Customer Reviews

Jazz Hanon (Hanon Series)

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I have mixed opinions on this one... To be honest, you can probably get an even better bang for the buck by purchasing the full version of Hanon's Virtuoso Pianist and practising the exersizes with swing feel (play chords in your LH and the patterns in your RH), then you could then go out and get some of David Baker's Bebop Pattern books and dig down even deeper... (If you don't know what swing time and swing feel is, you should probably sit in a few lessons with a Jazz improv instructor anyway... sometimes it doesn't come through in writing anyway.) - - Of course what's most important is being able to take the pattern concepts, and applying them to the scales and modes that fit in with different chords, so for that purpose, you should definitely get your hand on a good Jazz Improv book... and also be sure to learn them in all keys... whatever the case, the most important thing to realize is that this is a TECHNIQUE book... not an improv book... hence,you should use this book for the purpose of building your dexterity not for solo ideas... If you're looking for a good HOW TO PLAY JAZZ book, check out my AMAZON list on Essential Jazz Learning Resources.

Don't throw away your old Hanon! This book is not tied to the successfull formula of the origional Hanon. It replaces the repetition and drill-like nature with a set of short, progressive jazz studies. But while initially misled by the title, I find this different approach successfull. With little explanation or theory I've been able to progress significantly just by working my way through the book -- moving on to the next exercise as soon as I feel comfortable with the last. For those of us who feel a little like a fish out of water in Jazz, this is a great way to learn to breathe air.

I have a background in classical piano, but could never get the rhythm of Jazz. This book is a good tool for learning that. I don't think this book is as easy a read as Mark Levine's Jazz Piano book, but this is still helpful, and worth the money.

This was probably my first jazz piano book when I first bought it 6 years ago. Honestly, it did not teach me much about jazz but the exercise help me a lot in term of playing major 7th and minor 7th chords at that time. The book did not emphasis much about rhythm, as many jazz pianist would tell you a big difference between classical and jazz music is the rhythm. A swing feel is not easily explained to many traditional classical pianist. This book did not dwell on that at all. However, after knowing what a swing feel is, this book would be a practical exercise book. I would suggest to play the example in the book with a swing feel instead of a steady rhythm like written. Honestly it is a breakthrough once I understand to apply the exercise in jazz rhythm.
The book is very useful in explaning the many sub-genres of jazz. You will know what a bebop, a walking bass, a swing base, and others after going through the exercise. You will also be able to create opened and closed voicing after this. It does take an intermediate jazz pianist to understand the application process of this exercise.

This is not a bad book, there are some good exercises, not all of them but there are few useful ones. But it should be said that the title offers something the book is not exactly. Yes, the book is a Book on Technique, with etudes and exercises on specific technical aspects, but it is not conceived as a Hanon type (which, in my opinion is not necessarily a bad thing). The problem with this book is that even though it is not a bad book, there are other books with better exercises, a more progressive selection of material and in some cases with a greater develop and explanations about the concepts to work at and its applications. If you are looking for a modern Hannon on Jazz try the other Jazz Hannon by Petter Deneff (more on the Hannon style: repetitive patterns, but less musical examples than this one), but even better try Oscar Peterson's book on jazz etudes or Dan Haerle's books. Finally, for more than a book on technique I will also recommend the Alfred's Jazz Keyboards Series.

If you have no other Jazz sheet music this is worth buying at the right price. It covers the basic harmony you need to know and it covers some of the more common Jazz styles such as block chord, stride etc. However it is noteably poor in its discussion of improvisation. There is none! Thats pretty poor for a book on Jazz.

It also only only covers 'modern voicings' and 'scales and modes' in the last few pages of the book. This book was published in 1980 originally, and what in the authors eyes might have been seen as minority stylings then, are now the standard way modern Jazz Pianists play. BTW I'm not running down old-style Jazz Piano - I love stride Piano. But the truth these days is that most Jazz Pianists now continue in the tradition of Bill Evans/Keith Jarrett/Herbie Hancock etc.

I could certainly recommend this to a relative beginner, but for the more experienced musician there are many more interesting and informative books to get.

The Hanon are great exercises, but it's important to do a variety of exercises. Going through 50 Hanon Exercises each day may be a little overkill and somewhat unbalanced, especially if you're playing them all at the same tempo.

I couldn't play at all unless I warmed up for 45 minutes. What I learned was, in addition to "exercises" it's important to play some tunes...

Try some of these:
-Hanon 1st exercise, all keys quarter note 100
-All Major scales, 4 octaves, various tempi

-Apreggios - same
-Pick one or two a day of the following:
Brahms 51 exercises
Pischna
Schmitt Preparatory Exercises
Bach Two Part Inventions
Chopin Etudes, Waltzes (anything really)
Scott Joplin rags
Blues - in various keys
Tunes you'd play on gigs in different keys each day

just mix it up and don't spend more time on exercises than you do playing tunes.

it's a good book for those who want to learn the basics of the Jazz Music.