Customer Reviews

100 Ultimate Blues Riffs for Piano/Keyboards (Book and CD)

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

 

 

It has been somewhat difficult for the intermediate/advanced piano player to find a book of riffs and melodic ideas to add to their blues repetoire. This book, "100 Ultimate Riffs" is just what you're looking for..and it delivers what it's name implies. "100 Ultimate Riffs" provides a good mixture of chords and individual note runs that you would expect from such a book. It also provides riffs in different keys, wih a variety of rhythms.

NOTE: The riffs may be too daunting for the beginner, but anyone from early intermediate onwards will find useful and fun blues riffs in this book.

This is not a "how to" book, nor is it a compliation of blues "standards". This book does not provide theory or concept on progressions, turnarounds, etc....it is what it's name implies, a riffs book.

There are an absurd amount of Blues Piano books out there, most of which suck, and don't actually teach you how to play, or teach you only by sight reading where your hands and ears don't know the blues sound well enough. There are three exceptions though, and the three wonderful blues piano books that should be mandatory for anyone looking to learn and improve, be they beginner or advanced intermediate, are:

1. Blues Piano -- Mark Harrison
2. Improvising Blues -- Tim Richards
3. 100 Ultimate Blues Riffs for Piano/Keyboards -- Andrew Gordon.

The first two out of the above mentioned three really take the time to give you a step by step method for understanding all of the blues genre, and how to develop both hands playing it, the scales, chordal theory, etc, along with dozens of great riffs. This book doesn't do that; it is, like other people have mentioned, a strict runs/licks book. However, with the examples chosen, you couldn't ask for more.

The riffs in this book are excellent; a lot of books on the blues, and people playing the blues, use some really cheesy riffs that sound very uncreative, uninspiring, and far too white. This book really hammers in tons of great sounding, truly bluesy riffs. It covers everything from funk, gospel, jazz, boogie woogie, n. orleans, and rock n' roll type of blues, and the way he transcribes the licks note for note really allows the player (with lots of practice!) to get a nice Ray Charles sound...aka: sounding natural, musical, and unforced.

I also like the fact that they aren't all in one key; I find that if a book uses only C or G then that leaves the door open to not practicing in other keys. This book forces you to learn different riffs in all kinds of different keys, and is one of the biggest reasons I was finally able to overcome my hesitancy with being able to transpose very common licks and runs into some of the harder keys to play that have more sharps/flats.

This book is great for both beginners through advanced intermediate...an invaluable resource to finally learn the riffs we've all heard thousands of times yet can't figure out ourselves. (The CD that comes with the book is great...played nice and slowly so you don't feel rushed, you can very clearly hear what's being played, and they are note for note transcriptions of the sheet music examples in the book).

For someone coming from playing a different style (classification ) of music this book is a must have.You can use it constantly as a reference tool.It could be useful to a beginner if they have the time and energy to spend with it but, would be more useful to the intermediate player. I'd listened to a lot of blues thinking that I would pick up the style from c.d's (Jimmy Yancy,Ray Charles,Vann Walls,Jay McShann Meade Lux Lewis etc ).I did pick up a lot but was left feeling I was missing a lot,and that's where thhe 100 Ultimate Blues Riffs came to my help.My reading is fairly good but I think that with blues a c.d is a must so that you can get more of a "feel " for the music.At first,I thought playing blues was very simple and that the music itself was very simple.100 Ultimate Blues Riffs has helped me understand how to play and how to listen to Blues;and how to appreciate the music.

I am puzzled by the positive reviews of this book. As a blues player and teacher I am always searching for new artists and books about the blues and this book does not deliver. The "riffs" are played on a cheezy keyboard - not a real piano and are sequenced and quantized rendering them lifeless and useless. Playing these "riffs" will make you a better piano player, but will not help you learn the blues. Real blues are about groove and soul and feel not just playing a sequence of "riffs" - the vast majority of which would never be played by a real bluesman. Do not waste your money.

Had I noticed that this was by Andrew D. Gordon, I probably would not have bought it, based on his rhythm piano book, which I have reviewed and which was mediocre.

This book is far better. There are good licks in here that give insight into many techniques of blues piano from several different genres. They are not for beginners, but are not insanely difficult, either. Still, getting the tougher ones up to speed will take time for pianists who are not already technically accomplished.

Now that I've seen that this author can write a good piano book, I'm tempted to dock his other book one star.

This book would make a good companion to "Improvising Blues Piano" by Tim Richards, and everyone will find at least half of the 100 riffs to be very useful.

I recommend it!

There are definitely 100 blues riffs but I was surprised how non-traditional some of the them sounded. I'm a self taught blues player, and I've never bothered to delve deeply into the classic, traditional blues riffs so familiar on the piano (you know them when you hear them). I've learned a few but none of the more complex ones. I bought this book thinking I'd be exposed to 'those' licks. Some are definitely there. But some are just blues melodies, no more than just simple meaningful runs of the blues scale. I can already do that. And yes, the samples are lifeless but I think that helps to clearly hear what the written page has. The life and soul can be provided by us.

What this book has shown me is the coordination of a simple bassline with a melody or chord progression. I've never been a good left-hand bass player.

I don't think it's meant to teach the blues. It definitely didn't meet my expectations -- and I'll stress they were my own -- but it is a good reference if your new to the blues.

Very comprehensive. Very challenging. I really get a kick out of this book. I'm half way done, and I feel like I've learned a lot. A real wide variety of styles from straight on blues to jazz to funk to pop.

If you are a late intermediate to advanced piano player who wants a great 'hands-on' blues book, this is the one for you. The riffs are awesome, stuff you would hear played by an accomplished blues piano player. The accompanying CD is essential, as it allows the player to hear the way the music should really sound. You can also browse the CD and find a riff you like and concentrate on learning that one. This is a great book which I like more than his other 'riffs' books.

This book is a very good book on showing you bits and pieces of riffs/licks from blues, rock, gospel, R & B, and boogie woogie that will help enhance your playing. You can incorporate these licks in a variety of music. For example, I am incorporating these licks into my jazz and blues piano playing.

Some of the licks however, are not that good but for the most part they are very good. This is not a book that teaches you how to play the blues but gives you bass lines, 12 bar blues form and 2 pieces at the end of the book that show you how to combine the riffs to make your own songs.

A very good resource ranging from the intermediate to the advanced and it will help your playing sound better.

I am finding this book/cd combo invaluable. Although a bit challenging, it makes learning to play the blues accessible and the riffs provide a great short-term goal, which keeps me progressing. It is exactly what I have been looking for and is as good as private study because of the CD. Yay, Andrew Gordon. Thanks!