Ultimate Sing-Along Female Voice Broadway Divas (Book & CD) (Ultimate Vocal Sing-Along) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I buy a lot of music books with accompaniment CD's because I like to be able to get to know a piece very well before I perform it. I bought this book hoping to learn a few new show tunes, but I was terribly disappointed. It's great if all you want to do is sing karaoke, but it's not good for learning a piece for a performance. There is no piano music, just the lead line, so you can't take the book to your accompanist and have him or her play it for you. Even more problematic is that the accompaniment (music) itself is just awful. If you're used to karaoke, you might be ok with this, but I found the accompaniment to be cheesy. Because I can't listen to the accompaniment (it's so annoying) and because the book doesn't contain the piano accompaniment, I don't think I'm going to use this at all. I was extremely disappointed.

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Product Description:
Songbook & Sound Choice Karaoke CD With TNT (ToneNTempo Changer)Alfred s Ultimate Sing-Along books give you everything you need to sing with your favorite songs. Each songbook has the lyrics, music notation, and chords to eight great songs, with lyric-only pages included.There are two versions of every song on the CD: a full-performance track with an amazing sound-alike recording and a professional accompaniment track so you can sing along. When you use the CD in your MAC or Windows-based computer, the TNT (ToneNTempo) Changer lets you easily change the key and tempo to individualize the playback for just your voice and style.Contents:And All That Jazz, (Chicago)Anything Goes,(Anything Goes)Aquarius,(Hair)Dancing Queen,(Mamma Mia!)Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend,(Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) How Could I Ever Know, (The Secret Garden)Send in the Clowns,(A Little Night Music)Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets, (Damn Yankees)

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Cabaret (Vocal Score) Review

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(More customer reviews)The reviews by Mr. Church and Hailey Haven are not about this item (the Full Vocal Score), but about the Vocal Selections (as is stated). I agree completely with Mr. Church that the Vocal Selections from the film are pourly cut.

The Full Vocal Score however contains ALL the music from the stage show (original version, not the Sam Mendes revival in which three songs from the film were added), including Playouts, Changes of Scene, Entr'acte, Curtain calls and Exit music. Also it gives you the instrumentation of different musical layers. (Don't bother to "Look Inside TM" to see what I mean: this link brings you to the Vocal Selections which as I already pointed out is a completely different item). Furthermore: spiral bound, so it stays open on your piano!

Nevertheless there are two negative notes:
- only songs from the show (not Mein Herr, Maybe this time, Money-money)
- no chord symbols

If you only look for the songs (and ALL the songs with chords, both show ànd film) I'd recommend "The Complete Cabaret Collection - Author's edition". But then you miss all incidental music and notes about instrumentation.

So I (preparing and musically arranging a production of the whole show) settled for this solution: the Full Vocal Score with most of the music (204 pages of sheet music and only 4 pages of accompanying text!) and photocopying of the songs that are not in the original show (but in the film). Too bad there's no "Definitive Cabaret Collection" to suit every man's wishes...

Update June 2008: my show has been played 5 times to great succes and good reviews, especially praising the orchestra. This orchestra could only have played so good thanks to the arrangements, for which I have made thorough use of the Full Vocal Score I bought in November 2007. This item has helped me a lot!

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Product Description:
Movie selections include: Willkommen
* Mein Herr
* Two Ladies
* Maybe This Time
* Money, Money
* Married
* If You Could See Her
* Tomorrow Belongs to Me
* Cabaret.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Kurt Weill Songs -- A Centennial Anthology Review

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(More customer reviews)This Anthology is a due tribute to the great songwriter, German-born Kurt Weill. His compositions include hits like Mack the Knife, September Song and Alabama Song - all of them obviously included in the anthology (but you have to buy both volumes!). The two parts of the anthology have each and every song by Weill ever published separately (ie. not as a part of a full musical score). What's more, the sheet music is an exact reprint of the original, which ensures that no alterations have been done - they are faithful to the smallest degree. Most are piano+voice scores, but some also include guitar chords. Some songs are in German, some in French and some in English. "Mack the Knife" both in the original Dreigroschen Opera German version and in the English one.
The books are quite thick (might fall down from a sheet music stand), but well-bound and not very likely to break or fall apart. Some biographical/background info is also included in both volumes, as well as a few black-and-white photographs.
All in all, the anthology is a small treasure and you'd be hard-pressed to find all the individual songs in any bookshop or any other edition. So if you love Kurt Weill's music (and can read scores), you'll certainly love this collection.

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Product Description:
This shrink-wrapped set contains volumes 1 and 2.

