Books for/about - piano


 

 
The Piano Book: Buying & Owning a New or Used Piano

Publisher: Brookside Press
Authors: Larry Fine Keith Jarrett Larry Fine

ISBN: 1929145012
List Price: $19.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: THE book for Piano Consumers
If you are considering the purchase of an acoustic piano now or in the future, this book must be on your short reading list. Fine tells you about how a piano functions and what potential pitfalls to be aware of in the purchase of a new or used instrument.
Summary: Fine's book is fine
I don't think there is another book like this in the market. It gives all sorts of valuable information about how pianos are made and what the different brands are like. It's basically everything you need to know about how to buy and own an piano. It's perfect for someone like me who is planning on buying a piano in the next several months but is in no rush at all to do so, so would like to get as much information as possible over the next few months before starting to really shop.

But really the most fascinating thing about this book is that it actually makes riveting reading. I read it from cover to cover like one would a good novel and was disappointed when I got to the end. How many reference works can you say that about? This is because it is written well and clearly, and the author brings in just enough of his own personal experiences and anecdotes to make it seem real and human. Fortunately I get to indulge a little bit more because there is the annual supplement to work my way through also (I'm not going to read the price lists like a novel, but the intro section I'm sure will be good).

Another thing I like is that the advice is practical, mostly. He says to have a technician look over a piano you want to buy but acknowledges that you can't have one follow you around everywhere you go, so you first have to narrow down your choices to three or so pianos, then have the technician look those over. The point is that he is always concerned with the practicalities and feasibilities of following his advice, and doesn't just throw out random tips without thinking about how easy it is for most people to implement them.
The only exception is when he says to call local technicians to get their views about the different piano stores in their area. I find it hard to believe that piano technicians are going to give candid opinions about stores to a random voice on the phone that calls them out of the blue.

I have no idea what Larry Fine looks like, but because of the name, I can't help but picture him as being bald with hair that sticks way out on the sides.
Summary: Fantastic Resourc
This is an invaluable resource if you are in the market to buy a piano. I highly recommend it whether or not you know anything about the piano. I wish there was a resource as helpful as this to buying new or used cars, or furniture.....or anything, really.


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Pride and Prejudice: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Authors: Dario Marianelli

ISBN: 1423411137
List Price: $14.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 4
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Summary: Good music, fun to play.
I really like the music from the Pride and Prejudice movie and I love playing the piano so naturally when I saw this music book for sale, I bought it. Most of the songs are at an advanced intermediate level with a few exceptions. I was able to play through most of the songs when I first got it but had to work out some of the more difficult sections. The music is nice to play and has some good romantic melodies. The only downside is that most of the songs are only 2 pages long... which totals to about 1 minute apiece. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys playing nice pieces on the piano and really liked the music from the movie.
Summary: sometimes simple, but with a wonderful touch
I found this sheet music perfect, both for playing for hours on the piano when having nothing to do, and to let people appreciate what a composer like marianelli can do with a few notes. Truly it contains some of the most wonderful modern, yet somehow going back to the past, pieces i have ever played. Georgiana is perfect and liz on top of the world produces such liberty... it is a treasure which one most definitely must have.
Summary: A Love Story Not to be Missed
You can't judge a book by its cover, but this story is just as beautiful as the cover. Taking place in 19th century England, the novel follows the story of Elizabeth Bennet as she learns about family, politics, and most importantly - true love.

After seeing the feature film Pride and Prejudice (2005), I really wanted to read the book. However, I didn't anticipate the amount of time need to actually complete the novel. But it was so worth it. The portrayal of the Bennet family was so intimate and thorough that I felt like I was one of them myself. And learning all the hidden agendas of the characters was great for me, because I like knowing the exact motives behind a character's behavior. Mr. Darcy, for example, was such a complicated character. On the outside, he seems arrogant and harsh, yet those who really know him will passionately defend him as the kindest, most loyal person. His character is so misunderstood by some, yet he comes to the realization that he must find it in himself to change that image. He is a testament to Jane Austen's insightful, entertaining writing.

Why only four out of five stars? My complaint is based not on style or the story, but on the dense language Austen wrote it in. I found myself flipping to the explanatory notes in the back of the book for literary, social, and language references so often that I eventually needed two different bookmarks to keep track of my place in the story, and my place in the appendix.

Overall, this book is an essential to anyone's literary experience. Such a timeless love story should be experienced by all. And to any fans of the movie, the book is even better.

