Improvising Blues Piano

Improvising Blues Piano

Improvising Blues Piano
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Book Summary Information

Brand: Schott
Composer: Tim Richards
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-12-01
ISBN: 0946535973
Number of pages: 262
Publisher: Schott
Product features:
  • Published by Schott 262 Pages
  • Book/CD Pack by Tim Richards
  • Composer: Tim Richards

Book Reviews of Improvising Blues Piano

Book Review: This is much more than how to play the blues...
Summary: 5 Stars

..it's how to play the piano, period.

I can't tell you how gratifying this book is. I played piano as a kid and adolescent, and was quite good at memorizing the notes and regurgitating them, but I never understood what I was doing, and that lack of understanding is what ultimately impeded my growth. How I wish I'd had this book!!

I bought this book in September, and now it's June and I'm still working on the first chapter. Not that it's hard, but it's thorough. You're not just learning to play notes on a page, but you are learning how to understand and use those notes. Richards has great musical taste and shows you deceptively simple but really fun songs which you then learn to improvise upon. Now that I understand each of the songs in the first chapter (by understand, I mean, I can tell you note for note what is happening as far as chord changes, minor notes, etc.), I am mixing and matching top and bottom hands from each of the songs, transposing the songs into the 4 keys taught in the first chapter, and best of all, improvising! My husband and I can finally jam!! Hooray!!!!

Each chapter builds upon the last. In the first chapter I have learned the basic blues progression, how to transpose among 4 keys, minor thirds and fifths, some great bottom hand accompaniments, and good ideas as to how to resolve phrases and songs. There is an endless amount of learning to be gotten from this book. Who needs a live instructor for $100/hour when you have Tim Richards for years for $25??

If you are already comfortable with the basic music theory that underlies the blues, and already pretty adept at playing the piano, this might be too easy. I also bought Hal Leonard's Blues Piano, which assumes that you already have the aforementioned skills. It was too hard for me, however, I think I'll graduate to that book in a couple years. My husband, who is great at the blues guitar, is using it to find some cool phrases he can use in his improvisation.

Bottom line: Best purchase I've ever made, in terms of happiness per dollar, ever. period.

Summary of Improvising Blues Piano

The basic principles of blues piano explained for the intermediate-level pianist in an easy-to-grasp fashion.

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