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Goldrich and Heisler - Songbook, Volume 1 (P/V/G Composer Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)I love this music.This new team of Goldrich & Heisler is just wonderful.Continuing in the Kander & Ebb tradition of good vocal writing, interesting music, acting skills required, and often hilarious lyrics, these songs are a joy to sing.I am so glad that they are being published.My only complaint is that I had to have the book rebound within one week - the first time I opened it enough to be able to play the songs on the piano (in other words, broke the spine), pages fell out!!But, take it to your local copy store, have the covers laminated and have the book spiral bound - you'll never have to worry about the spine again and the music will continue to inspire you!

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Product Description:
Maury Yeston calls this duo "the most gifted new writing team of their musical theatre generation." This songbook features 32 of their creations, including: Fifteen Pounds * Hola, Lola! * Make Your Own Party * Music of Your Life * Out of Love * Taylor, the Latte Boy * and more.

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Grateful - The Songs of John Bucchino (P/V/G Composer Collection) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm sorry to say, I ordered this songbook before visiting the composer's Website, expressly to get my hands on the sheet music for "Grateful" in time for a Thanksgiving church service.I haven't checked the other songs, but it is inaccurate to say that the piano accompaniment as written in this book is exactly as it is on the CD.Fortunately, the composer offers transposed versions, including the key on the CD, for $5 on his Website.That's one thing to be Grateful for.I give the book 5 stars since it is still great music, whatever the key, but best to take a drive by your local music store and look at the book first before buying, or just buy the songs you want in the keys you want from Mr. Bucchino's Website.

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Product Description:
Rex Reed comments, "If Tennessee Williams was alive and writing tunes he'd be John Bucchino," and the Los Angeles Times says Bucchino provides "gentle, humorous, sad and sardonic insights into modern life." One of the best kept secrets of the New York cabaret scene, acclaimed songwriter John Bucchino makes his debut in a "literate collection of songs for grown-ups." This folio matches his 16-song CD featuring versions of his songs sung by acclaimed artists such as Michael Feinstein, Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Andrea Marcovicci, Amanda McBroom and others. Includes a note from Bucchino on the process of making this songbook come to life.

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The Dresden Dolls Companion (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a songbook collector. I have them all. But nothing, I repeat NOTHING compares to the content of this book. But more about that in a little bit.

I have been hearing good things about this duo for some time and have just recently started to listen. What Amanda does with songwriting is like what Shakespeare did for plays. It's real. It's amazing. It's...

Now, for this book. Amanda starts with a 35 page introduction that includes photos, drawings, and other pictures of various worth. The intro also includes topics such as: what's under Amanda's piano, her writing rituals, her playing background, the first songs, high school and college life, her first real show, how she met Brian, recording, creating the artwork, etc. Towards the end of this intro, there is a very detailed section about the sheet music itself. There are notes to the player (and vocalist) that says: "This music is meant to be more of a set of helpful hints than a doctrine. I felt the need to make my own handwritten notes, because typing them in would have been cumbersome and unnatural. The essential thing the player must keep in mind is that the music is changeable. These songs are chord-based, with melodies and discernable hooks and parts, but it is not necessary to play or voice things as they are shown. In fact, you would be playing the music most faithfully if you did not. When I play these songs live, the only thing that generally stays consistent is the bass, and even that can hop from one octave to another. For the more classically-trained, this may seem like an impossible nightmare, but I urge you to experiment. For the sight-reading impaired (like myself) this should be liberating. When I buy books of sheet music, I follow the guitar tabs instead of the piano music, and improvise the rest. This is totally acceptable." It continues...but that should be enough to give you an idea of the detail.

She then goes into each song on the album and gives the history of when it was written and also specific notes for the player. THEN...finally the sheet music for each song. Each song contains handwritten notes from Amanda. These notes include performing ideas, different lyrics, when to improv, etc. From a pure songbook collector, this is what sets this book apart from any other out there. It's one thing to have the artist approve what some publisher has put together, but to actually have the artist be the one to create the book is absolutely incredible.

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Product Description:
This Boston-based alternative pop/German-like cabaret duo hand-designed this book which includes art, photos, commentary and 11 songs from their 2004 release. Songs included are: Bad Habit * Coin Operated Boy * Girl Anachronism * Good Day * Gravity * Half Jack * The Jeep Song * Missed Me *Perfect Fit * Slide * Truce.

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The Alan & Marilyn Bergman Songbook Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this songbook on the advice of my musical director as a good source of under used material for auditions, etc. They are particularly good for a more "legit" vocal type and are more contemporary than alot of other selections typically sung by "trained" singers. A great book for a singer's library.

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Product Description:
Alone in the World * Fifty Percent * The Girl Who Used to Be Me * I Believe in Love * In the Heat of the Night * Like a Lover * One Day * A Piece of Sky * That Face * What Matters Most * Where Is It Written? * Yellow Bird * You Don't Bring Me Flowers and more.

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