And yesterday I received..................

............Mark Levine's "The Jazz Piano Book" and the two other books that I mentioned I had also ordered in this post.
The Drop 2 Book








The Jazz Theory Book








Having spent all of last year building our new home, I have dedicated this year specifically to the piano, composition, performance and surfing!
Bring it on!

The Jazz Piano Book

I have been surfing all the online jazz piano sites recently and have come up with some ripper resources and very helpful information.

There are some great start up lessons on Scott Ranney's site Learn Jazz Piano and LessonRating.com has useful resources and reviews the best piano lesson sites online. Somewhere along the way one of the many sites I visited recommended Mark Levine's "The Jazz Piano Book" as the best seminal resource available. So I "acquired" it and having worked through the first few sections, can recommend it highly as the explanations and examples provided are very clear and informative. I really feel like I am understanding the jazz process far more than my futile attempts to do so many times on the guitar. It all makes so much more sense on the piano and I am absolutely delighting in the new vistas that are opening up for me, following my decision 6 months ago, to take up the piano seriously! I have just completed an order for an official copy of "The Jazz Piano Book" along with 2 of his other publications "The Jazz Theory Book" and "Jazz Piano Masterclass with Mark Levine" which delves exclusively into Drop 2 voicings. Magic!

The Piano Handbook

I think many of you might agree that bookshops can be dens of temptation, but not normally for piano books!

However, I happened to drop in to the local Angus & Robertson bookstore yesterday - just for a browse of course and no intent.

Lo and behold, a few minutes later I am walking out with "The Piano Handbook" grasped firmly in my sweaty, damn I have done it again, hand.

Well, no regrets! What a gem of a resource because this illustrated handbook offers a comprehensive tutorial for learning to play piano alone or with a teacher. An accompanying audio CD demonstrates key techniques and concepts, and the author explores the common origins of different musical cultures to show that learning different kinds of music can be an enriching experience. Readers discover how classical piano technique and musicianship inspire creative approaches to composing and improvising across a variety of styles, including pop and jazz. There is so much useful information in here for the beginning to intermediate player wanting to stretch out a little.

A must have resource that I have always recommended for my guitar students is Ralph Denyer's Guitar Handbook and this publication for the piano is very similar.

I don't think you can really have too many resources when you are learning an instrument and even if the whole resource is not relevant so often there are a few little gems that kick you further along the road.

Another useful tome!

Yeh I know yet another book, this guy must be crazy you say to yourself!

The Pop Piano Book is such a thorough examination of how to become comfortable creating your own accompaniments from lead sheets in the following styles:

Pop Ballad

Pop-Rock and Hard Rock

New Age

R'n'B Ballad

R'n'B Funk

Country & Country Rock

Slow Gospel

Fast Gospel

The author Mark Harrison starts with a comprehensive section on contemporary harmonic and rhythm concepts before launching into all the above mentioned styles. Midi files of all 800 music examples are available.

Not for the complete beginner, this is a must own book if this is your game on the keys!

The Keyboard Grimoire!

Yesterday, one of my colleagues popped his head into my class to ask if I would assist a prospective IT student.
I recognised David immediately as one of the few piano players to have gone through the music programme offered at this college.
Having worked out that he was already skilled up IT wise way beyond what we could offer we got talking about piano which was when he mentioned that I should get my hands on "The Keyboard Grimoire".
Well, I thought I had a fair handle on scales but this tome goes way beyond what I know.
The book is designed for guitarists to find their way around a keyboard for sequencing it so it works for both genres of instrumentalist.
Well worth searching out and adding to your piano resources if your are into impro at all!

Microstyles!

Many years a go, I used to own the musicaI instrument store here in town before various events including my own mismanagement caused the whole operation to fall over but that is a story for another day.
In any case, the point of mentioning that is, we supplied books to many of the local piano teachers students and I remember one of the books that was particularly popular was the series by Chris Norton, Microstyles for keyboard.

The first of the series of four constituted one of 3 new books I bought yesterday along with John Thompson's Grade 3 tutor and the AMEB Series 13 4th grade publication. Yes, yes I know, I haven't finished John Thompson's Grade 2 tutor yet but......!!

Anyway the Microstyles books are wonderful with tremendous and reasonably accessible pieces written in wide variety of popular styles. I have listed the contents of Volume One here for your edification. In searching the internet for an image of the books cover to post, I note that all 4 books are now available in one volume and had I known that at the time I would have ordered it instead. If you want to add a bit of variety to your daily practise, do yourself a favour and check out Microstyles.

Cheeky - Rock 'n' Roll Style
Down South - Rock Ballad
Fax Blues - Ostinato
Heavy Work - Mancini Stomp
Hideaway - Rumba
In the Bag - Glenn Miller Style
Latin Nights - Bossa Nova
Martinet - Heavy Rock
Omnibus - Swing
On the Line - Half Time Rock
Oriental Flower - Slow Waltz
Short and Sweet - Boogie

Josef Hofmann

And just in case Malwine Bree's book on the Leschetizky method was not enough for you, here is another digitised book of interest that can also be downloaded for free.

"Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered" by Josef Hofmann.

Theodore Leschetizky

The teacher of many of the great players of the 20th century, Theodore Leschetizky's name comes up frequently when one researches the topic of piano playing. Here is a link to a fully digitised copy of the original publication (that you can download for free) "The Groundwork of the Leschetizky Method" authored by one of Leschetizky's assistants, Malwine Bree, and fully approved by the Maestro describing his ideas in relation to piano playing.

Piano Mastery - Talks with Master Pianists and Teachers

An innocuous looking little book but chock full of gems to guide us along the road to piano mastery for no cost to you at all.

The Craft of Piano Playing

As I am not in a position to engage a teacher at this time and acknowledging the importance of a sound technique, I ordered this wonderful treatise by Alan Fraser.

Having read some considerable part of the book, interestingly, it seems my years spent developing a sound technique for playing the classical guitar, has equipped me well to intuitively understand some of what is required of the relationship of the fingers, hands and arms for piano playing.

So I think I am on track and am looking forward to applying more of the information that is so clearly explained through the use of the most wonderful drawings. I am also keen to get my hands on Heinrich Neuhaus's The Art of Piano Playing.

I am now into the second grade book of the John Thompson Modern piano course (a quantum leap form the first, I may say)and have started the process of learning and playing the scales and arpeggios in all keys now that I have a better understanding of the techniques required to play them. I plan to regularly go back to the first grade John Thompson book to reinforce what I have learnt.

The beginning!

As is my usual way, and how I came to purchase a Casio CDP-100, I scoured the the internet using Google for a piano tutor and settled for the not so modern, been around for ever, method depicted to the left. Having played the classical guitar for more than 30 years, I am acutely aware of the importance of a sound technique and so have opted for this traditional method rather than the myriad of new ones that are available. I have found it to be excellent for my purposes and have already purchased and commenced the second grade book.

I do need to find a teacher though but as I am about to move 50 kilometres to the the

west when Michelle and I get the house we are building in Denmark to the stage where we can move in, it is a little difficult.