Customer Reviews

Jam with Carlos Santana with CD (Audio)

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

 

 

Santana has always been my ultimate guitarist idol, and for a book like this to come out, I feel like I've actually had a workshop with Santana himself. It provides a number of easy to interpret tips and recommendations that have not only increased my confidence in improvisation, but also have allowed me to imagine during the play-alongs that I may one day meet a level of playing like Carlos'. My guitar techniques have without a doubt undergone significant improvements. This book includes all the classics, and is a must for any of the other Santana fanatics like me.

The CD & book are very good to play along with, also the chords & notes are right in the book, only one thing they dont tell you, they are not the entire songs. Europa, Black Magic Woman, etc are all cut short & dont play through the guitar solos, so there are several minutes cut out of each song, so its not the entire song. If you dont care about the solos its fine, but this says its a jam, to me soloing is the best part of the jam & they are all cut out

I just want to contradict the negative review that says the solos are missing. I think the reviewer only listened to part of the CD. Tracks 1-8 are backing tracks with lead guitar and vocals cut out so you can 'jam with', as the title suggests. So, of course the solo is missing.

I previewed Black Magic Woman, and the entire song is tabbed out, except that all three verses share the same tab. (No big deal)

If you don't have a CD of the song you are working on, tracks 9-16 have a version with lead guitar included.(Solo and all!) It is decent, but it isn't Carlos.

Also, you don't have to be able to read rhythms as another reviewer suggests. You don't have to know the difference between a quarter note and an eigth note. Put a sound card in your computer that allows you to record smaller chunks of the song with a time scaling feature. Time scaling lets me slow down a difficult section without altering the pitch. Now you just listen, play along, and speed it up a little at a time as you work it up to speed. You don't have to read the rhythm because you will hear it and feel it.

Hope this helps. I'd say this is a great value and a fun way to practice.

I first heard of this concept from a jazz trumpeter who said he used to practice to "MINUS ONE" versions of songs he liked. It was a similar complete package like the Jam With CD here, except it was on vinyl -- all the parts except for the trumpet part.

I really like this Jam with Carlos Santana CD and appreciate the musicianship on it. It's good for keeping time -- Santana, a great phraser, said he started practicing every morning with a drum machine, and wonder if practicing to a CD like this can be every bit as good. Some of the parts in the Jamwith renditions I even like better than on the Santana recordings. I like that many songs start with the drumsticks marking time. And there's one nice part in Europa where the guitar busts some actual Santana licks, solid-body tones and all. And though I have about a dozen Santana albums, there was at least one song on this CD I'd never heard.

As a nitpicker who learns by rote and solos note-for-note, I agree with a review I saw somewhere that significant sections of the originals were omitted and/or changed -- at least on the songs I know fairly well. In Oye Como Va it's exacerbated by a lack of differentiation between background parts when moving to new sections, that in the originals were part of their flavor and appeal.

There are justifiable omissions, like the ending of Black Magic Woman, which in the original moved from sultry, minor-bluesy pop into a major mode/scale with an entirely different time signature. This fit the 70's "concept album" format and you can really consider it a "between-the-tracks" mini-song, and arguably not part of the song. The organist is allowed a solo on the Jamwith version that indeed can hold a candle to Greg Rolie's. THAT's saying something because this was a definitive Rolie solo. You'll enjoy so much you'll even feel like stopping to listen! I know I did.

But some of the missing, incomplete sections mess me up. I would never play to these in public unless I first learned the Jam-with songs, with their slightly different structures, because it would mean slightly re-learning the songs. Then when you heard them on the radio and jammed to them, you'd be playing it the Jam-With way, i.e., differently. Europa seems to start with just drum beats, widely separated, that are not to give you the count, unlike the other Jamwith songs, but are there so you can play the lead to them.

That's my personality and the guy who I originally saw playing to this Jamwith in public is more relaxed about it. But my guitar work is a bit tighter and in part I attribute this to my over-diligent, perfectionist attitude at playing. I have to admit that Santana has differences in his song structures when playing live.

But I say have fun. These are a phenomenal learning tool. I prefer these to the CD player systems that allow you to play the CDs at different speeds. You can play these Jamwiths anywhere. I use the one I put on my Ipod. I also own a Jam With Satriani which is also very good. Despite my grousing I came to this website looking to buy more Jamwiths. Pity there's no Benson. His backup musicians would probably be hard to emulate.

Even though I almost exclusively use the aural component of this product (practice to the audio only) I highly recommend Jam With Santana for budding and accomplished guitarists.

If you like Santana music and have decent guitar skills, you will appreciate this book. First of all, a recommendation that applies to all the books with sheet music and tablature: the reader/player should be able to read AT LEAST the rhythmic info on the paper in order to take more advantage of the product. That is, one should understand when it is a quarter or eighth or sixteenth note, if it is on the down or up beat, when it is staccato or not. You can use the tablature for getting the "note", but try to be disciplined on the rhythmic front. And play slowly,with a metronome, before jumping to the performance tempo of the jam tracks. Believe me, it adds so much to your rhythmic performance. At least for me, certain passages are rhythmically challenging so for the time being I am inserting licks that I control while trying to keep the "key notes" of the solo there. Hey, that is a good exercise in improvisation!
I have not "jammed" with the CD yet but I've been playing the licks with special concern to timing. My opinion is that almost anyone will benefit from this book at multiple levels: the book might serve as a beautiful introduction to the syncopated cha cha rhythm by playing "Oye como va". It also offers busy rhythm comping with "Evil Ways" and "Persuasion". And for the soloists, of course a guitar student will be able to appreciate the soulful, bluesy phrasing of Santana ("BlackMagic Woman", "Europa")and hopefully become able to add some of Santana's magic to his or her own style. Finally, kudos for the authors for having included "The Healer", an overlooked gem of Santana (the intro is as good an exercise in playing both with a pick and the fingers as any other).
There is one thing that I miss: I think the author could have included an intro on the book highlghying a few of the "trademark" Santana licks and techniques so you can practive in a more structured way instead of jumping directly into the tracks. Also, more rhythmic information for comping (e.g. the author mensions the "bossa nova feel" of BlackMagic Woman but does not show it on paper) would be welcome. But hey, I am very pleased with the purchase and I intend to buy more books of the "jam with" series.

I picked this up for working on my timing and feel, this is VERY well done, well ok ... the 2nd pack of tracks with actual guitar parts is, so so. I've spent hours just on Tracks '2' and '4' and I have to say this is the most fun I've had playing with out a real band around. You can work on your tone, timing, feel, get inventive, play it note for note and do not need to have other musicians going over and over it with you.
I'd also recommend the Dire Straits version but it's much harder to play along with. I will be buying more in this series for sure!