(Keyboard Instruction). The jazz idiom can often appear mysterious and difficult for musicians who were trained to play other types of music. Long-time performer and educator Rob Mullins helps players enter the jazz world by providing voicings that will help the player develop skills in the jazz genre and start sounding professional right away without years of study! Includes a "Numeric Voicing Chart," chord indexes in all 12 keys, info about what range of the instrument you can play chords in, and a beginning approach to bass lines.

This uniquely organized book & cassette tape method is guaranteed to unlock the improvisational skills of pianists aspiring to play jazz. Designed as a college text & also for private study, The Aspiring Jazz Pianist benefits anyone who knows basic piano technique & the rudiments of music reading. This is one improvisation method that requires no previous knowledge of jazz or music theory. Its unique approach explains these concepts in a clearly organized manner! The advanced student is challenged with extra credit assignments. The Aspiring Jazz Pianist is designed for the instructor's ease with weekly assignments, exams, & suggestions for further study recommending tunes, books, artists, & recordings to supplement. This method will build the student's confidence by having them create their own music & sound great the very first lesson. Fun & idiomatic arranging devices are introduced, such as swing, bass, walking bass, boogie-woogie, Latin styles, the "new age" sound, & sophisticated chord voicings. This book reveals how to interpret lead sheets & "fake books", & importantly teaches the difference between playing solo piano versus playing in a combo. The handy cassette tape demonstrates the book's techniques, & provides a play-along rhythm section for combo practice. Jazz pianist & author Debbie Denke has field tested the Aspiring Jazz Pianist for ten y ears, proving this method accessible & beneficial to teachers & students alike.

" ... Show[s] ... how to arrange and improvise popular and jazz tunes in your own style, using a clear, step-by-step method developed over many years by ... Debbie Denke ... [This book] is designed ... for personal instruction or as a classroom textbook and benefits anyone who knows basic piano technique and rudiments of music reading. [This book will cover the following:] unlock improvisation skills, provide a practical approach to music theory, explain how to construct chords using easy-to-remember formulas, apply sophisticated, good-sounding chord voicings to any song using a play-by-numbers system, reveal how to interpret lead sheets and fake books, how to play as a solo pianist and in a combo, introduce arranging styles and devices including swing bass, walking bass, ballad, boogie woogit, Latin styles and new age sound and explore the art of tasteful improvisation and of developing piano solos."--Back cover

For an aspiring jazz instrumentalist, playing piano is one of the most important skills for developing a jazz vocabulary. Bob Mintzer is a renowned jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, educator and member of the group, the Yellowjackets. His new book is designed for the instrumentalist who is not an accomplished piano player but wants to acquire basic jazz piano skills and jazz vocabulary. The book includes etudes that make players aware of the sound, texture, cause, effect and function of jazz chords and harmony. The 22 piano etudes feature a variety of styles, tempos, chord progressions and a the book also includes a chord voicing glossary. Mintzer offers a practical guide with a realistic approach.

A group of resourceful kids start "solution-seekers.com," a website where "cybervisitors" can get answers to questions that trouble them. But when one questioner asks the true meaning of Christmas, the kids seek to unravel the mystery by journeying back through the prophecies of the Old Testament. What they find is a series of "S" words that reveal a "spectacular story!" With creative characters, humorous dialogue and great music, The "S" Files is a children's Christmas musical your kids will love performing.