The Richard Rodgers Collection: Special Commemorative Edition (P/V/G Composer Collection) [Paperback] Review

With 60+ tunes, this is a much better collection than the new IllustratedRodgers and Hammerstein, which has only 30 tunes and lots-o-pictures.
Theonly way to get more songs is to buy folios from individual shows or trackdown one of the out-of-print Rodgers and Hammerstein Songbooks from the'60s.

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Product Description:
Richard Rodgers' contributions to the musical theatre are extraordinary. His career spanned more than six decades, and his hits ranged from Hollywood to Broadway. He was the recipient of countless awards, including Pulitzers, Tonys, Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. This newly revised collection features an introduction by his daughters Mary and Linda Rodgers, a special section highlighting his 2002 centennial celebrations, great photos, articles and updated engravings of 75 of his most beloved songs, complete with listings of the years and shows which produced them. Includes: Bewitched * Climb Ev'ry Mountain * Getting to Know You * If I Loved You * Isn't It Romantic * It Might As Well Be Spring * The Lady Is a Tramp * My Funny Valentine * Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' * Some Enchanted Evening * The Sound of Music * The Surrey with the Fringe on Top * You'll Never Walk Alone * and many more.

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Contemporary Cabaret: 31 Songs in Today's Repertoire Sung by Major Artists (Vocal Collection) [Paperback] Review

I am a singer and voice coach and these songs are perfect for class setting or talented kids looking for "something different".Experienced cabaret performers will probably already be familiar with this collection, but for those "novices" and actors looking for audition material this is a great source.

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Product Description:
This unprecedented collection includes 31 songs heard in today's New York cabarets, and in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. These songs, many of which have never before appeared in print, have been performed and recorded by Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Amanda McBroom, Michael Feinstein, Andrea Marcovicci, Patti LuPone, Karen Akers and many others. Includes: Butter * Calling You * Flight * Home Is Where the Heart Is * A Horse with Wings * Living in the Shadows * Old Movies * Sara Lee * Sweet Dreams * Try with Me * When Do the Bells Ring for Me? * Without You * more.

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Jim Hall (2005) Review

This DVD was very interesting. I thought I was getting a concert - but what I got was a mini concert with instructional filler between each groove. Jim Hall is a gentle genius. He's very melodic and adds complicated arpeggios around each melodic line. This is what makes Mr. Hall one of a kind. He doesn't give us a lot of scales andmodes between each line - he doesn't slap you w/ a barrage of notes. You get the melody with a few thrills. His choice of notes is what makes him unique. Anyway, I thought I was getting a concert, but Mr. Hall stops between each groove and tells you what he did in each song - step by step. For example: I played a G minor here and a C7 there. I found using the remote to fast forward the filler helps. All I wanted to do was relax and hear Mr. Hall play. As you can see, I gave Mr. Hall five stars, anyway. His music is one of a kind.

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Product Description:
In several complete and live performances of his most notable compositions, Jim discusses and demonstrates the key components of performance and improvisation: picking and fingering techniques + creating chord melodies + providing accompaniment + analyzin

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The Art of Solo Fingerpicking : How to Play Alternating-Bass Fingerstyle Guitar Solos (book and CD) (Guitar Books) [Paperback] Review

This is Vol. 2 of Mark Hanson's "The Art of Travis-Style Picking," one of the best starter manuals for would-be fingerpickers, and it picks up where that excellent book/CD left off. Most of the compositions are by Hanson; if you love Fahey, Kottke, Ackerman, de Grassi, etc. and wouldn't mind learning how to play like that, this is your ticket. The two David Blakeley numbers are also quite fine, as are arrangements of Libby Cotten's "Freight Train" and John Renbourn's version of "White House Blues." I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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Product Description:
How to play alternating-bass fingerstyle guitar solos. Package includes 90-minute instructional tape, 14 solos, and measure-by-measure instruction. Teaches many styles.

