Customer Reviews

Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano - Volume 1

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Just love this volume 1 of a 3 volume book/CD set of Dr. John, sitting at a piano just playing and talking about the music. You will not find a structured teaching course in the blues here - There are no "lessons", just a virtuoso playing and speaking about what he does best. The accompanying book has many of the solos written out in standard musical notation (with chord symbols) along with excerpts of what the left hand is playing etc. It is by no means a complete and exact transcription of every note played on the CD, but it is very good. It will get you started on the road and is very helpful.
Be warned however: I have a degree in music and have played piano for 20 years, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to play like Dr. John. You really need to know music to get much out of it technique-wise. A solid background in theory is a great help in understanding what Dr. John is talking about when he refers to the chord structure / inversions/ substitutions/ progressions etc. If you are looking for a quick "play piano like Dr. John in 10 easy lessons" you will be sorely disappointed. There is a LIFETIME of material in these 3 volumes.
What I love about this book/CD the most is that it is all piano SOLO. I can really hear everything Dr. John is doing - you will never get that from his albums with a band backing him up. He does sing along with a few tunes, but it is 95% piano solo. I listen to it over and over and never tire of it - It is good enough to be a solo CD on it's own without the teaching aspect, and hearing Dr. John talk about his influences and the different styles is something I think any real fan would appreciate, even if they never intended to play a note on the piano.
Buy all 3 volumes - and then you'll go out and get the videos produced by the same folks so you can see how on earth anyone's fingers can play like that!

I am fairly accomplished pianist and can play some blues. i bought this book because Dr John is such a master at it in so many ways. This book is like so many music "how to" books i bought growing up. It is COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY INACCURATE. i have a great ear better than i can execute and i can safely say there are more things wrong than right. Perhaps another way of saying it is that there are so many things different on the written page than on the cd. HOW CAN YOU SELL A BOOK CLAIMING TO DEMONSTRATE HOW TO DO SOMETHING AND GIVE YOU A LESSON FILLED WITH THINGS THAT ARENT WHAT YOURE LEARNING??? the first piece comes closest to his playing. its also easiest and the one youll care about least. I called both publishers. Homespun told me no one ever complained about it. well, so what! Dr John is complicated enough. he plays fast. theres many things in the inbetween. No wonder no one figured it out. People probably gave up and figured they werent good enough. Homespun was kind about it but they did not do the transcription, Hal Leonard music did. Hal Leonard never even responded to emails and a letter. Listen to his version of Frankie and Johnny see what they "transcribe" (if you could call it that) and youll think it belongs to a different cd. I managed to figure out what he was playing and therefore attained some benefit but i could have bought any cd of his and done that.
if you want to learn new orleans style piano avoid this book.

I've been a fan of Dr John for 20 years and this teaching series is useful for a wide range of interests. The cd included has some great stuff not available on any other issue. The music book is great IF you are intermediate to advanced level piano.
There are techniques explained clearly in the book that are essential for that fantastic Dr J sound.

So I have some one who can read - show me the notes - and I can figure the beat and I can do it. The CD included is really well done. I think this book should be required by all piano teachers everywhere. This is like if Scott Joplin were alive and giving tips on playing. So if you can't read a note - get someone to help you out. Playing piano is fun and this book is real fun.