Tag Archives: book review

Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along

Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along Series

Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-AlongThe Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along series is designed to help you learn to play tunes quickly and easily with printed music and access to online audio tracks for download and streaming. Volume 2, Trumpet Classics includes “Ciribiribin,” Harry James; “Feels So Good,” Chuck Mangione; “Java,” Al Hirt; “Music to Watch Girls By,” Bob Crewe Generation; “Spanish Flea,” Herb Alpert; “Sugar Blue,” Al Hirt; “A Taste of Honey,” Herb Alpert; and “The Toy Trumpet,” Raymond Scott. The other three volumes available are: Volume 1, Popular Hits; Volume 3, Classic Rock, and Volume 4, Great Themes.

Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along Volume 2, Hal Leonard Corporation,
www.halleonard.com.

Ultimate Easy Play-Along Series

Alfred’s Ultimate Easy Play-Along Series

Ultimate Easy Play-Along SeriesGreat for students, Alfred’s Ultimate Easy Play-Along series features easy-to-play arrangements of guitar parts from classic recordings in both TAB and notation. Every book comes with a DVD of tips and a video giving a close-up view of how the parts are played, plus MP3s and TNT 2 software to change the mix, slow tracks down, isolate sections, and loop parts for practice. Available in the series are: The British Invasion 1964, Rush, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones.

Alfred’s Ultimate Easy Play-Along Series, Alfred Music, Alfred.com.

How Music Dies (or Lives)

How Music Dies (or Lives): Field Recording and the Battle for Democracy in the Arts

How Music Dies (or Lives)In this book author and Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan chronicles his journeys to find new and ancient sounds, textured voices, and nonmalleable songs as he presents readers with an intricate look at our technological society. He explores how colonization has damaged distinct variations between groups through generalizations; the importance of imperfection to authenticity; gaps between manufacturing and invention; and music’s saturation in everyday life.

How Music Dies (or Lives): Field Recording and the Battle for Democracy in the Arts, by Ian Brennan, Allworth Press, www.allworth.com.

The Skin Above My Knee

The Skin Above My Knee

The Skin Above My KneeIn her memoir, The Skin Above My Knee, former oboist and Local 802 (New York City) member Marcia Butler tells how she rose out of an abusive home to become a brilliant musician and artist. In her youth, she devoted herself to learning the oboe and practiced obsessively, earning a full scholarship to a music conservatory in New York City. She explores the competition, sacrifices, and joy of working in the world of classical music as a principal oboist and soloist, along with how she overcame her personal struggles.

The Skin Above My Knee, by Marcia Butler, Little, Brown and Company,
www.marciabutlerauthor.com.

jazz session trainer

Jazz Session Trainer: The Woodshedder’s Practice Kit

jazz session trainerIn this book Local 6 (San Francisco, CA) member Larry Dunlap, a respected arranger, composer, and teacher, provides a series of tools to prepare musicians for jazz jam sessions. Beginning with etiquette, he also covers how scales are used in improvisation; introductions and endings; and offers tips for practice. He provides exercises to improve your chops, including jazz etudes and licks, and a list of 50 frequently played tunes with chord charts and online audio.

Jazz Session Trainer: The Woodshedder’s Practice Kit, by Larry Dunlap, Hal Leonard Corporation, www.halleonard.com.

Songs of the 2000s

Songs of the 2000s: 70 Songs with Online Audio Backing Tracks

Songs of the 2000sThis book from Hal Leonard’s New Decade Series provides a synopsis of iconic songs from 2000-2010 for piano, vocals, and guitar. Each volume in the series includes sheet music and audio that is accessed online for download or streaming. The 2000s features more than 70 influential hits, including: “Bad Day,” “Beautiful,” “Before He Cheats,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Breakaway,” “Breathe,” “Chasing Cars,” “Chasing Pavements,” “The Climb,” “Clocks,” “Complicated,” “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” “Fireflies,” “Hey There Delilah,” “How to Save a Life,” “I Gotta Feeling,” “I’m Yours,” “Just Dance,” “Love Story,” “100 Years,” “Photograph,” “Rehab,” “Stacy’s Mom,” “A Thousand Miles,” “Umbrella,” “Unwritten,” “Viva La Vida,” “Waiting on the World to Change,” “With Arms Wide Open,” “You Raise Me Up,” “You’re Beautiful,” and more.

Songs of the 2000s: 70 Songs with Online Audio Backing Tracks, Hal Leonard Corporation, www.halleonard.com