are the real thing-written by SEJ himself! The level is intermediate to advanced but I am going to enjoy the challenge.



5. This book has exactly what Elton John plays on the piano, for pretty much all of his best songs. It even includes some of the other instrumental parts if you want to incorporate some of them into your playing. Awesome stuff for anyone who wants to learn to accompany these songs. Elton John was quite a good pianist though so some of the parts can be quite hard if you're not a competent piano player.

1 comments about The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher.

1. This is a great reference for teachers at all levels. In it's well layed out pages it explores differant methods, types of students and gives practical advice on running a studio. I don't own it, but have checked it out from the library 3 or 4 times!

5 comments about The Organists' Manual: Technical Studies and Selected Compositions for the Organ.

1. This is the finest universal organ method I have come across to date. I believe it is intended tfor the beginner or intermediate student. All aspects of playing the instrument are covered, with a focus on church service work and the issues dealing with that job.
   I recommend it highly.



2. I bought this as a Christmas present so was very disappointed to find though advertised as new the cover looked like something had been dropped on it. It was scuffed badly. I didn't have time to return it for exchange and the person who received it "said" it was okay I was upset. If something says new it should look new.



3. This book is excellent for learning or reviewing organ skills; uses actual, common organist pieces for learning, not boring exercises like many books;
   
   Speedy, on-time delivery from amazon



4. This is a good book for the beginning organist. The book has good training activities and practice ideas.



5. I am a pianist who recently started studying organ to upgrade my skill for playing in church. This is a great resource, with quite a bit of very fine music. As another reviewer stated, it is quite similar in concept to the classic organ method by Gleason, which I also respect and enjoy. But I find the repertoire here more interesting and serviceable than what you will find in the Gleason.
   
   Also contains very fine chapters on registration, articulation and phrasing. An essential resource in my opinion.

5 comments about How to Play Keyboards: Everything You Need to Know to Play Keyboards (How to Play).

1. This is an amazing book for your loved ones...especially for a growing musican. It gives the basic methods of how to play a keyboard without much confusion or fustration. This book also inspires to play music and write the notes in our own way. I would recomend this book to anyone who is seeking to know how to play a keyboard.



2. I am what you might call "musically challenged", but by slowly following the lessons in this book I have learned to play several simple tunes with chords and accompaniment. I'm having a ball. It's probably not for the serious music student, but if you want to learn keyboard and are starting from scratch, this is the book for you.



3. I have been using this book in tandem with Fasttrack and its been a great book to start self-learning keyboards. Unlike Fasttrack, this one gives you more right from the start using the Auto Accompanyment feature on the Keyboard to play Chords and Drums -- you;re the one who still orchestrates it -- so its more fun!



4. A good book to start.. I wouldn't rate this book as the best as I havent seen any other books. But this certainly helped my cause to get started learning Keyboard.



5. This book is really amazing.at the first i was little bit sarcastic about it but this book can make me play my new keyboard after half an hour of reading it and i had no idea about playing it before. really i'm highly recomended this one and guess what i can read music too now and it's all from one simple,cheap but useful book.

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 Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking.

1. Ever since products such as GarageBand took over the low-level tasks of producing electronic music and turned us all into application users, much has been forgotten about making music with low-level electronic components. In the case of younger electronic musicians, this may be an art form they never even knew in the first place. Although there is an advantage is computer musicians speaking a common language through a common application, something fascinating in the realm of experimentation has been largely lost. This book returns to the days of yesteryear with some projects in making your own electronic music with basic devices.
   
   The book starts with some brief information on the tools you'll need plus the author's seven rules for experimentation. Part two is dedicated to listening. He shows you how to use radios and coils to find hidden electronic music, how to use the speaker as a microphone and vice versa, and how to use piezo disks to pick up tiny sounds, among other topics. Part three, on touching, shows you how to transform a portable radio into a synthesizer, change the clock circuit in toys to produce new sounds, and use photocells and pressure pads to "play" the modified toy. Part four, Building, shows the reader how to breadboard up some oscillators along with some controlling circuitry and produce gating, ducking, tremolo and panning effects. Part five, Looking, concerns translating video to audio using commonly found devices. The final section goes into depth on mixing circuits, how to build a good but cheap amplifier, connecting sensors to computers via game controllers, and a section on power supplies.
   
