Customer Reviews

The Contemporary Keyboardist - Stylistic Etudes (Instructional)

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

 

 

John Novello has composed an excellent collection of contemporary piano studies. All but a few are contained on a single page. Fingering suggestions are plentiful. Chord qualities, progressions, the use of modes, special scales and rhythms are clearly presented. Each piece is annotated at the end of the book and practice suggestions are made. John encourages the player to experiment with these etudes and to write their own.

John describes the work as intended for the advanced beginner to intermediate player. I consider myself at that level. Many pieces in this collection exceed my current abilities. Some are easier. Most are accessible. John's recordings of each etude are on the accompanying CD. I have found listening to the CD enjoyable and helpful. It provides clear examples of how to play his work. Additionally, it has allowed me to quickly pick out pieces I wanted to begin practicing.

While there's not much here for the fan of country music, a wide variety of styles are represented. Jazz, pop and rock styles make up nearly half the collective work. Blues and Latin examples are well represented. The gospel oriented tunes were a delightful surprise. I wish there were more of them.

If you're a fan of Hal Leonard's keyboard style series, you will like this book. It contains less theory and more great examples of how to create and perform contemporary music. I'm certain I will be enjoying this book for years to come.

Mr. Novello has produced another masterpiece. The etudes are fun to play and surely cover lots of styles. Highly recommended.

These are good for learning specific popular piano "stylings", and the techniques demonstrated can be expanded and modified to suit other compositions. The CD performances are valuable in terms of getting the "feel" for the sound and style.