Instruments Books

This is some of the very best instructional material I've come across. The etudes are relatively difficult but very cool and each has a different flavor. As if that weren't enough each etude has a different lesson to teach. After the 14 performances then you have 14 tracks minus Mintzer's excellent improvisations which is totally above and beyond the call. The first one 'I Start With The Blues' is a very tight improvisational composition at a brisk tempo. There are echoes of Coltrane and Charlie Parker here as well as more modern sounding 4th shapes in the head. To learn this on guitar was actually harder than 'Cliffs of Dover' was for me and took alot of work. Guitar players the caliber of Scott Henderson have admitted to being more influenced by sax players than by other guitarists and here you can see why. There is no tablature but if there ever was a reason to learn how to read notation, this is it! If you are a guitar player, make sure you get the C version, not the Bflat or Eflat versions.

This is a good book for the transition from reading music to improvisation. The 1st track of each selection uses a well written solo for the intermediate player with Bob playing the tenor sax lead. The second track cuts the lead solo allowing the learning improv player to play with the band on the chord changes. This is a very good book for the player looking to start learning to improv over chord changes.

This book is perfect for learners onall levels. It provides a variety of music and even contemperory music for the younger people. This is fun and good for all.

Not every modern jazz/New Age composer makes arrangement of their compositions avaiable in sheet music. And some arrangements available on sheet music are just plain awful. Liz Story is not only a great jazz/New Age pianist/composer but she puts it down on paper. These are playable and just wonderful pieces. And if you want to hear them, go listen to the album of the same title.

This book contains 18 intermediate pieces that would benefit a serious piano students repetoire. Written by J.S. Bach for instructing his son, these pieces are crafted for strengthening technique but stand alone as their own "mini" compositions. The CD is a valuable aid, though the pieces are played quite fast for most students at this level. The student should have good reading skills and good fundemental technique before starting this book.

The book does a good job of explaining and surveying the various types of keyboards, composers and styles during the 18th century. From the high baroque works of J.S. Bach and Scarlatti to the early works of Beethoven, this book discusses the evolution of keyboard music during the pivotal 18th Century. Excellent chapters on C.P.E. Bach, on Haydn, and the Italian style I found particularly interesting. Ironic that the leading proponent of the Italian style during the century would be the German Johann Christian Bach whose stylistic influence on Mozart appears to have been profound.

One of the better books I've read on objectively looking at the direct influences, or lack thereof, of J.S. Bach on C.P.E. Bach and C.P.E. Bach on Haydn. The author makes a strong and compelling case for evaluating each composer in their own right because of how much they diverge from each other in so many fundamental ways in how they used the keyboard instruments of their day.

For those music lovers who find the wide variety of keyboard music from the 18th Century fascinating, this book does a good job of putting it all in the context of the times and influences of the period as well as acknowledges the creative genius of so many composers who represent the period.

I was searching for The Stooge in the Middle when I came upon this book (and also The Piano Book). Since I happened to be in the market for a piano, the reviews for The Piano Book convinced me to buy that book and so I also bought this companion book. Before, I barely knew one piano from another. Now I know so much I cannot decide. BTW, Larry Fine of the 3 Stooges was also an accomplished musician.

This superb volume is part of a series entitled Routledge Studies in Musical Genres, under the general editorship of R. Larry Todd, the eminent Mendelssohn authority and biographer. Other titles in the series cover keyboard music of the 18th century and before 1700 as well as chamber music of the 19th and 20th centuries. Published in 2004, Nineteenth-Century Piano Music is the second, revised and updated edition of a work originally published by Schirmer Books in 1990. In addition to editing this volume, Professor Todd contributes the article on Mendelssohn. The usefulness of this sort of compendium is dependent on the ability of its editor to identify and engage the strongest scholarship available to elucidate what is, in this case, a bewildering mass of material (witness, for example, the widely varying quality of Cambridge University Press's "Companion" series.) Here Professor Todd's choices leave little to be desired. Trenchant introductory essays by Leon Plantinga and Robert S. Winter, dealing with the piano from socio-cultural and organological perspectives, frame the argument. These are followed by individual chapters devoted to the pivotal composers of the era, including William Kinderman on Beethoven, Eva Badura-Skoda on Schubert, and Walter Frisch on Brahms. It is worth noting that, though each article provides an overview of a composer's solo piano music, the individual contributors bring a unique focus to the task. Jeffrey Kallberg, for instance, places Chopin's music in the context of contemporary Polish nationalism, while Anthony Newcomb views Schumann's piano works against the backdrop of nineteenth century music publishing. Michael C. Tusa makes an eloquent case for a revival of Weber's once potently influential piano music. In what is probably the best overview of the topic to date, Dolores Pesce elucidates Liszt's vast contribution to piano literature through examination of its formal structures and influences, both musical and extra-musical. By treating Clara Wieck Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel in a single chapter, Marian Wilson Kimber delineates some of the challenges faced by gifted women as professionals during the nineteenth century. In breadth of scope and depth of scholarship, this volume is indispensable for pianists and pianophiles. It is also warmly recommended to more general readers interested in music.

When Beethoven wrote for the music student, he set the same standards for himself as when he wrote for the professional. He obviously put a lot of effort into writing these two sonatas. If you wish to take these two compositions apart piece by piece, log in here:

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Before you buy this work separately, however, consider buying the Sonatina Album instead. That way, you will get not only these two sonatas, but the Clementi sonatinas and many other tasty morsels.

If you are buying a NEW piano "with strings" (as opposed to a purely digital [no strings] piano), you MUST buy this "Supplement" book.
If you are buying a NEW or USED piano, you also need to buy the "Master" book -- "The Piano Book", also by Larry Fine.

Together, these two books do not cost much. You WILL save hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars.

Here is what is covered in each book:

THIS BOOK - "2001-2002 Annual Supplement to The Piano Book". This book provides "suggested" list prices for almost every manufacturer and model, AND discusses % discounts you can expect. For example, did you know, that the average discount off of list price is between 15-25%?

This book is published every year in August, based on data from that Spring. For example, this "2001-2002" version was published in August 2001, based on data from June 2001. This means that the "2002-2003" version should be available in August 2002. This book has 98 pages of discount and list price information!!

THE MASTER BOOK - "The Piano Book". This book has chapters on How a Piano Works, Buying a New Piano, Buying a Used Piano, Piano Moving, Piano Care, and a special chapter entitled "A Consumer Guide to New and Recently Made Pianos", which includes brand by brand listings and rankings in a number of categories. This book DOES NOT include price information. This book has 234 pages of content!!

The author has his own website (pianobook.com) which is also listed in the book, and even offers private phone consultations (for a fee, given your specific needs).

BOTTOM LINE: Buy both of these books. Trust me, you will NOT be disappointed!!!