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Used price: $13.85

Beautiful ArtReview Date: 2004-11-06
American Choregraphy Revealed!Review Date: 2004-11-03
Stellar Book on Dance!Review Date: 2004-10-31
I recommend this book to dancers, educators and average people who simply want to be inspired.
Jack Caffrey
WOW!Review Date: 2004-11-10
Outstanding work of art!Review Date: 2004-11-09

Used price: $15.02
Collectible price: $24.99

Keys to Flamenco Guitar, Vol 1.Review Date: 2008-09-02
Great ResourceReview Date: 2008-08-09
Flamenco puroReview Date: 2008-07-24
Very useful and inspiring
An Excellent Flamenco guitar for beginners!Review Date: 2008-05-21
A thorough introductionReview Date: 2007-08-21
The present work, along with Volumes 2 & 3, was previously published by AIG Music. The author has taught from it for several years, but in this form it is now out of print. With its republication by Mel Bay, Mr Koster has (he tells me) taken the opportunity of correcting various misprints, revising the text (including the restoration of some passages deleted by the previous publishers), and adding fingerings and fingerboard diagrams. (The last-named are especially helpful in showing when particular chord-shapes should be held.)
Prerequisites
=========
Like many other Flamenco guitar methods, this one assumes a basic grounding in finger-style guitar (of the order of one to two years' playing). All the examples are presented in staff-notation and tablature; I suppose one could in theory manage by copying the timing from the accompanying CD, but the ability to read would be a definite plus.
Content
======
After enthusiastic forewords from Pepe Romero and Eliot Fisk come explanations of the notation, plus notes on the guitar, playing position, fingernails and the cejilla (capo). The tutor proper then explains compás and rasgueado, and passes from easy strumming patterns in the forms farruca, soleares, alegrías and tangos, to rasgueado versions of the same.
We then move to simple thumb and arpeggio falsetas, along with explanations of the different sections of a flamenco composition (llamada, escobilla, etc.). Other rhythms covered include verdiales, rosas, siguiriyas and bulerías, with examples drawn from the simpler falsetas of Sabicas, Mario, Ricardo, Diego del Gastor and Lucía. Further techniques described include the golpe (tap) and alzapúa (strumming with the thumb).
Towards the end there are some intelligent notes on the vexed question of how best to notate bulerías (to start on beat 1 or on beat 12, that is the question).
The CD
=====
The accompanying CD is properly treated as a didactic aid rather than as a recital. The playing is clean and accurate, at appropriate speeds (both slow and fast), and with interpolated comments as required.
But above all, simple though they are, the examples all sound like real Flamenco.
Presentation
=========
The most obvious improvement over the old edition is the nice photo of the author on the cover of the new one. But the thing that impressed me most was the exhaustive thoroughness of the fingerings, for both right and left hands -- nothing has been left to chance. In addition, the compás count is indicated for most of the pieces.
The old version was, however, spiral bound to open flat, which the new one is not. Still, I was able to flatten it with a minimum of brute force.
Summary
=======
If most of the above terms are gibberish to you -- as they may well be, if you're a beginner to Flamenco and thus in the market for this book -- don't worry. This is an excellent introduction to the flamenco guitar. I particularly like the fact that the aims of the book -- and with them its size and cost -- have been kept modest, while still establishing a firm and thorough foundation to be built on in the subsequent volumes.
If you're a teacher of classical guitar then, and your students express an interest in learning the basics of Flamenco, this would be a fine starting point.
Recommended.

