Oscar Peterson Note for Note [Spiral-bound]

Oscar Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

This fabulous book/CD pack features transcriptions of 18 piano solos by the legendary Oscar Peterson, taken directly from the original recordings. The solos are divided into two groups: eight Oscar Peterson Classic Originals (Chicago Blues * Hymn to Freedom * Nightingale * Night Time * and more) and ten selections in Oscar Peterson Plays the Blues (Blues Etude * Greasy Blues * Oscar's Boogie * R.B. Blues * Ron's Blues * and more). Includes an intro by the editor complete with performance notes, a welcome letter from Oscar Peterson, and great photos, with Oscar's captions, throughout. The CD contains performances of each transcription played by gifted jazz pianist Miles Black.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The legendary pianist Oscar Peterson (1925) is generally admired for his dazzling technique. Peterson studied with the Hungarian pianist Paul de Marky. In addition he was influenced by great jazz pianists like Thomas 'Fats' Waller and Art Tatum. In the late 1940s he joined Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic. With this group of amazing jazz musicians (e.g. Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and Dizzy Gillespie) he would travel all over the world.

In the 1950s Peterson founded the very first edition of his own trio, featuring Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. Peterson has won many awards throughout his career. In 1950 he was voted best Jazz pianist by the readers of Down Beat, an award he would receive for 12 years. He has received seven Grammies and eleven Grammy nominations. In his almost 50-year career Oscar Peterson has made an amazing number of records with the biggest names in jazz.

Product Details

Sample Music Notation [20kb PDF]

• Spiral-bound: 265 pages
• Publisher: PG Music Inc. (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0968512003
• ISBN-13: 978-0968512005
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, challenging and rewarding, March 4, 2004

By 

Eran Levy (Jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oscar Peterson Note for Note (Spiral-bound)

I bought this book since Peterson is my favorite jazz pianist, and I'm playing the piano as a small hobby. And - I'm pleased with the book!

The transcriptions, as you might expect, are from a particular recording - 2 performances of the same jazz piece by the same artist will usually sound different... And indeed I have a few CDs in which some of the pieces from the book are performed with different improvisations and in different rhythm. But I did get some of the recordings the book refers to, and indeed the transcriptions are accurate. Note-for-note, as declared in the book. At least for the right hand...
In any case, most of the pieces as they are in the book sound great and cool (if you manage to play them!). Great moves, passages and improvisation techniques that give you a good taste of the musical world of one of the best jazz pianist ever.

I found myself using the passages and the ideas from the book in other jazz pieces, such as those from the Real Books. So performing the pieces as they are isn't the only reward you'll get - it will also improve your improvisation capability and technique in general.

I recommend studying at least a basic jazz theory before trying play from this book, so that you can understand the scales used for improvisations, the progressions and the left hand work done in the book. Besides, some of the pieces don't contain a left hand transcription. But since the technique for the left hand used by Peterson and in the book (tensions and voice spreading, for example) is covered by most theory books, you can easily figure it out by yourself.
There are no transcriptions for the bass line. But chords are written all the way (not all are 100% accurate actually), which makes it easy to play with a bass/guitar player.

As to the required level of playing - all the pieces in the book are hard to very hard to perform. Oscar Peterson was a great virtuous. You'd better work on your technique if you'd like to master them! Those who come from a classical music background will probably find it easier to read and play such scores.
There are no fingering specified, so it might be better for you to write down the fingering for the hard passages and such.

The accompanying CD is pretty helpful. It contains the piano parts performed exactly as they are written in the book, in the left channel (not performed by Peterson, of course. And played in MIDI I believe. Still, pretty nice), and bass and drum lines for some of the pieces in the right channel - useful if you'd like to play along with the bass/drums.

To conclude, I highly recommend this book for any jazz pianist (with a good enough technique!) or a classical pianist who wishes to try a good jazz

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful transcriptions..., January 24, 2005

By 

Jesse Bye (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oscar Peterson Note for Note (Spiral-bound)

A little background info: I am a clasically trained pianist, and have played the piano for about 9 years. This book is an excellent tool for learning jazz... the transcriptions are extremely good, even though on the blues section there is no left hand transcription; all the songs are very challenging--even though I am in the advanced level of piano, I cannot play these solos very well by sight reading them. It would take a lot of practice to get these down well. Primarily I think this book is good for anyone who would like to learn Oscar Peterson's style of soloing and would like to get better at jazz soloing. The accomanying CD is great, even though it wasn't played on a real piano (it was played on a digital piano, synthesized, and recorded with the drums and bass on a computer). I really enjoy this book, and recommend it to anyone interested in jazz piano that has advanced enough skills to play it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oscar Peterson, January 13, 2000

By 

Oliver (wyoming, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oscar Peterson Note for Note (Spiral-bound)

THis book is a collection of songs that Oscar Peterson approved himself. These transcriptions of classic songs such as "Hymn to Freedom" and "Oscar's boogie" are in it however these transcriptions are for real. They are seriously hard to play because they literally are note for note. Only if you are a seriously good pianist should you get this book. The master of jazz has it hardcore here, no simple stuff. Its the real stuff. On the up side, its magnificent.