Product Details

• Actors: Ethel Caffie-Austin
• Directors: Happy Traum
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Homespun Video
• DVD Release Date: April 1, 2003
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000092OM7
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,839 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This inspirational course in gospel piano has been specially designed for novice and intermediate players. West Virginia's First Lady of Gospel Music teaches powerful arrangements of traditional spirituals and hymns, complete with melody, harmony notes, c

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the intermediate to advanced pianist., July 11, 2005

By 

Aimee Phillips (Delaware) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DVD- Learn To Play Gospel Piano (DVD)

This is a great video for those who want to learn the playing techniques for gospel. Most gospel online courses teach what chords to play but give you little in the way of playing them for a gospel sound. Many gospel videos give you 1-1/2 hours of how to form chords, from beginning to intermediate, and maybe 15 minutes of advanced demonstration. This doesn't help either the beginner or the advanced player.

Though the songs start out simply and a beginner could get a start with them, most of the video is for the fairly proficient player who wants to get some rhythm and licks to gospelize music. This gospel piano is much like boogie woogie piano and is a lot of fun.

The written booklets are helpful and clearly written. They just take practice.

I do wish that Dr. Ethel Caffie-Austin would put out a CD of her piano music. She's great.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish there were more like this!, July 30, 2006

By 

vallerino (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DVD- Learn To Play Gospel Piano (DVD)

Ethel Caffie-Austin is a fabulous pianist and she breaks it down easily so that players new to this style can understand the how and the why. A song is presented in its simplest form first, and then in increasingly ornamented versions with alternate harmonies, so in the end, you can figure out which version you would like to make your signature version.

This set is for intermediate to advanced players, and the only criticism I have of this set is that it isn't indicated anywhere on the packaging (or in promotion that I've seen), but that doesn't detract from the 5 stars it very richly deserves. A beginning pianist would probably not be ready to play the pieces in this set, but what they hey, if you are a beginner, buy it anyway, watch it and PRACTICE like mad to get up to the level to play this. This set will INSPIRE you to get your chops together! You will need to be able to play in octaves, and to play full chords spanning an octave in each hand. It is also recommended that you be familiar with at least seventh chords.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for Beginners, February 6, 2007

By 

P. Oski (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DVD- Learn To Play Gospel Piano (DVD)

This DVD is a little advanced for me, but it deserves its 5-star rating. If you can play a bit and are dedicated enough to stick with it, you will learn how to "gospelize" simple melodies into full arrangements. Lead sheet and by-ear players who want to learn to get that funky gospel praise sound need look no further. I don't mind chipping away at this for a few years.

Some hand independence and comfort with four-finger chords are pre-requisites to making the most of this, though you can use the DVD to learn these skills if you're patient and not afraid to practise hard. Caffie-Austin is a beautiful player and the video shows well what her talented fingers are up to. She has a wonderful voice and engaging persona too.

If you are unsure about your skills, or are just beginning, I recommend you start with something simpler like Bradley Sowash and Scott Houston's "The Next Step" before tackling this.