Berklee Jazz Piano BK/CD [Paperback]

Ray Santisi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009

Play jazz piano with new facility and expression as Ray Santisi, one of the most revered educators at the Berklee College of Music - and mentor to Keith Jarrett, Diana Krall, Joe Zawinul, and thousands of others - reveals the pedagogy at the core of Berklee's jazz piano curriculum. From beginning through advanced levels, Berklee Jazz Piano maps the school's curriculum: a unique blend of theory and application that gives you a deep, practical understanding of how to play jazz. Concepts are illustrated by the accompanying practice CD, where you'll hear how one of the great jazz pianists and educators of our time applies these concepts to both jazz standards and original compositions, and how you can do the same. You will learn: * Jazz chords and their characteristic tension substitutions, in many voicings and configurations * Modes and scales common in jazz * Techniques for comping, developing bass lines, harmonizing melodies, melodizing harmonies, and improvisation * Practice techniques for committing these concepts to your muscle memory * Variations for solo and ensemble playing * Advanced concepts, such as rhythmic displacement, approach-chord harmonization, and jazz counterpoint

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Berklee College; Pap/Com edition (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876390505
• ISBN-13: 978-0876390504
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great 'real world' information from a pro, May 2, 2009

By 

Jonas Aras "Audio Pro" (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Berklee Jazz Piano BK/CD (Paperback)

This book is a short, no-nonsense, accurate presentation of what everyone should know about playing jazz piano. The harmonic, melodic and rhythmic essentials are explained. When he covers modal playing, it is NOT the usual dorian/mixolydian/ionian on ii-V7-I progressions that you find in other method books. He explains them correctly; they are their own unique harmonic framework that is distinct from traditional major/minor key chord progressions. I also think that his information on jazz counterpoint is worth it's weight in gold and it's information that I've not encountered elsewhere.

One could spend many thousands of dollars on private lessons and not get the info presented here. It would probably be doubly beneficial if used as a study guide along with a good teacher.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Berklee Jazz Piano Book by Ray Santisi, December 5, 2009

By 

nitekatt2011 (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Berklee Jazz Piano BK/CD (Paperback)

Berklee Jazz Piano Book by Ray Santisi is a wonderful book about jazz piano techniques, harmony, pentatonic patterns, compositions, rhythm tracks to play along with, modernistic jazz concepts and most of all, the tried and true methods that the author Ray Santisi has used with his students at Berklee for over 50 + years. Ray is still teaching at Berklee and playing gigs in Boston every week. Mr Santisi taught Keith Jarrett, Diana Krall and many other noted and famous jazz musicians.

As a former Berklee student myself in the 70's and studying jazz piano privately with Mr Santisi personally, I can attest to the exceptional value of going through the book at your own pace, using what works for you and hearing the exercises and drills filter in the student's style to keep advancing to higher levels in the art. If the student takes the time to play through the book even 10-20 daily for a month, a significant improvement will be noticed in the performance.

Another plus about buying the book is; an enclosed CD of the drills and examples plus the play along rhythm tracks and original compositions played by Mr Santisi or his advanced students to get an idea of how the exercises sound in real time. Many jazz piano technique books don't include a CD, so this is really like getting a freebie CD with Berklee Jazz Piano. Some pianists are not good at sight reading and can transcribe music faster by ear, so the CD comes in handy for this purpose. Just pop the CD into ITunes and you're ready to rock..(jazz).

Although this book is geared more toward medium to advanced jazz piano students or classical pianists needing additional sources for jazz piano techniques, beginning students could use it as a method book with the guidance of a jazz piano teacher. I will also use it myself if I start teaching modern keyboard styles in the new year 2011.

Berklee Jazz Piano by Ray Santisi is a great text which teaches jazz piano techniques in a concise and necessary manner, easily understood and applied to the student's needs and desires to grow as a jazz pianist. You also can't beat the price of the book being offered here at Amazon.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb book, September 14, 2009

By 

Eric M. Warr "jazz fan" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Berklee Jazz Piano BK/CD (Paperback)

I own an entire library of "how to" jazz books, and this is easily the best book I have ever come across. It is understandable and has more valuable information per page than any book I have encountered. If you buy just one jazz book, buy this one.