Customer Reviews

Tori Amos: Under The Pink

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Given the nature of Tori Amos's music (and slightly obsessive fans) one would think that Amsco would be interested in releasing the most accurate possible piano score to each of her recordings ... complete with vocal notation and extensive editor's notes! However, this is not always the case. Her sheet music books often provide over-simplified piano parts reduced to melody and the bass-line. Harmony vocals are nearly unheard of, and comments from the editor are virtually non-existant.

The biggest problem with many of her books is their follow-the-vocal approach to right hand notation, which typically ignores Tori's expressive playing in favor of a cut-n-paste job from the melody line along with sparse chords on the down-beats. This issue is somewhat avoided in Pink, on which Tori follows her own vocals much of the time already.

Some sections are slightly "dumbed down" from Tori's playing ("Yes, Anastasia" specifically), but the changes blend better and are much subtler here than in other books. Even the repetitive left hand parts of "Pretty Good Year" and "Icicle" are preserved nearly verbatim from the record. Bonus piano compositions "All The Girls Hate Her" and "Over It" are stunningly well-done.

However, off-setting the faithful transcriptions in this book are a few key transgressions. Foremost is the neutering of "Cornflake Girl," presented here without any of its awe-inspiring solos and with too much right-hand-play-a-long. Luckily, a brief internet search will lead you to several quality transcriptions of this gem. Equally as offensive is the trimming of the classical-style openings of both "Icicle" and "Yes, Anastasia," but the rest of each song is faithful.

Pink is a challenging album to play, and includes a few remarkable passages ("Cloud On My Tongue"), key signatures (Cb on most of "Icicle"), and ever-shifting time-signatures ("God" ... yikes). Vocals are noted with precision -- this album is largely lacking in backing vocals. The exception is "Space Dog," which *does* include backgrounds in its bridge/outro.

For the guitarists among you (of which I am one), Under The Pink offers sensible chord translations, and it includs the use of capos where chords would otherwise be painful to play. The book only ever suggests capoing up to the first fret, but you may find better options for some tunes on your own (try 6th for "Pretty Good Year").

Aside from "Cornflake Girl" every song in this book is presented in a playable *and* mostly accurate fashion. Not for the beginning pianist, but unless it comes back into print it will soon be hard to find!

This is a great and fun book for those of you who desire to play the basic notes; however, since Tori is so talented, it is somewhat toned down (at no fault of the editors). Its a fun book - I love the beginning with the pictures of Tori and the ones she drew, as well as the discography of even the hard to find singles. Aspiring serious Tori collectors will find this useful. Songs like Cornflake Girl and Yes, Anastasia are toned down a lot, but thats b/c she is just too good to transcribe efectively. Pretty Good Year is fun to play - it's pretty easy. Great book for those who want to play the basic notes, and a lot of fun :)

While I must agree that certain songs are lacking the best parts of them,overall,this book is my favorite of all the sheet music books. The beginning of the book contains things Tori says about each song,and a little picture that she drew corresponding with the "girl". As mentioned before,certain parts of the songs are left out. For instance,the best part of Cornflake Girl isn't there,and the beautiful Icicle beginning is missing also. But for the most part everything sounds great,and this book is a MUST HAVE for any fan,simply because of the beginning of the book.

I have been playing the piano for almost a decade and I find "Under the Pink" a challenging book. However, I am new to the music of Tori Amos and I have noticed tricky key signatures followed by many accidentals in her other book transcriptions. Rhythms are often complex but should be dampered if you are familiar with the original recording by Tori. "Pretty Good Year" is the only piece I can play in its entirety. This song alone is worth the price of the book. Other reviews of this book are correct. Some songs follow the vocal line in the right hand whereas some use the piano harmonies. Notable segments are removed from "Cornflake Girl," "Icicle," and "Yes, Anastasia" but you do receive two piano instrumental bee-sides, which is a treat.

Personally, "Under the Pink" is my favorite studio album from Tori Amos. The piano is presented in a more dignified and classical manner than her other albums, which makes these transcriptions open to potential disappointment from fans who excel in piano and expect exact transcriptions.

I recommend this book for any pianist. To a beginner, you can simplify the transcriptions easily. Intermediate players should be able to play the music as written. Advanced players can probably ad lib to what is presented.

Generally speaking, this book will be good for most fans of Tori who happen to also be reasonably competent on the piano. That said, these are not exactly what she plays (a bit easier, right hand tends to follow the melody), though they are in the correct key signatures. Advanced pianists who read music and have poor ears will likely be frustrated by the book because of the transcriptions, while advanced pianists with good ears likely can play a more accurate version of the songs than the transcriptions in the first place (this was my situation). Also, if you're a beginning pianist (<2 years), the difficult key sigs will likely be hard for you. Still, I'm sure the book fits a nice broad swath of Toriphiles who worship the ground she walks on, so I give it 4 stars.

fun for people who want to just be able to sit down and play it, doesn't have the neat piano solos in the beginning of Icicle and the the middle of Yes, Anastasia, some difficult key signatures

I purchsed this book a few years ago, and the music is too simplified, especially on her hit songs. If you really love to play, the book is worth it for the instrumental pieces, in which the music is more beautiful anyway. But for the most part it is horribly transcribed.

I got this book for a preasent amd tryed to play all the songs. I havent played for a long time and can figur out most music but some things ae just strange. Cornflake Girl's rythm was way of in beging it was straight 8ths from the what i thinkquart 16th 16th doted quarter. It also includes all the girls hate her and over it which are easy and fun.

I'm not good at this so I'll just say it was oh-so-good! A fun and interesting book.