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Learning a different style of Banjo playingReview Date: 2008-03-31
However, three-finger picking style seems to be the predominate way of playing, for some time, and I can recognize its advantages for producing a more sophisticated style.
I have looked at a number of books and never taken the leap from clawhammer style to three-finger picking until now because it has taken "The Banjo Encyclopedia: Bluegrass Banjo from A to Z" to give me what I need to make that leap.
I have great confidence in the book. I like the accompanying disk. I expect to grow with Ross Nickerson's method as successfully as I did previously with my teacher and books.
This has it allReview Date: 2007-04-02
Great book, but needs to be spiral bound!!Review Date: 2005-02-22
The way to learn banjo!Review Date: 2004-11-29
The book is written in that very same style. It is very comprehensive but it is broken up into sections that allow you to progress naturally. You will find yourself going back to chapters well after your "beginner" stage. He shows you many different styles of playing and even how to mix them together! I think it's better than the Scruggs book. (but you should own that as well - just because)
If you play banjo or are thinking about it, buy this book. Trust me.
A welcome and thorough study of the instrumentReview Date: 2004-10-19
He starts at square one with the basics of holding the banjo, using picks, reading tab, tuning, positioning hands, and overcoming difficulties. Rolls and exercises are then covered. Chapters are dedicated to right hand technique, as well as that for the left hand. By the end of Chapter 3, one is learning "Banks of the Ohio" and "Bury Me Beneath the Willow." An important lesson that many books fail to present is practice habits and practicing priorities. Nickerson does a fine job emphasizing the importance of a good practicing routine. Basic Scrugg's picking is then addressed and related to the songs, "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Nine Pound Hammer." Melodic and single-string styles of playing introduce some fiddle tunes, and then the author has us put it all together along with rhythm and chordal backup. Chapter ten broaches the subject of improvisation, before we get into kickoffs, turnarounds, and endings. Playing at slower tempos and in waltz time are covered. Finally a chapter on banjo maintenance by Mike Munford addresses all the parts. Advanced songs taught include John Henry and Train 45. The accompanying CD is 78 minutes long, and clear references to the disc tracks are given throughout the book. Nickerson teaches in a very straightforward style, although I might have slightly changed the sequence of some of the instructional material. The Banjo Encyclopedia is a welcome and thorough study of the instrument, most appropriate for beginning and intermediate players. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

AmazingReview Date: 2000-08-03
BEST ELEC. BASS BOOK EVERReview Date: 2001-05-14
Mel Bay's Electric Bass MethodReview Date: 1999-12-13
My first bass instruction book.Review Date: 2001-09-29
MEL BAY's Guide VERY HelpfulReview Date: 2000-02-23

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GreatReview Date: 2007-01-18
Laugh until you cryReview Date: 2001-12-23
Hallelujah, Everybody Say Cheese...Review Date: 2005-12-07
This book/CD combination is very nicely produced and is basically a funny color collage telling the story of the song. The CD has my favorite version of the song on it so you can follow along if you want, or more likely just listen and laugh.
I have given several of these as gifts over the last few years and they always get rave reviews. It's kind of sad that there is more than a little truth in the song, but nonetheless it's funny, dryly tongue-in-cheek, and very well done. While this may never overtake "Silent Night" or "O Come All Ye Faithful" in the pantheon of the world's most popular Christmas songs, it has a unique charm that is like nothing else, and I recommend it highly.
The Looking Glass reflection of my life!Review Date: 2001-11-11
If this is you, then you will aprreciate this book. In short it is a hysterically illustrated version, verse by verse of his epic Chrismas Song "Merry Christmas From the Family". It is designed by esteemed Nashville graphic designer Buddy Jackson, and it is done with wit and humor in keeping with the songs' lyrics.(...)
Great stocking stuffer or intro to REK for your friendsReview Date: 2002-01-03

Used price: $7.20

Handel ScoresReview Date: 2008-02-08
This is as good as it gets,score-wise, for Handel's best known piece. Unless you want to spend a lot, this is it !!!
Good, but SupersededReview Date: 2007-06-06
Paul N. Van de Water
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed......Review Date: 1999-11-20
Marvelous!Review Date: 2001-09-01
Masterful music in a high quality book and at a more-than-reasonable price. Do not delay in acquiring this score.
Wonderful book to have if you like to singReview Date: 1998-11-07