   The book is written such that you should proceed from beginning to end, since the devices in earlier sections are used to assemble the devices in later chapters. By the time you finish you should have entire experimental musical instruments that you have assembled yourself.



2. This is a great book if you are a electroacoustic composer, you can make cheap sensors and rare instruments... ready - if you want - to plug to Max/MSP or Ethersense...or Teabox... Thanks to Gregory Taylor from Cyclin'74.



3. Ah ! this book is one of the best i bought.
   I just love it !!



4. This is a really fun book, with lots of projects for budding electronic musicians. But it goes beyond that: It's a solid intro to electronics and CMOS components. I went into this book thinking it might be too basic, yet I walked away with a lot of ideas, and some interesting new techniquess.
   
   I wish that more electronics writers would cover the material with this author's style and accuracy. Also, kudos for providing parts sources and for using easy to find and inexpensive components. (I've seen many people, myself included, become frustrated by hard-to-find parts lists or the use of discontinued items. These projects suffer from neither of those problems.)
   
   In the end, you'll be left wanting to know more about the components and techniques you've picked up. (You'll probably want to add Don Lancaster's classic CMOS Cookbook to your shopping cart. It will give you the details about many of these components.) Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to other books by this author.



5. A great guide to taking apart old electronic noisemakers and turning them into something new. Also includes simple DIY electronic circuits with all the steps. The projects are compelling and workable. Give this to a young person and change their whole outlook on DIY.

5 comments about The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self.

1. I had a difficult time reading this, only because the content was so close to my own life/story. I could've sworn that William was writing about ME, and I relived many things that I didn't realize this book would create the avenue to surface. Fortunately, this book has helped me to begin to heal old, deep, and hidden grievances that have kept me from being the musical self that my soul longs and deserves to be ... until now.
   
   What a great way to address a very real issue. What a great way for me to finally resolve my childhood rejections of not being allowed to express myself at the very time I was creating my musical self.
   
   Thank you, William. I can now forgive and begin new again, this time without fear of repercussion in expressing what is in my heart and my soul, even if I'm the only one that appreciates it!



2. This is my favorite book about music-making (classical piano, in my case). Westney very convincingly makes the case for an overhaul of the way we approach music practice and performance. The 'juicy wrong note' idea promotes a wholistic, passionate attitude. It is NOT the idea of treating mistakes lightly...more, it's the attitude of making the mistake whole-heartedly and then learning what it has to tell you about your level of preparedness,an unsuspected weak point, etc. Westney does not cover specific how-to's (the best book on that for piano in my opinion is Berman's) but more the philosophy to bring to the practice room and to the performance. I'd give more stars if it were possible



3. Not really being part of the culture to which the author is reacting, I found this book to be captivating, if a bit strident. The unfortunate tendency towards perfectionism taints a great deal more than music instruction. The expectations of deference and respect on the basis of position weaken bishops and U.S. presidents as well as maestros and music teachers. Still, the control freak element runs deep. As an adult beginner taking piano lessons, I just see it from a different perspective. Take humor in the strutting of the popinjay, no need to be alarmed by it.
   
   Also, the man either knows nothing about golf, or else cheats on his scorecard. I suspect the former rather than the latter. But, a recorded lousy golf swing is just a lousy golf swing, while one left off the scorecard is, well, a reflection of character.
   
   However, on his home ground, the practice room and the recital stage, the author is very strong. Texas Tech is lucky to have him. Go, Red Raiders!



4. If you want to truly refresh your thinking about teaching music, this is the book. Explore with the author ways to bring enthusiasm and joy into the learning process... how to use 'honest mistakes" as tools. Be prepared to learn why traditional methods can sometimes harness creativity. This book described for me a way to help my students relax and welcome the journey into music. Whether teaching by traditional methods or not, this book is a must. Thanks, Mr. Westney, for the great read and the inspiring words.



5. This book is absolutely enjoyable to read. I just couldn't stop reading it...I did not want to continue practicing without hearing all that William Westney had to say about practicing techniques (for any instrument, though mainly piano) and musicality. He uses great resources if you want to learn more about what he writes. His focus is getting in touch with the innate musician within you...a very positive and motivating book...highly recommended.