4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Vocabulary and More, February 21, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines : Guitar Edt the Style of Charlie Parker (Paperback)
This book is exactly what the title describes, classic lines in the style of a jazz great. In addition to the lines there are scale diagrams that allow the possibility of changing or adding to the existing lines for a creative challenge. Those people that have done their own transcribing will understand the value of this type of book. While not a Jazz Method ( it doesn't claim to be ), it is an important part of
the evolving process of studying Jazz.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not perfect, but helpful nevertheless, December 7, 2006
This review is from: Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines : Guitar Edt the Style of Charlie Parker (Paperback)
Christiansen's book focuses on a few key concepts that one sees over and over in bebop, particularly in the music of Charlie Parker. Some examples include scales used over major, minor, and dominant chords; use of approach and "target" notes; and motifs such as the 3 to b9 interval.
While the numerous one- and two-bar solo examples, imperfect as they be from time to time, provide a good start, the student should really focus on using these concepts in his or her own improvising. The CD that comes with the book provides great backing tracks for the student to solo along to (chords and ii-V-I changes in all keys, plus a couple tunes at the end). Although I haven't used the book in a couple years, I still use the CD whenever I need to implement a new concept over basic chord changes.
For the student who really wants to get to the bottom of Charlie Parker, this book is a great place to start. But, as stated in other reviews, many of the examples are a bit weak. I would recommend also getting the Charlie Parker Omnibook, which is great sight-reading practice for any musician and provides over 50 solo transcriptions. You'll see that Bird actually does implement the concepts outlined in this book, and you'll get a feeling for how he structures a solo over more than two bars.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lines without the Audio, October 10, 2009
This review is from: Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines : Guitar Edt the Style of Charlie Parker (Paperback)
If you are expecting to actually 'hear' Charlie Parker lines off the enclosed CD, you will be disappointed. Only 1 of the 24 tracks presents lines. All the others are backing tracks -- nicely played, but not very instructive. After all, this music is best learned when it flows from your ear to your instrument, with the printed page serving only as a guide. You wont hear any more than a chintzy 12 bars of Birds' lines off the CD. All the rest of the lines are left to you to take off the printed page yourself.
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