Review of Metal Generation by Darryl KeckReview Date: 2008-09-15
I ate right thru this book the first night I received it. The first 20 or so pages are literally falling out and need to be clipped in place now.
I have suggested it to others on an internet metal radio station. A few have also picked up copies and are also enjoying reading it. You will not be disappointed if you pick up a copy for yourself.
If you are into great music....Review Date: 2008-05-07
A MUST READReview Date: 2008-03-07
Metal GenerationReview Date: 2008-02-21
Darryl Keck's Book Is Great, Because It's Written By One Of Us!Review Date: 2008-01-02

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Lashawn Nicole(I am)Review Date: 2006-02-02
Very creative!Review Date: 1999-06-03
IT IS AWESOME!!!!Review Date: 1999-03-14
Lauryn your book is great keep up the good work!Review Date: 1999-07-04
"Queen of the Hill"Review Date: 1999-09-01

Used price: $3.25
Collectible price: $27.50

Between Lomax , Morton and the TruthReview Date: 2007-08-12
Unlike many works that Alan Lomax had has hand in, this book is great reading, if nothing more. I am not known to be a fan of Alan Lomax and his father as my review of _The Land Where the Blues Began_ attests, but at least Lomax realized what a treasure Jelly Roll Morton was and interviewed him and also had Morton create hours and hours of singing and piano music.
This book offers a digest of hours and hours of interviews with Morton in the late 1930s when Morton was living in Washington. It is supplemented by some very useful interviews Lomax did with New Orleans musicians and their families in the late 1940s. The New Orleans interviews provide very useful direct source material about the social and culture and professional milieu that both Creole and Black musicians in New Orleans Sprang from. A recently written criticial review by a real scholar at the close of the book explains the great limitations of Lomax's selections and writngs here.
Lomax apparently knew little about the real history and processes of New Orleans jazz and life, so that a lot of questions that someone interest in Morton's impact on music are not asked, not just in what Lomax selected to put in this book, but in the larger transcripts of Lomax's interviews and in the monologues Morton dictated to a stenographer as part of this project. Lomax's tendency is to seek out non-musical issue his stereotypical images of Blues and Jazz musicians call forth. This is quite unfortunate because to the end of his life, Morton had a very sophsiticated and articulate understanding of music and was capable of serious discussion of jazz and blues in formal musical terminology. He was a person who seriously thought about music most of the time when he was not playing it.
Recently scholars with new information drawn from new discoveries of Morton's personal archives, correspondence, and musical library as well as the range of interviews with other musicians tend to verify much of what as thought of after these intervews as bragadoccio. Morton probably was the first person to produce written compositions that were Jazz as opposed to rag time. He was certainly playing and writing down blues compositions before Handy. Even the greatest of early Jazz Pianists like James P. Johnson affirmed that both in the days before WWI and in the 1920s Morton outplayed all the great Jazz Pianists.
The examination and performance of the music that Morton wrote in the late 1930s indicates that Morton had not only mastered composition and band arrangement in a style that would have surpassed the most surpassed swing of his day but had written orchestral pieces that prefigured the modal Jazz that Coltrane and others presented in the 1950s. These and other compositions indicate that whatever the fortunes of his public performances, Morton was a serious composer whose skills continued to advance even in his last years when his health collapsed.
Yet flagged by failing health, Morton was never able to organize an orchestra that could have played these pieces. He had been told that he could have lived ten or fifteen more years had he given up performing music, but he wanted to make his music more than he wanted to live.
Finally, Morton WAS cheated out of millions of dollars in royalties by the music industry, especially by the Melrose Brothers and by ASCAP. He was one of the first musicians to challange the way the Mafia-connected music publishers simply robbed musicians of their compositions or did not pay them. Unlike some musicians who suffered quietly or WC Handy who was one of the token Blacks ASCAP paraded around to hide its racism, Morton launched a public campaign in Downbeat and other Jazz magazines that exposed the crimes of ASCAP and music publishers like Melrose.
