1 comments about The Thelonious Monk Reader (Readers in American Music).

1. Thelonious Monk was the hippest, coolest, swingin'est, be-boppin'est, so far-out he's in'est cat in all of jazzdom. Critics couldn't figure him out, but audiences dug him the most, and you will too.
   This wonderful book collects dozens of articles by influential music writers of the 40s 50s and 60s, from when Monk started as a cult favorite, all the way to when he became a worldwide sensation. You'll discover in these pages that some writers dismissed him. Others took a patronizing attitude. A few actually dug him. All of the writers were fascinated by him, his now-recognized musical genius, and his playful onstage antics. It's a glimpse into the past showing how people reacted to what was to become timeless jazz music.

1 comments about Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making (Roth Family Foundation Music in America Imprint).

1. I bought this book thinking it would give me information on the music of Thelonious Monk, but was disappointed when I realized it was a book more interested in how other musician's look back at Monk as opposed to the music itself. Reads like a text book.

No comments about Thelonious Monk - Easy Piano Solos.

1 comments about Thelonious Monk Plays Standards - Volume 1: Piano Transcriptions (Artist Transcriptions).

1. you have no vision of jazz piano until you see the Solo, away from the group who's keepeen the beat, and laying down the bass for you, this just frees you up a bit, Monk created his greea-test solos in the group, all those spiky chords, Ab-D-G, or cd-Ab-Db,also the suspension(S) of the beat attest to his interest in expanding what we call music, But if you've never heard Solo you really haven't heard anything, Also Cecil Taylor, needs a review of Solo, what he creates, the bonfires he sets with the Solo Piano,
   
   But Monk equally did Solo Work,n'had a way of practicing, taking only one song and playing it for hours, to see what was in it, He did this with all the tunes here, and I guess you can say that what is here was the best reading of possibly I don't know 10 different reading of each tune. Still you get the interesting dimensions of what Monk could do with harmonies, and chords,-flatted and sharped 5ths and Ninths, is where the tension comes from, in a Blues progression you need to sharp the Ninth, as in C-Major, Tonic Chord is now E-Bb-D#, and F-Chord, is F-A-B-Eb, greet stuff.When he Went Solo he kept the traditional stride Left Hand, something if you look for it in group Work it remains but, He began to use his Left Hand in the Group as rhythm as percussion products, with cluster chords, even in "Bright Mississippi", he uses his whole arm for accents.
   
   My favorite here is "everything happens to me", sums up the state of the globe now for us down here, you can play this over and over again and still find different voices between the hands, I found myself developing from what is written out, and it is fairly faithful to the recording, well one of them in that Monk always took multiple taks on all the Tunes herein. "Don't Blame me" as well, has great dissonances, that you can develop even more, and the classic now, "just a gigolo', who would think this Vegas tune could be made into a classic, but again the dissonances are incredible, it lives forever because of the unresolved tensions you have here;and there are more hesitations in Live than in the transcription; I found that you can really make your own half hour solos from what is written here, and apply the chords in and around the other tunes, like a paradigm that lives throughout all the tunes herein.There are other more strenuus as "devil and Deep Blue Sea", difficult to bring off, and Gershwin's "Liza" you really need to work with vision. . . This is the best book I've found thus far on Monk or any jazz transcriptions, the other are too skeletle,too obvious to do you any good, if you really want to learnnn jazz. But please listen to Monk play without the music first, and bring that experience internally inside yourself, then you can go and play from this Book. . . it will change the way you think about music. . .

No comments about The Best of Thelonious Monk: Piano Transcriptions.

No comments about Thelonious Monk - Intermediate Piano Solos.

No comments about Thelonious Monk Plays Standards - Volume 2: Piano Transcriptions (Artist Transcriptions).

4 comments about Thelonious Monk for Guitar.

1. No longer is the idiosyncratic style of Thelonious Monk inaccessible to the guitarist.

   For the guitarist who has ever spent time listening to the genius of Monks music - feeling at the same time enlightened by it's wisdom, and saddened by the ever nagging feeling that you, as a guitarist, could not truly benefit, this book is the answer to your unspoken wish.

   If you have a desire to go beyond the limitations of the instrument - which turn out to be false - and are looking for your own unique voice, this book can be part of that journey for you. Somebody has finally done it for us. Gary has put in much time and effort, and he has found all the essential notes - those required to express Monk's style, and he's figured out how to put them on the fretboard. Every measure brings awe and surprise to the player. You won't believe that the sounds are coming from your guitar!

   The book is well written, and each piece is a distillation of the essentials from numerous recordings. Gary Wittner has an encyclopedic knowledge of Monk's music, which is apparent in this book. There are extensive performance notes for each piece, some detailing almost every measure. These are essential, as they point out points that may not be obvious to you on first or even subsequent reading. For example, the duration of certain notes are very important to bring out the melody which is sometimes "hidden" in the chord voicings. The chord names are included at each measure. Fingerings are included when necessary, and everything is in TAB as well as standard notation. It couldn't be clearer.

   It's not an easy journey - Monks' wasn't, and I don't imagine Gary's was either, but when you begin to work through the material you will start to see the connections. You'll start learning that wisdom that Monk was trying to pass on to us. It was meant for all of us.




2. Well I have to say Im partly pleased with this book. The good part being that fact that it is very acurate and makes Monk immeadiatly accesible to guitarists. The only disappointment was that there arent any transcribed solos. Which is one of the most important aspects of Monk, since he's the jazzer that has used the least amount of notes to make his improvisations...
   Its a good buy anyway.



3. OK, so alot of people complain that the solos aren't transcribed. This is true, but the main "germ" to put under the microscope here is Monk's writing style, and the way he filled in and shaded his quirky ideas. I found alot of the devices in the book extremely useful when taken out of the context of a Monk tune. Punctuating phrases with a stab of minor or major seconds, the dissonant 7th chord voicings Monk favored, the more dissonant voicings (especially the incomplete ones containing larger intervals) and the way he maneuvered through his own tricky chord changes.
   
   All in all, this is a great resource to add a little of that Monk "bite" to your own style, and of course to lear nhow to accurately render his tunes on the guitar...
   
   I would highly reccomend this book despite its conciseness..



4. I love Monk and really want to play his music on guitar. I don't recommend this book however for those who aren't very experienced with guitar. I think it needs a companion CD so you can hear the song being played on guitar. also, it's not formatted as a complete song. I thought it was rather disappointing but in the end I was able to play a few lines of monk

No comments about Thelonious Monk - Collection: Piano Transcriptions (Artist Transcriptions).

5 comments about Thelonious Monk Fake Book: C Edition (Fake Books).

1. The one with the green cover is B-flat, not C. If you're looking for the C edition, it has a blue cover.
   
   The webpage doesn't say anything about the key of the edition.
   
   Amazon sent me the wrong version (Bb) twice, and finally I asked for a refund.



2. There are _three_ editions of this book. To get the right one, search for the ISBN number I list here:
   B-flat edition: 0634039202
   C edition: 0634039180
   E-flat edition: 0634039210
   Copy and paste the number into the search box, search for the number, and buy the book it matches.



3. 0634039180 is the ISBN given and if you choose "larger image" you can see that the cover of this RED edition says that it's for C intsruments.



4. the C edition is actually maroon...the one shown here. at least that is the one that i have. great resource...these tunes aren't played nearly enough.



5. Great book of T. Monk's songs featuring obscure music. Legibility is great for music reading and it is very accurate.