General Books - Page 6

Guitar For Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback))

Mark Phillips, Jon Chappell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Have you always wanted to play guitar? Who wouldn't? Think of Jimi Hendrix wailing away on his Stratocaster. . . Chuck Berry duck-walking across the stage to "Johnny B. Goode". . .B.B. King making his "Lucille" cry the blues. No doubt about it—guitars are cool.

Guitar For Dummies 2nd Edition tells you everything a beginning or intermediate guitarist needs to know: from buying a guitar to tuning it, playing it, and caring for it, this book has it all—and you don't even need to know how to read music. Full of photo-illustrated exercises and songs you can play to practice the techniques discussed in each section, this step-by-step guide will take you through the basics and beyond before you can say "Eric Clapton." You'll learn how to:

• Match yourself with the guitar and equipment that fits your needs and budget
• Select the right accessories: amps, picks, pedals, capos, cases, and other goodies
• Pick and strum to produce a clean, clear, buzz-free tone
• Know whether you're really in tune
• Play melodies without reading music
• Perform basic guitar maintenance and repairs
• Build strength and dexterity while playing
• Play in different styles, including rock, blues, folk, jazz, and classical
• Make your guitar talk with bends and slides!

Fully revised and updated, with an all new interactive CD that allows readers to listen, learn, tune, and play along, Guitar For Dummies 2nd Edition is the perfect introductory guide for any novice acoustic or electric guitar player. 

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition (The Complete Idiot's Guide)

Michael Miller

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Alpha Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $11.02

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I haven't read the whole book, but so far, its very easy to read and understandable. I play piano, so I am familiar with a lot of terms, however, I do not have a strong foundation of theory. This book is a great supplement for me and has made my understanding of theory a lot more enjoyable and interesting.

Well worth the money 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have to admit I was reluctant to buy this book, because of its title. Never mind the title--it's well written. You don't have to be a complete idiot to understand this book; in fact, you shouldn't be. The author assumes you can think, but that you're coming in pretty close to the ground floor on knowing anything about the topic. I'm almost finished with the book, and I'm very happy I bought it.

By the way, I'm a musician, but with little or no theory background except what I've absorbed accidentally. This book has been really helpful in filling in the large gaps in my musical education.

Editorial Review:

A music theory book that hits the high note …

This updated and expanded edition of The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Music Theory breaks down a difficult subject in a simple way—even for those who think they have no rhythm or consider themselves tone deaf. With clear, concise language, it explains everything from bass-clef basics to confusing codas. This new edition includes:

-A brand-new CD
-A comprehensive ear-training section
-Musical examples of intervals, scales, chords, and rhythms
-Aural exercises so readers can test their ear training and transcription skills

Philadelphia Chickens

Sandra Boynton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 142 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What an event! What a show! It's catchy and quirky. Tuneful and toe-tapping. Exuberant, unexpected, and utterly endearing. It's what happens when you take America's beloved illustrator and children's author and combine her buoyant genius with some of the most talented people on the stage—presenting Philadelphia Chickens!

Created by Sandra Boynton, Philadelphia Chickens is a family musical in a book, bringing together a full-color songbook of 17 1/2 illustrated story-poems with a full-length, fully orchestrated CD of original songs performed by the likes of Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, The Bacon Brothers, and Laura Linney, who pleads "Please, Can I Keep It?"—it followed me home. / What exactly it is/ I don't know. Also joining in are Eric Stoltz, Natasha Richardson, Scott Bakula, and two Boyntons, including daughter Caitlin McEwan, who performs a piece that every little listener will relate to—a love song to the chocolate chip cookies that are just out of reach. With the collaboration of composer Michael Ford (known to Boynton fans from Rhinoceros Tap), Philadelphia Chickens is that rarest of kids' musical discs—one whose inimitable lyrics and music make it as sing-along, dance-along, cluck-along for parents as it is for their children.

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time

Jon Bream

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

They were the heaviest band ever, creating the blueprint for an entire musical genre and becoming a touchstone for an entire generation and their children. Now, to celebrate their fortieth anniversary and December 2007 reunion, here's the first-ever complete illustrated history of Led Zeppelin.

