Modern Jazz Piano: A Study In Harmony And Improvisation [Paperback]

Brian Waite (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1992

Based on the authorÂ’s experience in teaching in jazz workshop, explains the principles of this art form. Useful for teachers wishing to include jazz in the music curriculum.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (July 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0711908419
• ISBN-13: 978-0711908413
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #644,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Jazz piano available, March 16, 2000

By 

Robert D. Glover Jr. "robert-g-near-nyc" (Linden, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Jazz Piano: A Study In Harmony And Improvisation (Paperback)

This book completely changed my understanding and level of jazz piano playing. It is short and to the point, yet carefully written and complete. I like the fact that the author is a trained engineer. As a computer programmer I can identify with the way the book is layed out very logically with the assumption that the reader is intelligent, interested, and motivated. I read the entire book while on trains going to and from work. I think it would have been a distraction to have read it while at a piano. The chord pattern excercises at the end of the book are excellent; I am methododically going through all of them using a PC based sequencer connected via midi to an electronic keyboard. If you only buy one book on jazz piano, I think it should be this one. The next book to read after this one, in my opinion is "All about Chords". I am almost finished reading it; I could never have handled it if I hadn't read "Modern Jazz Piano" first. The two books together are magnificently complete. I have a quite a library of jazz piano and jazz books; most of them are padded and not of much use. "Modern Jazz Piano" is by contrast a classic that every jazz pianist should have. I lost many years because I was brain-washed into believing the John Mehegan jazz system as taught at Julliard was the only way to learn jazz. I now believe the Julliard system is hopelessly complicated and not effective. The traditional harmony systems used in "Modern Jazz Piano" are the best and also the most popular. It is not something esoteric that only propeller heads know about. Buy it and hold onto it. Even if it sits on your bookshelf for years, there will come a day when it will speak eloquently to you and change your level of playing and understanding.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have Book For Jazz Piano Theory, January 3, 1999

By 

Herbert (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Jazz Piano: A Study In Harmony And Improvisation (Paperback)

This book could possibly be the MOST important jazz theory book you will ever buy. Its greatest strength is the organization and easy-to-follow instruction on a topic which can obviously get quite complicated. Waite does away with a lot of bogged-down sight reading and overly-complicated notation, and he presents the subject with a seriousness of purpose and amazing clarity. The book is loaded with all kinds of things found in other jazz piano books, making this one the one to get if you are starting out. I am no piano guru, but this book appears simply unbelievable in scope of coverage and also displays considerable depth. Some topics include: intervals, basic music notation, building chords, building scales, major/minor/diminished scale harmony, polychordism (although I think there's easier ways to approach this than his way), voicings (left hand and both hands), modal jazz and sus4 chords, flatted fifth substitutions, chord progressions (lots on this), passing/ornamental/chordal notes, bass lines, turnarounds, playing styles, chord/scale relationships, improvisation advice, and a huge appendix full of chord progressions to practice. Although no book is exhaustive, this is the best book I have seen that summarizes a great deal of jazz theory for the piano.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent as a reference, but not a learn-and-play book, May 17, 2002

By 

"christopher_nguyen" (Redwood Shores, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Jazz Piano: A Study In Harmony And Improvisation (Paperback)

I feel a bit bad not rating this book a 5 standing on its own, but for my personal purpose, which is how-to/learn-and-play jazz books, this book serves only as an excellent theory coverage/reference. In other words, I read it lying in bed at night, but practice at the piano with some other book.

This distinction may be helpful to those of you trying to locate a good how-to-play book (refer, e.g., to Amadie's or Ferrara's for this purpose)

That said, Brian Waite's engineering training shows clearly through in this (small) compendium of chord fundamentals, harmony, voicing, and improvisation. It has the most systematic presentation I have ever seen in a jazz book. You will find a full enumeration of the scales and modes with all the notes and keys listed. You'll find 6 different typical sections of chord patterns that make up the 32-bar standards, that can be combined in various ways. Waite tells you how to tell that Cm6 in a song copy should have been written Am7(b5) in its proper root. Etc. It is well organized with lots of tables, and after a few scans, I understand the order enough to get to just the section I want. Like a dictionary, of sorts.

This is one reference I definitely keep within reach at the piano to find/confirm, in a minute, information that may be difficult or extremely tedious to look up elsewhere.