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Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One

Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company
Authors: Willard A. Palmer

ISBN: 0882846167
List Price: $9.95
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Summary: Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course:Lesson Book, Level One
Excellent. Very easy to understand. I have bought a lot of "How To" books but this is the best.
Summary: Good Piano Book
Studying the piano is not the easiest thing to undertake. This is basically a good piano book to learn from and assist with that process. There are some great songs in this book to learn and enjoy. Some parts of the book are a little hard to follow than others. One should have an instructor or a tutor when using this book. Don't expect to learn everything there is just from one reading or practice because it's a continuous process. With an instructor or a tutor, this book is well worth the time and effort.
Summary: Great Book
It is a step by step easy to follow book. I highly recommend it for adults.
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Alfred's Group Piano for Adults, Book 1 (Second Edition)

Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company
Authors: E. L. Lancaster Kenon D. Renfrow

ISBN: 0739035266
List Price: $44.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: The best class piano book I've seen
I have taught from this book this year and also used the first edition for several years. This is a good book with lots to recommend it to the teacher and student. The multiple-key approach dovetails very well with college theory courses. The instruction in lead sheet and figured bass harmonization is also excellent. Solo repertoire pieces have been thoughtfully integrated and offer the teacher and student plenty of choices. The only drawback I have found, from a teacher's perspective, is that the presentation of scales is, in my view, unsound. Stressing two octave scales and arpeggios at this level is much too advanced. It would be better to spread the presentation of scales out more (one per week after they are first introduced) and require only one octave. Of course, a good teacher can adapt the scale presentation, but with so many other excellent features, I think that the authors could easily address this (maybe in the next edition). Also, since this is used as a college text, it is preferable to teach natural and melodic minor scales and fingerings too. But other than this slight quibble, I highly recommend this great book, which is useful for the entire first year of piano study.
Summary: The Best Book for Novice Pianists
This is a very well arranged instructional book on piano. When I took my first year Classical Piano class with Maestro Ping-Cheng Wang: it was just our group, the pianos and this book. I learned so much and with a practacally dismal musical background. One of the authors of this book is a professor at the prestigious University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. I was able to do assemblies, preludes and boogies and play accelerando and staccato. This book helped me with my Music Theory classes, as well. The large sized book allows you to make notes and record assignments. My advice is to practice, practice, and practice. Especially, practice your scales.
Summary: Good Beginning Piano text
I used this for my first piano class at Fullerton College which was intended for the non piano music major and total beginnier.
I had had two years of piano study before taking hte class so the material in the text was very easy to me. It is sutibable for beginners but may be boring for non beginner but works for a beginning piano class for the total piano beginner. The gloassary at the back of the books is helpful and the unit revies. I like how the how the book teaches improvisation off of lead sheets from the very begginning which is now required oon college piano profiency exams.It does a good job at presenting concepts, theory, music hisotry tidbits, and technique. I strongly reccomend this book for college piano classes for music majors.
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The Jazz Piano Book

Publisher: Sher Music
Authors: Mark Levine

ISBN: 0961470151
List Price: $32.00
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Summary: The best book about playing jazz that I own
I dont play piano, I don't own a piano, but I study piano to understand guitar and violin. About 15 years ago I started to get bored with popular music and started studying jazz and classical exclusively. I remember my first experience with trying to learn jazz, there were all these chords I had no idea how to play or what the symbols meant. A few years later I played bass in a jazz band and one of the horn players had this book and I bought it right away.

Since then I have bought many more books on playing jazz and this is the best one I own. This book starts with some basic review of chords scales and triads and then starts to explain the basics of forming 3 note chords and gradually gets into more advanced chord theory including the different styles of the most famous jazz pianists (powell, monk, hancock, tyner, and evans) who created their own style of forming chords. Even if you have an instrument that isnt capable of playing chords, this book will help you understand the mechanics of jazz and will help bring understanding to a page full of chord symbols that translates to any instrument.

I cant imagine how hard it would have been to learn to play jazz without this book, I give it my highest recommendation. Please remember the theory in this book can be applied to any instrument even if you have no desire to play the piano.
Summary: Da Bomb!
The Point: Levine's book is truly great.

Levine gives you the real thing, and he explains it in a way that darn near everyone will be able to understand.

