Jazz Piano Quartal Voicing Workshop (Picture Unavailable)

As Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and McCoy Tyner ushered in the era of modern jazz piano, jazz harmony underwent a remarkable transformation. Not only did the content (the actual chord voicings) change, but the context (the way that the voicings were used and the forms within which they appeared) was also dramatically altered. The quartal voicing was born. This book is a look at the use of quartal voicings. Why quartal voicings? Quartal voicings have a unique sound. Words like "open," "pure," "clear" come to mind when hearing and describing them. The spacing is quite effective when it comes to voicing chords on the piano. When you listen to chords voiced by a great jazz guitarist, they tend to sound really good. The instrument lends itself naturally to these kinds of spacings given the way the strings are tuned. These kinds of voicings are easy to play on the piano, but they come a little less naturally than more commonly used voicings, so you have to work on them to master the technique. The book introduces various approaches to mastery and explains, in part, the functional use of quartal voicings in the left hand. Includes quartal voicing arrangements of ten well-known standards. (50 pages)

To see two pages from the book (the first two pages of Chapter One) click here.

To listen to an arrangement from the book ("Stella by Starlight"), click here.

$25.00 (plus $3.00 shipping and handling)                                                                              PDF/eBook: $15.00

The Virtuoso Jazz Pianist  (PDF ONLY)

The Virtuoso Jazz Pianist is a comprehensive collection of exercises designed for developing the technique that jazz piano requires. While technical ability at the piano can always be achieved through the study of classical works—complete compositions written specifically for the piano, the harmonic and melodic vocabulary of jazz, along with the improvisational demands of the idiom, call for a different approach. These include a mastery of scales, embellishments, arpeggios and chord voicings, and other keyboard expressions commonly used in jazz that are unavailable in the study of traditional literature. Contents Include basic technical exercises, scales, arpeggios, melodic and harmonic intervals, embellishments, chromatic and pentatonic scale studies, chord voicing studies, and much more. (167 pages)

To see a page from the book click here (page 107).

To listen to this page (and the following page) click here.

$35.00 (plus $3.00 shipping & handling)

Please do not purchase the hard copy as it is currently out of stock. The download is available:  PDF/eBook: $22.00

The Bud Powell Real Book

The Bud Powell Real Book is a collection of 44 compositions written by the great jazz pianist, Bud Powell. These works, representing almost all of Bud Powell’s original music, have been painstakingly transcribed from the pianist/composer’s recordings, and arranged in lead sheet format. Some of the features include chord substitutions during the head and improvised sections and separate solo section chord changes when the chords used for improvisation differ from those used with the melody. In cases where the chord voicings used are a critical part of the arrangement, these are included. Presently, there are no similar texts available. The Bud Powell publications that are currently available are all transcription books; they are piano arrangements transcribed from recordings. In the foreword of Francis Paudras biography of Bud Powell, Dance of the Infidels, the great jazz pianist Bill Evans remarks, “If I had to choose one single musician for his artistic integrity, for the incomparable originality of his creation and the grandeur of his work, it would be Bud Powell. He was in a class by himself.” A book of Powell’s jazz compositions is an idea whose time has come, and is long overdue. (80 pages)

What other musicians have said about the music of Bud Powell:

"No one could play like Bud; too difficult, too quick, incredible!" —Thelonious Monk

"He was the foundation out of which stemmed the whole edifice of modern jazz piano. Every jazz pianist since Bud either came through him or is deliberately attempting to get away from playing like him." —Herbie Hancock

"Bud was the most brilliant that a spirit might be, a unique genius in our culture." Max Roach

"Bud is a genius." —Charlie Parker

"He laid down the basis of modern jazz piano." —Dizzy Gillespie

"Bud is a genuine genius." —Duke Ellington

To see a page from the book click here.