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Rhythmic Perspectives [Paperback] Review

We have to challenge ourselves to work harder and get a good deal of advanced material under our belt if we are to progress as musicians and drummers.This book is riddled with challenges and with discipline and time the lesson found within will enhance your skill, mental faculty on the drumset, and ultimatly your enjoyment in playing music.Great book, very challenging, but certainly not impossible.I have become a master at playing at very slow tempos to learn the material.If you can play it perfectly slow, fast will be so much tighter!!

take it light

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Product Description:
Covers cutting-edge drum concepts and offers mind-expanding exercises to further develop the study of rhythmic illusions and multi-dimensional rhythm. These concepts are "mind rudiments" for a unique way of thinking about rhythmic structure, rhythmic composition, and higher rhythmic awareness.

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Symphony No. 9 (Dover Miniature Scores) [Paperback] Review

The score came in a timely manner and was what I expected it to be.

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Product Description:
The most popular of Dvorák's orchestral works, the "New World" Symphony combines the folk spirit of the composer's native Czechoslovakia with American Indian influences. This miniature score version, reproduced unabridged from the authoritative Simrock edition, is a convenient size for concert hall or classroom use and available at excellent value.

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The Big Book of Hymns (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook) [Paperback] Review

I just started playing piano again after a 20-year break, and this book was way too difficult for me.I used to play many hymns, but the music in this book is much more difficult, requiring you to play a great deal of sharps and flats.I used to play "Just As I Am," for example, with almost no sharps and flats, but this book requires you to play them continuously with this song.This could be a great book for experienced musicians, but if you're still getting up-to-speed -- like me -- you might want to try another hymn book.

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Product Description:
An invaluable collection of 125 favorite hymns, including: All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name * Battle Hymn of the Republic * Blessed Assurance * For the Beauty of the Earth * Holy, Holy, Holy * It Is Well with My Soul * Just as I Am * A Mighty Fortress Is Our God * The Old Rugged Cross * Onward Christian Soldiers * Rock of Ages * Sweet By and By * What a Friend We Have in Jesus * Wondrous Love * and more.

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The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin (Applause Books) [Paperback] Review

Jerome Kern was not one to compliment other composers. However, when he was asked to assess Irving Berlin's place in American music, Kern replied that Berlin WAS American music. Not too long ago, the A&E channel did two "Classroom" broadcasts about Berlin's life; and by a coincidence, several items concerning this prolific composer have recently come my way. I want to share one of them with you.
It is a wonderful book from publisher Alfred A. Knopf titled "The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin," edited by Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet (one of the composer's three daughters). Now, considering that this man wrote well over a thousand songs, that is quite a bit of material for a single volume. But this one measures roughly 11" by 12" and holds 530 pages, which hold three columns of text. In this way, we get the lyrics to 1,200 songs for which he wrote both words and the music (only a few early songs were set to words by others).
The organization is chronological and intelligently packaged. Unlike Rodgers, Kern and Gershwin, Berlin wrote for Tin Pan Alley as well as for the stage. Therefore the editors have grouped the lyrics by "Songs" that were not intended for a specific show or film and by songs that were. So for 1914, for example, you will get all the independent songs composed that year in one chapter and those written for "Watch Your Step" the same year in a separate chapter. Even more welcome are the lyrics to many songs that were never published! It makes fascinating reading to surmise why these had to wait until this book came along to see the light of day.
To make this book even more valuable, each song is given a little preface concerning copyright dates and other items of interest to the American musical historian. And you will love the full-page photographs that stand at the start of each chapter. There is also an introductory essay and a very useful chronology at the start of the book, while the index at the end can help you locate in the body of the book any song by title with no trouble. So while Berlin's lyrics might not be as clever as those of Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart or Ira Gershwin, many of them will bring back memories of howAmericans feltalmost from the start to the finish of the last century.
(Take note. Knopf also has available similar tomes for the lyrics of Porter, Hart, and I. Gershwin. Each one is a definite Grabbit.

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