Improvising Violin (Homespun Tapes) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book includes a lot of history on contemporary violin styles from jazz to rock. Readers are guided to pioneers of each genre and prominent musicians are highlighted. There is also a section on amplifying your violin, where traditional/classical violinist who are new to "loud" gigs will find very useful. Amplifiers, pickups, solid violins and radical violin styles, effects are all mentioned and discussed. The third part of the book introduces a lot of solid practices for nearly all the styles that are mentioned in the book, and 'licks' and music scores are provided.It is a book with lots of worthwhile information and very clear instructions, but the limited amount of music score material on each style kind of leave you hanging for more after you are all hyped up. The author have put out new, more focused books on specific styles in 2001, and I can't wait to get my hands on those. Definitely a very enlightening and helpful book. Good for beginning fiddlers and classically trained violinists. Performing violinist might find the music material too basic, but in my opinion worth owning anyway.

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These CDs include improvisation techniques in folk, blues, swing, jazz and New Age music. Filled with invaluable information on technique, musicianship, theory, and new mental and physical approaches to playing. Guitar and piano rhythm tracks are provided for practice. 7 songs.

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Let's Improvise: Becoming Creative, Expressive and Spontaneous Through Drama (Applause Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)I used this book years ago when I first started teaching CreativeDramatics.I found it extremely helpful then. I couldn't find my old copy and purchased it again when I decided to take on a group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. This book was like an old friend. It got me started and inspired me to come up with new ideas.I have worked with all ages. This book has good material for little ones, and I've used some of the ideas with middle school ages. I recommend it for someone getting started in Creative Dramatics, but it's also useful for the more experienced.

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Beginning with simple sensory-awareness exercises in a relaxed atmosphere, and moving through pantomime and role playing to longer skits, Let's Improvise emphasises self-discovery through doing. Through hundreds of exercises that encourage personal and social growth you will feel free to create - to transform an ordinary idea into a celebration of life: to "try on" a variety of characters from life and literature: to take creative risks; to test and revise your thoughts, feelings, and values: to lose your inhibitions and build confidence and cooperation through teamwork - and much more.

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Paul Sills' Story Theater: Four Shows (Applause Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)Paul Sills' Story Theater: Four Shows is a compilation of four plays adapted for the stage by Paul Sills. The stories include "The Blue Light and Other Stories"; Charles Dickens' "A ChristmasCarol"; Rainer Maria Rilke's "Stories of God"; and Rumi in averse translation by Coleman Barks. Paul Sills' Story Theater is enhancedwith theater fames for story theater by Viola Spolin. Paul Sills' StoryTheater is a highly recommended addition to any school or community theaterreference collection.

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The creator of Story Theater, the original director of Second City, and one of the greatest popularizers of improvisational theater, Paul Sills has assembled some of his favorite adaptations from world literature. Includes: The Blue Light and Other Stories ¥ A Christmas Carol (Dickens) ¥ Stories of God ¥ Rumi.

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The Michael Brecker Collection: Tenor Saxophone (Artist Transcriptions) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book includes solos from Brecker's later solo albums such as Tales from the Hudson and Two Blocks from the Edge. The author includes pages on suggested alternate fingerings, suggested altissimo fingerings, multiphonics, and overtones. These pages are as insightful as the solo transcriptions themselves. The music is very cleanly notated in a traditional font, not handwritten.

Michael Brecker was very careful about transcription books of his solos. I had the honor of meeting him on a couple occassions long before this book was published. When asked about why there were no transcription books available at the time, he replied that there had been one floating on the black market, but it had mistakes and was done illegally. He said if a book like this was ever published, he would want to make sure it was done right. I don't know (and the book doesn't say) if Brecker was personally involved with this book, but my impression is that it's about as good as it gets in terms of books of its kind.

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A fabulous collection featuring 14 authentic, note-for-note transcriptions from this revered sax master. Includes: African Skies (2 Solos) ¥ Cabin Fever ¥ Delta City Blues ¥ El Ni-o ¥ Impressions ¥ Slings and Arrows ¥ Syzygy ¥ and more. Also includes a biography and discography, a sax notation guide, suggested alternative and altissimo fingerings, and more.

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The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History and Practical Philosophy (Book) Review

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(More customer reviews)Finally: a single volume devoted entirely to the art and players of jazz trumpet, rather than having it hide in the more generalized chronicles of jazz history! Internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter and composer Scotty Barnhart is the perfect author for his definitive guide: he's the featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra and has performed with many greats over the decades. This isn't just a history of the instrument's development: it's a survey of its musical, social, political and economic heritage charting its evolution through major contributors, blending in the insights and perceptions of fellow jazz trumpeters who share their stories and philosophies. Any interested in jazz in general or jazz trumpet in particular must have THE WORLD OF JAZZ TRUMPET: A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY & PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY.

