Customer Reviews

Tori Amos Little Earthquakes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I sympathise with the reviewer who reported the faulty binding. Mine fell apart too... I am a trained pianist and like others, I was disappointed somewhat that the arrangements are never 100% faithful to Tori's versions, a trend obvious in all the Tori albums. This is especially puzzling when often the excised parts are NOT that technically diffcult. But for people with the skill and a good ear, it is possible to improvise your own corrections to make the pieces more faithful - change octaves, maintain accompaniment themes like 'Precious Thing's' famous opening past the intro, as this music *doesn't* do. And what is this thing that publishers *love* to do where they write the melody line into the accompaniment?! It doesn't *exist* in the accompaniment, you *sing* it. This barbaric heresy on performance practice is a sad fact of music publishing, it seems. But overall, it provides good song foundation....but experienced players must be prepared to work around some parts.

This is a GREAT book for Tori fans who desire to play her beautiful songs in the basic forms; however, it simply cannot transcribe what Tori actually plays, so it is somewhat toned down. This is at no fault of the editors; Tori is simply too talented. :) It is a great way to play the songs however, and I highly recommend it for Tori fans. ALSO - I think Upside Down is worth it alone, as well as Mother, Winter, and Leather. My only complaint is that they cut Mother short... I wanted to play the gorgeous part when she just sings slowly "Oooh ooh, mother...leave the light on..." and so on, but that really isn't on there. BUT!!! I love the book and I think its well worth it. (to address the very first post, some of my pages have started to come out, but I've sort of abused it over the 2 years I've had it). Great book.

Is there a reason why the don't make spiral bound songbooks? I know it doesnt look as nice. But, it seems it would function better that way.

While the book itself had merits in terms of its song content, I have to say that it was an utter waste in terms of its price, in that entire songs began falling out of the book. I lost all of Winter, Precious Things, and Silent All These Years within two weeks of buying it. I've had pages fall out of sheet music books before, but this was absolutely ridiculous. I can't even review whether or not the songs contained were well-transcribed or playable, simply because the book didn't remain intact long enough for me to learn any of the songs. I haven't had this problem with any of her other books, and maybe I just had a defective copy, but I was truly apalled at the low quality of the book's printing.

Well, my piano skill is nowhere as good as Tori's but this is an excellent dictation of the songs. Granted (as a previous review stated) some of the improvs are not included...but how could they be? That's what improvs are: spur of the moment!! :) heheh at least with the books you can have a little help in improvizing on your own!! :)

<Songs in the book> All tracks from Little Earthquakes, plus Upside Down and Thoughts (two HEAVENLY bsides)

This is a must have for all who enjoy playing music. Because Tori's music is so fascinating and intense, this book is slightly understated. It does fade in areas where Tori would be coming in or going out strong. Nonetheless, it deserves 5 stars for the beauty of the MUSIC.

There are some really good transcriptions in here of her songs, but some of the arrangements are lacking. For example, her improvised intro to "Mother" is missing, and for some of the songs, instead of showing the actual ending, it just gives you four to eight bars to "repeat and fade". So, if you want to play these songs like Tori, this isn't the best place to look, but if you want some nice transcriptions, and can improvise based on chord symbols, this is the book for you.

I think this piano book is as well transcribed as Boys for Pele. I love the music for Winter, Silent All These Years and Leather. Hope the other books are as good as this.

If you like Tori and like to play piano, this book is for you! Some of the songs are pretty hard, but if you really get into them, they will start to dominate your world. Most of the songs are true to the cd versions, with some changes because most of us can't play like Tori. However, you can hear the song you know and love when you play it. Playing the songs helped me understand them on a deeper level. Definitely fun!

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR A PIANIST. THE MUSIC IS DIFFICULT TO PLAY, BUT IS GENERALLY TRUE TO THE ORIGINALS. I RECOMMEND IT IF YOU'RE A GOOD PIANO PLAYER AND A HARD CORE TORI FAN.