Available from Amazon or Hal Leonard Music Publishing ($19.99).

www.halleonard.com

Melodic embellishment is the use of tones outside of a chord to decorate and ornament chord tones. It is an essential and perhaps the most important component of improvised jazz melody. In their improvised solos, improvisers interpret chord progressions by playing notes that suggest, move around, point toward, highlight, or resolve to the notes of each chord. The tones that are used to embellish a chord, often referred to as non-chord tones, are generally more dissonant and less stable in relation to the chord tones being ornamented. The principle of tension and resolution, accordingly, is almost always involved. These studies are an attempt to acquaint the improviser with this principle and its application through the embellishment of a number of chords, scales, and chord progressions that regularly appear in jazz. The melodic embellishment of triads (major, minor, augmented, and diminished), seventh chords (major-seventh, dominant-seventh, minor-seventh, half-diminished, and diminished seventh chords), scales (major, melodic minor, whole-tone, diminished, and chromatic), and chord progressions (circle of fifths and II-V-I) are all explored. (175 pages)

Hard copies of the book are available in two volumes from Charles Colin. (845) 680-6880

To see a page from the book click here.

To listen to this page click here.

Hard copy: $35.00 (plus $3.00 shipping & handling)

Please do not purchase the hard copy as it is currently out of stock. The download is available:  PDF/eBook: $22.00

The Artistry of George Shearing

The Artistry of George Shearing includes eleven solo piano performances, all taken from Shearing's incredible 1990 recording Piano (Concord Jazz CCD-4400). The tunes include originals by Shearing, including "Children's Waltz" and "Wendy," and nine other well-known standards: "For You," "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe," "It Had to Be You," "It's You Or No One," "John O'Groats," "Miss Invisible," "Thinking of You," "Waltz for Claudia," and "You're My Everything." Not many of transcriptions of Shearing's solo piano recordings have been published, and Shearing's harmonic approach to these tunes is quite extraordinary. Chord symbols are included for all tunes. A must have for jazz pianists and serious students of jazz harmony.

"It unlocks door after door of contemporary piano jazz sounds" —Downbeat

“Bob Hinz has included some top standards as well as originals in this great folio of solo piano transcriptions of jazz piano legend George Shearing. Some of the songs included are "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" and "It Had To Be You." It is a must-have for all jazz piano fans.” —Encore Music.com

“This is truly one of the best artistry editions from Warner Bros., if you like The Artistry of Bill Evans 1& 2, then this is absolutely better stuff. Tuff but for real this also related to one album of Shearing (Piano) from Concord Jazz, so you can learn what it should hear" worth more I think than Oscar Peterson note for note," especially the Shearing Song Book.” —Rizki Sewaka

Best Jazz piano book August 21, 2002 —Rizki Sewaka

Jazz Piano Legend George Shearing has included some top standards and some originals in this great folio. A must for all you Jazz fans and for those of you who just want to play good Jazz. —Stagepass.com

“This collection has been in production for at least the past year, finally available! Transcriptions by Bob Hinz, the Shearing style of warm harmonies makes this collection worth the wait. Overall, advanced piano, tuff stuff!!” —Dr. Rein P. Vaga, D.M.A., Piano Performance, Owner, Sheet Music Online

Published by Alfred Publications.

Available at Amazon and most music stores.

$16.95 (plus $3.00 shipping & handling)

Aspects of Harmony and Voice Leading in Four Piano Performances by Clare Fischer (Doctoral Dissertation)

The study of Western music outside of jazz is at a point in its evolution where there is a substantial body of knowledge and literature describing harmony and counterpoint. The study of harmony and counterpoint in jazz, however, is still at an early stage. Using the piano music of Clare Fischer, this study addresses issues of harmony and voice leading and, less directly, related features such as counterpoint and texture. The study is organized to include discussions in a number of areas. These include an overview of harmony and voice leading in jazz, and a review of the method that is applied to transcription and analysis in the study. These are followed by analyses and discussions of aspects of harmony and voice leading in Fischer's piano performances of " 'Round Midnight," "Blues in F," "Ill Wind," and "The Touch of Your Lips." (370 pages)

"I hold Bob in high regard for his academic scholarship and his performing ability." —Clare Fischer

   PDF/eBook: $35.00

Also available from UMI, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346

800-521-0600

Order Number: 9819865

Links:     www.umi.com     www.clarefischer.com     clarefischer@thegrid.net