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In The World of Jazz Trumpet - A Comprehensive History and Practical Philosophy, acclaimed jazz trumpet soloist Scotty Barnhart examines the political, social and musical conditions that led to the creation of jazz as America's premier art form. He traces the many factors that enabled freed slaves and their descendants to merge the blues, gospel, classical marches, and African rhythms to create a timeless and profound art that, since its inception, circa 1900, continues to have a major impact on all music. The World of Jazz Trumpet is a must-have study of the jazz trumpet for students, instructors, and professional musicians, as well as for anyone who appreciates the genre. Readers will appreciate Barnhart's personal and professional connection to a major part of American and world history. This book fills a major void in the world of jazz education as well as in general music education. With entries on 800 trumpeters, it is destined to become required reading in thousands of colleges, schools and homes around the world.

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Why is That So Funny?: A Practical Exploration of Physical Comedy (Softcover) (Book) Review

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(More customer reviews)Why Is That So Funny?: A Practical Exploration of Physical Comedy is an amazing look at physical comedy written especially for performers, directors, students, and teachers. Topics covered include complicity, finding and declaring the game, states of tension, rhythm, comic timing, clowning, parody, satire, pastiche, caricature, burlesque, and buffoon. A thoughtful and meticulous deconstruction of the elements of humor, the better to improve one's performance or playwriting.

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This unique exploration of the principles and practice of physical comedy starts with a discussion of the various types of laughter that can be provoked by performance. It then presents graduated sequences of over a hundred games and exercises devised to demonstrate and investigate the whole range of comic possibilities open to a performer. The result is an intensely practical and thoroughly stimulating investigation of how comedy works in physical terms.

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Eric Marienthal's: Comprehensive Jazz Studies & Exercises for All Instruments Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a good book for intermediate level players who want to work on sight-reading and technique.It is written for concert pitch instruments using standard notation (NO TAB), so some instrumentalists may need to transpose.Six essential scales are given a thorough workout in all keys.Five studies are applied to each scale: scale exercises, motif studies, "finger busters", extended motif studies and ideas for improvising.The material is fresh and applicable to many styles of improvisation.

This book will help you develop the technical facility you need get the musical ideas you're hearing "under your fingers".

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A complete book of jazz technique studies and exercises for all instrumentalists. This text deals with many technique issues jazz musicians encounter in the real world, including chord scale exercises, motif exercises, finger busters, extended motif exercises, and ideas for improvisation.

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Breakthrough to Improv:The Secrets of Improvisation Review

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(More customer reviews)Breakthrough to improv by Dave Frank is the best DVD on improvisation I bought so far.It's very entertaining and easy to follow.I'm also getting the two volumes of "Joy of Improv" by Dave Frank.I've just started on the first volume and it's great.There are so many ideas on how to improvise.
Thanks a lot, Dave Frank.

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Breakthrough to Improv: The Secrets of Improvisation is intended for players of all instruments as a way to break through to the creative approach to playing music. Hosted by Berklee professor Dave Frank, author of Hal Leonard's popular Joy of Improv series, this DVD outlines a unique step-by-step series of "practice points" designed to guide you effortlessly into the process of improvisation. Whether you're a traditionally trained musician looking to break free from written music, an improviser looking to expand your creativity, or a music teacher looking for a way to begin teaching improvisation, Breakthrough to Improv is a must to help you discover the infinite flow of music within you! Includes a helpful booklet with musical examples and further instruction. Also available: 00320225Video$19.95

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Swingin' Jazz Violin - Improvisation And Musicianship For Fiddlers Review

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(More customer reviews)I LOVE Mat and the things he covers and the way he does it is GREAT!But...I wonder how old this DVD is because the recording quality is really pretty bad. I expect Mat ought to do it over with updated technology. At the very least it should be made clear to people purcasing this Disc that it is a copy of an older tape if that's the case.

