Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Soul (Big Book (Hal Leonard))

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this for my boyfriend expecting there to be a lot of great classic hits, but there weren't. Maybe a quarter to a third of the songs were recognizable to us, and we listen to a lot soul music on the oldies stations and such.

Being a big fan of soul and its wonderful singers, I decided to give this book a look and it contains a good variety ranging from one of the founding father's of soul, Ray Charles, to more contemporary soul artists like Booker T and The Bar Kays. A lot of rare songs are in here that will not be found in any other piano book and most songs are arranged nicely aside from a few poorly arranged ones. I highly recommend improvising and tilting your body to the beat like Ray Charles when playing these songs since soul isn't about just playing the given notes, but its about putting your emotion and feelings into music form, and without emotion, soul losses its natural charm and deepness. I also recommend buying a dark pair of shades.