Until the mid 1940s, ASCAP which collected royalties for compositions from record producers, radio, night clubs, and other places where music was played had a racist setup. Few Black members were admitted although royalties were collected for their music. Morton carried out a public and legal campaign for years to be admitted to ASCAP even though it was collecting millions for the large number of his compositions that had become great hits in the swing era, like the King Porter Stomp that became a standard that any competent string band cut its teeth on.
Once inside ASCAP, he found ASCAP distributed its royalties not based on the money different songs brought royalties but on what a board of ASCAP leaders decided was the cultural worth of different kinds of music. Thus while Broadway and classical writers were getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalty payments, Morton received under 200 dollars each of the two years he was living and a member of ASCAP. Morton protested and exposed this publically in the last years of his life and attempted to gather other victims of this system in a law suit. While he was dying and unable to carry on this struggle, his protests and the information he gathered led to congressional investigations in the 1940s that forced an end to discrimination in ASCAP in regard to membership and forced it to distribute royalties based on the sales of the music, not on its "value."
The issue of braggadocio also comes here from the fact that Lomax supplied Morton with a bottle of whiskey for each Interview. Morton was not an alcholic, but those who have studied the transcripts have noted that Morton grew more inaccurate, abrasive, and unreliable longer into the interviews as the booze took effect.
This fits into Alan Lomax's consistent pattern of trying to make sources, particularly Black sources fit into the stereotypes he had about them. Lomax who took many photographs of his folk sources, for example, would force people who preferred being photographed in the Sunday Best, to appear in old work clothes. While Leadbelly actually favored the finest suits and imposed a dress code on Sonny Terry and Brownie MCGhee when they roomed at his New York Home (suits and ties as musicians are professionals and get a case, not a sack for the instrument) Lomax forced him to perform in prison garb or overalls. Lomax also created the fiction that singing and the intercession of his father John Lomax had some relationship with Leadbelly being released fromthe Louisiana penitentary when Leadbelly was released as part of program that automatically reduced prison sentences due to depression-caused cutbacks.
Lomax wanted precisely to convey a picture of Morton filled with whiskey, smokey rooms, and so forth, when Morton was one of the biggest stars of music between 1917 and 1930, performing in some of the most sophisticated venues and a particular favorite with Hollywood film stars of the period.
Despite these criticisms, I urge anyone interested in finding out not only about Jelly Roll Morton, but about the origins of Jazz in New Orleans and the entertainment industry in the earkly 20th Century to read this book. A good supplement, or perhaps a better place to start would be _Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton_ by Howard Reich. This can be followed by _Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West by Phil Pastras_.
What a character!Review Date: 2004-12-11
awesomeReview Date: 2000-07-26
You can almost smell the smoke in the back roomsReview Date: 2002-12-09
An incredible book!Review Date: 2003-01-11
Written with flair and never boring, Mr. Jelly Roll is a book that you will read more than once. Its a look at a legend and a glimpse into a world we can only know of through books and music. Get this if you want a good read and a look at Mr. Morton's life. A true classic.

Used price: $480.00
Collectible price: $800.00

A bible to the Mod movment!Review Date: 1999-08-26
An aphorism for clean living under difficult circumstancesReview Date: 2002-04-30
A reportage from the past with fresh and amazing photos, but you'll find that style is not a fashion!
Five stars is my rating, but is not an impartial one!
Smashing Book of Mods!Review Date: 1998-11-04
The classic book on the 60's Mod movementReview Date: 1998-10-07
Mods! Still Modern As Ever!Review Date: 2001-06-24
Related Subjects: Nature Writing Western Romance Historical Fiction Fantasy Horror Science Fiction Cyberpunk Espionage and War Mystery Humorous Fiction Inspirational Fiction
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