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"You can swing more on a violin than on any instrument ever made." - Stuff Smith
Violin players (as well as musicians on any instrument) will gain enormous benefit from this dynamic, interactive course, developed with the early-intermediate player in mind. Matt Glaser stresses that "you don't have to be scared of the word jazz. If you've played bluegrass, folk music or other popular styles and want to try improvising in the jazz idiom, this would be a good place to do it." With relaxed good humor, he fills his lesson with music theory, technical tips and fascinating information on all aspects of swing/jazz music.
Matt immediately gets you playing along with him on some simple swinging ideas, trading four-bar phrases as you imitate his riffs in a call-and-response session. This method, with the help of Larry Baione on rhythm guitar, is repeated several times throughout the tape, showing how you can build up increasingly complex phrases. By starting with a simple motif, you'll learn how to let an idea "develop itself," making use of the vast capabilities of the violin.
As you play along with Matt, you'll learn basics of musical theory: how to play the circle of fifths, improvise around dominant 7th chords, use symmetrical structures (diminished, augmented and whole tone scales), rhythmic accenting and articulation, bowing patterns, phrasing and -- most important of all -- how to swing!
Matt teaches three seminal violin solos, breaking them down phrase by phrase and analyzing them for the learning player. They include Claude "Fiddler" Williams' "You've Got to See Your Mama Every Night (or You Can't See Your Mama At All)," two of Stephane Grappelli's most famous solos on a standard, re-named "Stephane Be Good," and Matt's own take on another standard, which he calls "There is No Greater Lunch." By working through these pieces you'll learn to incorporate riff-based swinging phrases into an improvised solo and become a creative and spontaneous player.

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Guitar Secrets: Symmetrical Scales Revealed (Dimished & Whole-Tone; Book & CD) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book displays the ideas of how to apply the melodic minor scale, through the means of scalar sequences, static chord vamp, ii-V applications, arppegio superimpositions, pentatonic fragments, etc. From learning these ideas, one should be well equipped for further exploring into the study of this scale, which is essential in jazz music.

In terms of technique, to be able to play the phrases, particularly the wide intervallic ones in full speed that Don demonstrates on the CD, obviously requires good technique, or at least will lead to the development of your alternate/sweep picking technique so as to accommodate some unusual runs within certain phrases. In this respect, the licks and phrases in this book can at times be quite advanced.

The most useful units in the book have to be the four usages (2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th mode of the scale) or substitutions, though the 6th mode is briefly showcased as an alternative to the harmonic minor scale in a minor ii-V progression. The demonstrated licks fuse together in general a traditional jazz sound (e.g. the "Gone but not forgotten" lick frequently appears, cf. Jerry Coker's Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improvisor), arpeggio superimpositions, modern runs in 4th/5th, and wide intervallic jumps. The licks are inspiring and should help build a good foundation for developing the usages of this scale.

Interested guitarist may also want to check out Don's Artful Arpeggios: Fingerings and Applications for Guitar (REH Pro Lessons), Joe Diorio's Intervallic Designs for Jazz Guitar: Ultramodern Sounds for Improvising and Steve Khan's Pentatonic Khancepts for furthering the study of these areas which the current book has presented on different levels.

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Learning how to play and use scales has always been a large part of every guitar player's practice schedule. Written from a player's perspective, this book doesn't get too in-depth into the history and classical theory of the scales, but focuses on their uses in contemporary styles such as blues, rock, fusion, and jazz. Includes tons of diminished and whole-tone lines, licks, and music examples; soloing and scale substitution from a player's perspective; and new sounds and ideas. Written in standard notation and tab.

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Phish - Billy Breathes (Guitar Recorded Version) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of my favorite albums of all time.When I first heard it, I listened to it over and over and likened my experience of listening to it, my enjoyment of it, and it's placement on my desert-island list, to The White Album.

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Matching folio with 13 songs, including: Billy Breathes ¥ Bliss ¥ Cars Truck Buses ¥ Character Zero ¥ Free ¥ Prince Caspian ¥ Steep ¥ Waste ¥ and more.

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Inside the Music - Guide to Composition (Softcover) (Book) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very readable and accessible book for anyone.It covers the basics in an unintimidating way and has a chapter on composition and improvisation.It doesn't assume the reader has a Masters degree in music. It's very good and I highly recommend it to anyone.

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For those who want to learn the inner workings of music without, as author Dave Stewart notes, "getting bogged down in a lot of fearsome technicalities," this is an enlightening exploration of the theory and practice of music. Picking up where The MusicianÃ-s Guide to Reading & Writing Music leaves off, Stewart uses the same amusing style, clear examples, and practical advice to encourage readers not just to read music, but to write some of their own. The book sheds light on tonality, chord sequences, scales and modes, tempo, rhythm, improvisation and composition, chords and chord voicings, MIDI, and more. 128 pages, 6 1/8 inch. x 9 1/4 inch.

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