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Title: Modern Jazz Piano: A Study in Harmony by Brian Waite ISBN: 0-7119-0841-9 Publisher: Music Sales Corporation Pub. Date: 01 July, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (7 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Jazz Piano in a Nutshell
Comment: This is a really nice down to earth introduction to Jazz piano in that its very concise and has the meat and potatoes. ... the plus side of Waite's Modern Jazz Piano is that it is perfectly suitable for players just making the transition to Jazz piano. It is focused and to the point and easy to get through.

... if you're at the point where you can't really play play tunes from fake books (meaning to make up your own chord voicings and improvisations, and being able to do so in a systematic matter, not just by luck), then this book would be a great start.

Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent as a reference, but not a learn-and-play book
Comment: I feel a bit bad not rating this book a 5 standing on its own, but for my personal purpose, which is how-to/learn-and-play jazz books, this book serves only as an excellent theory coverage/reference. In other words, I read it lying in bed at night, but practice at the piano with some other book.

This distinction may be helpful to those of you trying to locate a good how-to-play book (refer, e.g., to Amadie's or Ferrara's for this purpose)

That said, Brian Waite's engineering training shows clearly through in this (small) compendium of chord fundamentals, harmony, voicing, and improvisation. It has the most systematic presentation I have ever seen in a jazz book. You will find a full enumeration of the scales and modes with all the notes and keys listed. You'll find 6 different typical sections of chord patterns that make up the 32-bar standards, that can be combined in various ways. Waite tells you how to tell that Cm6 in a song copy should have been written Am7(b5) in its proper root. Etc. It is well organized with lots of tables, and after a few scans, I understand the order enough to get to just the section I want. Like a dictionary, of sorts.

This is one reference I definitely keep within reach at the piano to find/confirm, in a minute, information that may be difficult or extremely tedious to look up elsewhere.

Rating: 4
Summary: For the eager, no frills, Jazz student
Comment: Brian Waite's Book definitely has its strengths. The book is concise and to the point but unfortunately almost to a fault. While I appreciate the clear layout and direct and unambiguous language, it would have been an even better book if it had more detials such as references to original modern jazz compositions.

The chapter on polychord tables, which the author admits should be used more as a reference guide, could have been compacted into a reference section at the back.

For a strict, no-fancy-frills introdution to Jazz theory there is no better book than this one. What the book sacrifices in terms of elaboration and detail, it makes up for in lucid, direct presentation and clear instruction. For a more detailed and expansive introduction however, a bigger book would be better.

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