Q. I was wondering if the real book volume 1 is good for piano, like does it offer base cleft and is it really worth the price? Also which version is best there are so many including base cleft version, C, Eb, and such, but which is best for piano.
A. Fake books are fake books. For piano you would need "C" edition, you're not going to get the bass clef because it is a fake book. You get the melody and chord changes for the music. You've got to "fake" your way through an arrangement. The Real Books (both the original ones and the Hal Leonard ones) are heavily jazz oriented.
"A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets intended to help a performer quickly learn new songs. Each song in a fake book contains the melody line, basic chords, and lyrics - the minimal information needed by a musician to make an impromptu arrangement of a song, or "fake it."
The fake book is a central part of the culture of playing music in public, particularly in jazz, where improvisation is especially valued.
Fake books are not intended for novices: the reader must follow and interpret the scant notation, and is expected to have thorough familiarity with chords and sheet music. However, fake books can be an avenue to playing songs quickly; a few chords and a one-note melody line can allow even an amateur to play a passable version of any song with relative ease."
... If you're not good at improvising on the fly, it's not going to satisfy.
What's the best way to learn to play an instrument?
Q. I'm a pretty good vocalist and I just got accepted to the #1 Jazz Choir in the Northwest, but I'm not the best sight reader (of music). I figure I should learn to play an instrument so I can polish my music reading abilities but I don't know where to begin. Help would be much obliged.
A. Can you actually "read" music? If you can and understand all of the theory, then my suggestion is to pick an instrument (most vocalists go with piano -- I like guitar), buy one and start playing. Get a book and learn fingering and chord progressions. Learn to listen. Learn a few simple songs and then reach out and find a friend or two who also play and get with them. You'lll be amazed at what you learn from them and what you can teach them.
I like to keep one of my guitars by my easy chair so that I can just pick it up and start picking. Without even thinking about it, I can easily knock out a couple hours a day of practice.
Listen to a lot of different kinds of music and see if you can play along or imitate what you're hearing.
I like to "borrow" some of the hymnals from church, take them home and transpose the music to guitar.
what is a good book/dvd to learn jazz piano?
Q. I can play the Entertainer by Joplin, and I can construct chords and figure out inversions, but I'm a poor sight reader. I familiar with some theory and I've played the guitar for about 7 years, but chording and playing a melody at thesame time is so much different. For thisreason I feel that the piano is the master of all instruments, and I want to learn how to compose also. I just need a good starting point.
A. check out the jazz Piano book by ray santisi--from berklee
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Title : Is the real book volume 1 by Hal good for piano? Does it offer base cleft? Which version is best?
Description : Q. I was wondering if the real book volume 1 is good for piano, like does it offer base cleft and is it really worth the price? Also which ...