Blues, Boogie, Gospel

As a continuation of Wolfgang Fiedlers “Piano Book Basics“, the author has written 3 piano books containing additional playing material which can be used parallel to “Piano Book Basics” and which focus on special topics. Each piece also comes with a reference to the according theory chapter in “Piano Book Basics”.

In the book “Blues, Boogie, Gospel” (610147) you will find seven pieces which teach the feeling and the characteristic features of Afro-American music. All pieces are notated as a lead sheet and in classical notation. Some pieces also contain suggestions for improvisation. Every piece contains a short summary of the technical focus points. In this way, the pianist will learn binary and ternary rhythms, how a pentatonic scale can be used as a melody and how many harmonized lines can form a melody.

The books “First Solo“ (610154) and “Advanced Solo“ (610159) both deal with the special meaning of the term SOLO Piano which developed over the course of the development of modern jazz. It involves the pianist increasingly ‘liberating’ their improvisational playing by being in a band or by accompanying other soloists, where their playing no longer functions as an accompaniment. However, to become a master of improvisation the pianist needs playing experience and technical abilities. Pupils will learn both in these two books. The pieces are own compositions of various styles. Alongside classic, romantic and contemporary entertainment music, the pieces combine folklore, jazz and pop elements. The 13 pieces in “First Solo” can be played without improvisation, yet they lay the groundwork for improvisation by introducing harmonic analyses, explanations about melodic audio material and examples of variations, all of which can be used in the 10 pieces in “Advanced Solo”.

These pieces are rounded off with instructions for your own improvisation studies and explanations about scales and playing techniques.