Customer Reviews

Post-Bop Jazz Piano - The Complete Guide with CD!: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series

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As a jazz enthusiast, this book was something new that went beyond all other jazz teaching books that I have come across. It has given me a new outlook on the jazz of the 1950's. Left-hand voicings, two-hand voicings, scales, tonality, modality are just some of the main ideas that this book goes through. One thing that really caught my eye, is the in depth look at the impression Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett use in their music. The book is a great option for those looking to expand their jazz knowledge and incorporate their own style. The book moves quickly but provides the information that is important for those of us looking to play. It comes with a very handy CD which allows to hear what it's supposed to sound like. I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book along with Levine's The Jazz Piano Book and while my instructor and I work a lot from the Levine book, we've found our way back to this one, and it has helped my playing (and enthusiasm for the "work" part of learning jazz) immensely. I like how it just states the theory behind a concept and then shows you lots of different ways to do it. Some of the chords and inversions are very easy to remember and use later on in my own playing. All of a sudden, my dry, straight ahead, playing-the-notes-jazz is sounding fuller and "jazzy" and I couldn't be happier. The CD allows me to practice and work on things without my instructor and serves as a very useful companion to the book. When I get through with this one, I'm going to have a look at some of the other jazz piano guides from Hal Leonard, most definitely.

This book is one of my favorites . It goes direct to the point and show you the " tricks" of the greatest modern jazz pianists. Pentatonics , quartal voicings , licks , theory , harmony and beyond... All the tools you need to get the modern sound and incorporate to your playing. Highly recomended !! including classical pianists .

I own dozens of jazz piano books, and some are terrible, others are great. John Valerio has written similar books for Stride and Swing Piano, and Bop Piano. I do not like the Bop Piano book as much, perhaps because I am not as much a fan of bop. This book covers Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, and many others. Of course, you can only get a flavor of the style of each, as it might take 100s of pages to fully explore each of and their styles, as they have developed over time.
However, I must add, that this is really a bargain at the price that is listed and is worth 30 to 40 dollars. Fortunately or unfortunately jazz learning books are based on the number of pages and not the quality. This is a five-start jazz book. And, no, I have no connection with the author whatsoever.