This all-star tribute to one of the biggest rock 'n' roll bands of all time features many of today's top American and English rock journalists from Rolling Stone, Creem, Billboard and more, as well as reflections on the band's inspiration from some of rock's top performers, including Aerosmith, Heart, the Minutemen, the Hold Steady, and others. An appendix features the complete discography.

Glorious concert and behind-the-scenes photography from some of the top names in rock photography covers the band from their first 1968 show as Led Zeppelin through the 2007 reunion. Also included are more than 200 rare concert posters, backstage passes, tickets, LPs and singles, T-shirts, buttons, and more from the United States, UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan, all comprising a book as epic as the band it honors.

Created from the ashes of the Yardbirds by guitarist and session wizard Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin featured virtuoso bass player John Paul Jones, gonzo drummer John Bonham, and Robert Plant, a vocalist like no other before him. The band singlehandedly defined what rock 'n' roll could be, leaving in their wake a trail of tales as tall or as a real as we wanted them to be.

Bit of a Blur: The Autobiography

Alex James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 60 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more exciting life—a way to travel, meet new people, and, hopefully, pick up girls. But as bass player of Blur—one of the most successful British bands of all time—his journey was more exciting and extreme than he could ever have predicted. Success catapulted him from a slug-infested squat in Camberwell to a world of private jets and world-class restaurants. As "the second drunkest member of the world’s drunkest band" Alex James's life was always chaotic, but he retained a boundless enthusiasm and curiosity at odds with his hedonistic lifestyle. From nights in the Groucho with Damien Hirst, to dancing to Sister Sledge with Björk, to being bitten on the nose by the lead singer of Iron Maiden, he offers a fascinating and hilarious insight into the world of celebrity. At its heart, however, this is the picaresque tale of one man’s search to find meaning and happiness in an increasingly surreal world. Pleasingly unrepentant but nonetheless a reformed man, Alex James is the perfect chronicler of his generation—witty, frank and brimming with joie de vivre. A Bit of a Blur is as charming, funny, and deliciously disreputable as its author.

Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Complete: Piano Technique

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A mustn't have! 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Going against the grain here I would say DO NOT buy this book! I am a piano teacher and yes, I had to use this book in my younger days. Recent research, however, has shown that using this can potentially give you wrist problems such as RSI. Finger strength is not really a priority when learning the piano. Good technique and understanding of the music is.

Ask yourself: How many times do I repeat patterns such as those in Hanon over and over again when I am playing a piece of music? The answer is never! So why train your fingers to do that? The only thing playing Hanon makes you better at is playing Hanon!

If you want to improve the technique and musicality of your playing find a Mozart (or Haydn, Corelli, Kabalevsky or any other composer) piano piece that you enjoy and that is within your ability or will stretch you just a little and learn it. Practise it slowly and play each phrase with the correct notes and fingering every time. This gives you a piece of music you can perform as well.

In short, if you were an athlete would you train using physical techniques from the early 1900s? Our knowledge of physiology has moved on and even some elements of the piano action have been improved to make actions lighter and more responsive.

If you are looking to improve your piano technique I suggest you read:
Lhevinne: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing
Gieseking & Leimer: Piano Technique (Paperback)
Sandor: On piano playing

They aren't necessarily the easiest books to read, but playing the piano isn't easy! I use other books as well (e.g. 20 Lessons in keyboard choreography), Czerny for certain things, but never Hanon!

Editorial Review:

This collection of exercises has been a "Must Have" for many years. Designed to build independence and dexterity.

The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering Piano

Carl Humphries

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 60 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

previous piano experience required! 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This should be called the "piano review" workbook. The problem with experienced teachers and authors is they don't understand the mind of the beginner. They assume we already know things, or gloss over important details, or leave them out all together.

I think the author should have spend more time proofing the materials being taught, rather than babbling on with history lessons about people that have no relevance to the topics and techniques being taught.

The total glossing over the major and minor scales is horrible. To many "see if you can figure out...." without any followup explanation to check our work. To many new concepts found in the musical examples with no explanations as to their meanings.

This is not a book for beginners. It is good for picking up a tip here and there if you already have experience.

Very disappointed.

