Rent: Vocal Selections (Essential Musicals)
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Book Reviews of Rent: Vocal Selections (Essential Musicals)
Book Review: Its excellence of an accurate portrait of real life.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the most exciting music soundrack I have ewver heard. Its portrait of real life is extrodinary. It stresses the love we all stive to recieve.Book Review: Rent is the best musical ever!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Because Rent is the best musical ever, so of course the vocals selections of it are also the best!!!Book Review: Want your socks knocked off?
Summary: 5 Stars
Sheer Brilliance. You have to hear it and read it to understand.Book Review: generally good, although not complete
Summary: 4 Stars
The selections in this collection match the selections featured on the RENT - selections album. Unfortunately, this means that many of the best songs in the full score are cut out (including: Light my Candle, La Vie Boheme... I Should Tell You, etc.), because they involve sung dialogue rather than "liftable" songs (songs that work out of context). Another drawback is that in general, songs written for a rock band (featuring extensive guitar) do not transcribe well to solo piano (guitar chords are included in this book, though). With this in mind, however, there is still a lot of good things about this collection. Larson's great ballad-esque songs, like "I'll cover you," "Your eyes," "Without You," and "Seasons of Love" work very well as piano/vocal. Other, more rock-sounding songs such as "Rent," "Out tonight," and "What you own" are still doable. As written they may sound a little awkward, but people who have had experience playing rock piano may find that with a little fiddling with the written notes a decent version can be produced. Even if you don't have experience playing rock piano, if you have more experience playing other Broadway music you can still learn a lot from working with these songs and trying out different things. Other songs included are: "Take me or Leave me," "Another Day," "Halloween," and "Santa Fe." "Take me" didn't transcribe well (esp. the vocal line) due to the bluesy pitches of the song, but the main riff and the chords are accurate. "Another day" contains both the rock elements and the balladesque elements, but the rock elements do not require many changes."Halloween" transcribes faithfully and works well; "Santa Fe" is transcribed well, but since much of it is spoken it is also a little odd. Overall this book is well done. The songs are all faithful in spirit to the album, although at times a pitch is written differently from the orig. broadway cast recording. The song where this is most apparent is in "Seasons of Love" where it appears that the two soloists' lines were mostly improvised. Although I usually prefer for a song's accompaniment to reflect the actual full score, in the case of these songs such accompaniment is repetitive and adding the vocal line (which is actually a very standard practice for vocal selections) was very welcome. RENT has become a part of the modern musical theater canon, and so this book has become necessary for any Broadway-lover's sheet music collection.Book Review: Pretty good vocal arrangement of songs
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall -- I am pretty pleased with this selection of numbers from RENT, the best show to ever hit Broadway. I was a little bummed that only 12 numbers managed to make it's way to this book, especially because some of them work -- and some of them don't.
Rent - The song Rent doesn't really work at all. There isn't enough on piano to do, so it just, simply, doesn't work. This one is probobly the most dissapointing in the book.
One Song Glory - It was relatively empty on the OBC (the backgroung music, I mean) so if it soudns bare on piano, I still think it works.
Out Tonight - I actually, for a rock song, think this one transcribe's excellently. It definately sounds different than the OBC, but it's a lot of fun to sing. And all I need to do is bring the key down 2 1/2 steps, change a few of the words, and it's fun for even this guy to sing. One of my favorites in the book.
Another Day - I haven't worked on this one too much, but it sounds decent enough.
Santa Fe - Can't for the LIFE of me think as to why they put this in there. It doesn't work on piano. To me, it barely even works as a song -- but I was dissapointed that this was included. Too much speaking anyway.
I'll Cover You - Pretty enough song, and it works on piano -- but more importantly .. you can use the chords, gospel it up, and there you have I'll Cover You: Reprise.
Seasons of Love - This works perfectly. I like it better when you don't include the melody line in the playing, because then, if you sing it, it is more authentic. I love singing this piece.
Take Me or Leave Me - I think it works better, again, if you don't play the melody line -- but this is another one that I think sounds absolutely great.
Without You - Very repetitive, but that's the nature of the song. It's a nice song, but I can RARELY get to the end of it.
Halloween - Pretty song, and it works on piano. But, as piano/vocal books go, the melody line played in the piano doesn't work, unless you aren't singing.
What You Own - I never play the treble line, I simply play the bass line and add more full chords through the song, and it works very well.
Your Eyes - Pretty song, and it works on piano.
Highlights:
Seasons of Love
Take Me or Leave Me
What You Own
Out Tonight