Customer Reviews

Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk

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

 

 

If you're into playing songbooks for their piano value (that is, if you're a genuine pianist who loves Tori's music) this book is for you. Unlike all the previous versions, Tori actually made this one as closely resembling the actual album music as possible. It's more challenging than the others, but at the same time not intimidatingly so.
So if you're looking for a good Tori piano music book, this is the one to choose.

I loved Tori's album "Scarlet's Walk" and could not wait to get the book. Personally, I like to be able to play the songs as much like they sound on the album as possible, so I was happy with this book overall. I know she never arranges every song on the album for accompaniment. A few always have the melody built in to it. The songs that are arranged to sound like the album version are Amber Waves, A Sorta Fairytale, Wednesday, Strange, Carbon, Sweet Sangria, Your Cloud, Pancake, New York, Mrs. Jesus, Scarlet's Walk, Virginia and Gold Dust.
Then Crazy, Vegas, Taxi Ride, and Paradise all have the built in melody and obviously Wampum Prayer is just the vocal line. All in all the arrangements are very good but I was slightly disappointed with how simple Fairytale was, even though it's arranged to sound pretty much just like the album. I was still very happy with the book and definetly recommend it.

"Scarlet's Walk" is my favorite Tori Amos album to date, so when I stumbled across this book, I had to order it. The cover is nice (same as the album), and there's some nice photos/lyrics in the inside pages.

As for the transcriptions themselves, they're very very good. Let's be real, it's impossible to be 100% accurate, especially with an intricate player like Tori. But all the chords seem accurate, as do the vocal parts.

I've been playing since late 2003, so my sight reading is a bit shakey. However, I know my chords very well, so I can pick up any of these right away (just playing the chords at least). So don't worry if you're not ultra-experienced, because you can still get plenty out of here.

Songs like "Strange", "Crazy", and "Another Girl's Paradise" incorporate the vocal melody in the arrangement itself, and they're not extremely difficult to begin with (helped in part because they were written in three relatively easy key signatures).

Other songs like "Your Cloud" and "A Sorta Fairytale" do not, but it isn't extraordinary difficult to do so either if you know all your chords *and* can play inverted versions of those chords as well.

"Carbon" is probably the trickiest, with it's alternating 6/8 and 7/8 time signature, and many intricies. "I Can't See New York" is obviously lengthy. "Gold Dust" is pretty tough too; I haven't even tackled that one too much!

I also own "Boys For Pele", which is also quality, but this is the better of the two. "Scarlet's Walk" is, IMO, Tori's prettiest sounding album (lots of rich major 7ths and 9ths), so this is a great book to spruce up your repetoir a bit.

Hopefully, they're working on a "Beekeeper" song book as we speak!

I am a Toriphile, and have five or six of her music books. I have found that all of them, for ease of publishing and other things, are dumbed down a bit, which is irritating, but for the savvy pianist or computer downloader, you can figure it out. Scarlets walk is not unpleasant. Heavier piano tunes like "Wednesday," "Virginia," and "Gold Dust," are great, but also some of my favorite songs on the piano are not really piano-oriented, like "a sorta fairytale," which is mostly three chords throughout the piece. So be familiar with the album and which pieces you really like before you buy. Great for someone who knows all the words to the album, but for a strict piano composition, try "Under the Pink," or "Little Earthquakes."

I could listen to this album whenever I need to relax. It's one of those albums that you can listen to the entire thing & not skip through any songs. It doesn't have the "sing-ability" of some of her others (Under The Pink, etc...), but Tori is forever experimenting with new mediums & integrating them into her amazing fluid style. I keep this in my car & just enjoy the drive as this angel's voice lilts about me...