Editorial Review:

With clear and easy-to-understand exercises, The Piano Handbook is perfect for anyone interested in learning the piano or improving their skills. It provides fresh material and techniques in styles ranging from classical to jazz, rock, bebop and fusion, and gives new players everything they need to learn and enjoy the piano. This book's innovative tutorial approach covers classical and contemporary music styles in an integrated way, and the companion CD brings the playing techniques and concepts to life. A full-color photo gallery illustrates the history of the piano and its essential recordings. This hardcover, deluxe edition also features semi-concealed spiral binding so the book stays open on the piano. The Piano Handbook prepares you not just to play, but to perform - and not just as a pianist, but as a complete musician.

How to Play Guitar: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Guitar (How to Play)

Roger Evans

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It's Okay 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I found this easy to read and understand but I don't like the way the book is set up. You learn a few notes and then move onto chords. I would have preferred to learn all the notes and then move onto chords because that seems much simpler to me. But you can skip through the book to find the other notes.

I also thought there should be more songs to practice with when learning the notes, there were only rwo or three tiny little bits after learning the notes.

All in all it was just adequate for me.

Editorial Review:

In How to Play Guitar guitar players of all levels will find a wealth of instruction and inspiration. Whether you want to play pop, folk, country, rock, blues, jazz, classical, or any other style of music, you will pick up the basic techniques without tedious drills and exercises. Using real music and a step-by-step approach, How to Play Guitar will teach you about:

· Choosing and buying a guitar

· Tuning your instrument correctly

· Reading sheet music, guitar music, and tablature

· Playing melodies with chords

· Fingerpicking

· Mastering left-hand techniques, including sliding and bending notes

· Transposing melodies from one key to another and much more.

Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business

Ethan Mordden

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

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Any girl who twists her hat will be fired! – Florenz Ziegfeld

And no Ziegfeld girl ever did as she made her way down the gala stairways of the Ziegfeld Follies in some of the most astonishing spectacles the American theatergoing public ever witnessed.  When Florenz Ziegfeld started in theater, it was flea circus, operetta and sideshow all rolled into one.  When he left it, the glamorous world of "show-biz" had been created.  Though many know him as the man who "glorified the American girl," his first real star attraction was the bodybuilder Eugen Sandow, who flexed his muscles and thrilled the society matrons who came backstage to squeeze his biceps.  His lesson learned with Sandow, Ziegfeld went on to present Anna Held, the naughty French sensation, who became the first Mrs. Ziegfeld.  He was one of the first impresarios to mix headliners of different ethnic backgrounds, and literally the earliest proponent of mixed-race casting.  The stars he showcased and, in some cases, created have become legends: Billie Burke (who also became his wife), elfin Marilyn Miller, cowboy Will Rogers, Bert Williams, W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor and, last but not least, neighborhood diva Fanny Brice.  A man of voracious sexual appetites when it came to beautiful women, Ziegfeld knew what he wanted and what others would want as well.  From that passion, the Ziegfeld Girl was born. Elaborately bejeweled, they wore little more than a smile as they glided through eye-popping tableaux that were the highlight of the Follies, presented almost every year from 1907 to 1931.  Ziegfeld's reputation and power, however, went beyond the stage of the Follies as he produced a number of other musicals, among them the ground-breaking Show Boat.  In Ziegfeld: The Man Who Created Show Business, Ethan Mordden recreates the lost world of the Follies, a place of long-vanished beauty masterminded by one of the most inventive, ruthless, street-smart and exacting men ever to fill a theatre on the Great White Way : Florenz Ziegfeld.

Cancer on Five Dollars a Day (chemo not included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life

Robert Schimmel

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Not yet published By: Da Capo Lifelong Books

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the spring of 2000, Robert Schimmel was riding high. He'd won the Stand-Up of the Year Award, his HBO special was a huge hit, and his sitcom had been picked up. And then it all came crashing down. Diagnosed with Stage III non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, he was told he would have to undergo chemotherapy immediately. The sitcom was dumped and the fire of his white-hot career started to go out. But Schimmel never lost his sense of humor, his knife-like edge, and most of all, his passion to entertain. Indeed, it was his basic need to laugh-even if the only people around him were suffering from cancer and the room he was playing was the Mayo Clinic infusion center-that carried him through his ordeal. From his colorful banter with nurses and other patients during chemo, to his hilarious conversation with a wig salesman, going for the laugh was Robert Schimmel's survival mechanism. Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and profound, "Cancer on Five Dollars a Day" is an honest account of how one man's face-off with a deadly disease helped him better understand himself.