Product Description

Make your band better, or prepare yourself to join one! This sensational series lets you improve your intuitive sense of timing and improvisation, develop your technique and reading ability, and master your role in the groove. Play along with a Berklee faculty band on the accompanying CD, then play with your own band!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54917 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 130 pages

Review
"An effective way for you to read charts and play along with other musicians in a real-time playing environment." -- Jeff Berlin

"Teachers are invaluable, practicing by yourself is critical, but performing in a band is the most valuable experience of all." -- Gary Burton, Executive Vice President, Berklee College of Music

From the Publisher
The first-ever method that teaches you how to play in a rock band. Improve your improvisation, timing, technique, and reading ability, and master your role in the groove. Become the great keyboard player that everyone wants to have in their band.

Lessons throughout this book guide you through technique that is specific to playing keyboard in a contemporary ensemble. When you play in a band, your primary concern is chords how to read and play them, how to progress from one to the next, and how they interact with other instruments, melodically and rhythmically. Daily practice routines are designed for practicing by yourself or with other musicians. The accompanying CD features outstanding Berklee players and covers a variety of styles including rock, funk, jazz, blues, swing, and bossa nova.

Topics include:
- learning by ear
- theory and technique
- rhythmic interpretation
- improvisation
- comping
- reading
- song form
- interpreting lead sheets

This series coordinates methods for many different instruments, and all are based on the same tunes, in the same keys. If you know a guitarist, drummer, keyboardist, vocalist, horn player, etc., have them pick up the Berklee Practice Method for their own instrument, and jam together!

Customer Reviews

Great value
All that you need to get started with playing the keyboard in this great book.

Rock on
This is a great book for anyone that wants to play keyboards in a band. Unlike a lot of other "learn piano" books, this one is really light on the hand-holding at the beginning, which made me really glad. There is a decent amount of theory and it is presented early on, which I think is important.

I inadvertently found myself in an indie rock band not long ago and this book has helped me out considerably since it's much more practical than a lot of beginner's piano books. You will start learning to improvise and harmonize with other band members very early instead of playing yawn-inducing songs such as Ode to Joy.

Great beginners' book
To be honest, I was expecting a lot more from Berklee, and my expectations were probably unreasonable. I was expecting a more in-depth study of music theory and chord progressions, when what you end up with is a smattering of useful chords and simple lines to echo. The book is great for musicians that want to pick up a little keyboard on the side of their main instruments. However, for quasi-classically trained (Suzuki) pianists, the book is only an unneccessary reference (nice to have, but not essential). I'm planning on looking into the three-volume modern method from Berklee to see if it's more satisfactory (I'm betting that it will be).