Gospel Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series [Perfect Paperback]

Kurt Cowling (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series | Publication Date: March 1, 2007

This comprehensive book/CD pack provides you with the tools you need to play in a variety of authentic gospel styles, through a study of rhythmic devices, grooves, melodic and harmonic techniques, and formal design. The accompanying CD features over 90 tracks, including piano examples as well as the full gospel band to help capture the true flavor of the style.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423412494
• ISBN-13: 978-1423412496
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Music
  • #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Instrumentation > Keyboard

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars most useful gospel piano book I've found, May 24, 2007

By 

Jan Freier (Hopkins, Mn USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gospel Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Perfect Paperback)

I was spurred to write this review in response to another review that indciated disappointment with this book. I have found it to be an outstanding presentation of typical gospel sound, much more direct and 'authentic' than other books I have tried.
I was disappointed with other books of being either too heavy on theory without really creating a gospel sound, or not presenting enough theory/practice that I could expand on my own. I think this book really achieves a nearly ideal balance on this account. And as someone who has worked through a lot of Hal Leonard Style Series, I think this is one of the very best books in that series in its presentation of a keyboard style.
Gospel keyboard as a whole has wandered into neo-soul and borrows from r'n'b and funk esp. in the open worship backup. This book doesn't cover the open worship pad work. The songs, examples and exercises are based on modern choir work that are cited throughout and as such the right hand work is based primarily on the vocal 3 part harmony. Just so there's some clarification of what is presented here.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best piano instruction book i've encountered!, May 3, 2009

By 

ilukens (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gospel Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Perfect Paperback)

I've bought many piano instruction books over the years (mostly blues and jazz) and this is the best I've ever found. What I like best is that the musical tracks and lessons really sound like music (and gospel or worship music!), not lifeless drills. The author clearly writes from inside the genre -- he's not somebody with no feel for the music teaching a few simple elements to beginners. Most of the blues books, for example, will teach you elements of the style but never really sound like very good blues. Here, the musical tracks are really lovely. They efficiently illustrate a single musical idea but also are beautiful and expressive -- prayerful,joyful,rollicking, triumphant, meditative, sad, moving etc.

The book moves swiftly but comprehensively through a series of simple musical ideas -- many of which I haven't seen expressed anywhere else. The lessons are not belabored and they are well organized. Each isolated idea is relatively simple and bite-size but usually very fruitful. If this were the whole book it would still be worth the prize. But the real bonus is the quality of the written musical examples with their audio tracks which illustrate each idea. They provide a vocabulary of nice rhythmic motifs, bass parts, melodic themes, grooves and styles which are very musical. The way the tracks are performed provides additional great instruction in gospel phrasing, dynamics, feel & timing etc.

I'm an intermediate player and although the book is only 80 pages, there's a lot of material here. I've had the book about three weeks and I'm still exploring and working through the ideas in the first ten pages after the first chapter of recap explanatory material.

I hope the author keeps going writing additional books.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gospelicious!, March 30, 2009

By 

Matthew Edlund - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gospel Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Perfect Paperback)

Fantastic book! Great tool to get that authentic Gospel sound. I really enjoyed the wealth of harmonic and rhythmic devices presented, as well as the full tunes at the end that incorporated those devices into a variety of styles and grooves. Simple and easy to understand theory leads to tangible results and improvement at every level. Very accessible and at the same time authentic, with a high level of musical integrity, this book is a must for any musician interested in Gospel music! *****!