This book is not just for keyboard players. (I play the Trumpet, and Levine taught me more about Jazz harmony than any of my Jazz-trumpet-player buddies ever did.)

CAVEAT: To benefit from this book, you MUST know the fundamentals of music. Can you read music? If you had to (and you couldn't get out of it), could you tell me what note I was pointing to on a piece of sheet music? No matter what "key" it was in? Okay. Next, do you really KNOW your Major scales? Can you play them on your instrument? Don't BS yourself - could you really do it, even if your life depended on it?

If you said "yes" to the questions above, and you really want to play jazz, you are probably ready for this book.

Again, for those who want to play Jazz, if you know what a "staff" is, and a "clef," and you "know" your major scales, get this book. I beg of you, start here.

Levine clearly explains a whole bunch of the basic stuff regarding how to hear and play real Jazz. If you master Levine's lessons, you probably won't sound like a hack.

Levine's book gives you just what you need to know, right now. Real jazz involves relatively complex harmony, but it isn't nearly as hard or mysterious as many "jazz" books make it seem.

If this book had been around when I first started fumbling through all of those lousy "How to Play Just Like a Real Jazz Cat" books out there, I would have progressed in my jazz playing at a much faster pace.

I recommend this book to all intermediate/advanced musicians who are studying jazz without the guidance of a genuinely knowledgable jazz teacher.

Recommended!
Summary: Simply the Best!
This is a great book on jazz piano. It should be part of every jazz pianist library - even beginners. This book is geared toward intermediate players, but it will act as a great guide no matter what your level of expertise.

It's nice to see a well formatted book. I'm so tired of buying jazz piano books that were hammered out on a typewriter.

Highly recommended!











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Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand

Publisher: Times Books
Authors: James Barron

ISBN: 0805078789
List Price: $24.00
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Solo Jazz Piano: The Linear Approach

Publisher: Berklee Press
Authors: Neil Olmstead

ISBN: 0634007610
List Price: $39.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 4
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Summary: Great beginning!
This is a good book for someone with basic Jazz theory knowledge. You still need have some foundation of Music Theory. It's a good book to be taken with supplemental teaching! Great recording eventhough does not follow the book(mostly his own voice leading).
Thanks for creating effort and teaching for those of us that involve with music and love of it!
Summary: Poorly Published
The content of the book and CD is fantastic, see the other reviews for more info. Unfortunately, the binding of the book is useless, especially when you try to set it on your pianos' music stand and have it stay open. The first time I used it, pages started coming loose like they were never attached. I guess I'll keep it instead of sending it back, because I like the material, but I'll have to fix it to use it (huge waste of practice time). Really should have been spiral bound - buyer beware.
Summary: Not all that great
One of the selling points for this book was that it had an accompanying CD. It was my idea that there would be transcriptions that corresponded note for note to the tunes that were played on the CD. That turned out to be incorrect.

Also: Something that a person always wants to know is patterns for jazz. It would have been one thing if the melody line of the tune was written in one place (and didn't correspond to what was played on the CD) but the patterns that were used to spice up the tracks were written elsewhere. As it happened, even the patterns were written nowhere. Can it really be that the study of jazz patterns is so separate from solo piano that it needn't be covered in one place?

I can't recommend which book has patterns and solo ideas at the same time, but I do know that this book is NOT the place to start looking.
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Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Authors: Klaus Badelt

ISBN: 0634067699
List Price: $16.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Great sheet music!
A great book of sheet music, and very promptly delivered; it only took around 1 week to arrive!
The music has just the right blend of simplicity/complexity to make it easy enough to play while still being challenging for my teenage daughter, and yet sounding GREAT and very satisfying to belt out.
We are very pleased, and would recommend this to anyone who likes the Pirates music.
Summary: liked this book
Klaus Badelt is one of my favorite composers. While this is not my favorite among his work (I was looking for sheet music for The Time Machine) This book is very good. It contains one lone grand staff for piano playing. The songs range in difficulty. The book is very well made and lies flat with ease and without breaking. The songs contained in this book are "The Medallion Calls" "The Black Pearl" "Blood Ritual/Moonlight Serenade" "Underwater March" "To the Pirates' Cave!" and "He's a Pirate".
Summary: Welcome to the Caribbean, love!
Never before have I been so pleased with a movie soundtrack music book before. This is really great. The pieces are probably a little advanced for most people, but if you know the music, it's not hard to figure out. It has every theme you'd want to play. Very, very, good!
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