Product Description

DR JOHN TEACHES NEW ORLEANS PIANO VOL.3 ÕSANCTIFYING THE BLUESÕ IS A CONTINUATION OF VOL. 1 AND 2 OF THE SAME TITLE. IN THE BOOK, DR JOHN GUID ES THE PLAYER THROUGH VARIOUS BLUES RIFFS ON THE KEYBOARD AND GIVES THEM A CHA NCE TO APPLY THE TECHNIQUE WITH THE ACCOMPANYING CD.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #400551 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 40 pages

Customer Reviews

Fabulous piano solos for the advanced pianist or fan
Just love this 3 volume book/CD set of Dr. John, sitting at a piano just playing and talking about the music. You will not find a structured teaching course in the blues here - There are no "lessons", just a virtuoso playing and speaking about what he does best. The accompanying book has many of the solos written out in standard musical notation (with chord symbols) along with excerpts of what the left hand is playing etc. It is by no means a complete and exact transcription of every note played on the CD, but it is very good. It will get you started on the road and is very helpful.
Be warned however: I have a degree in music and have played piano for 20 years, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to play like Dr. John. You really need to know music to get much out of it technique-wise. A solid background in theory is a great help in understanding what Dr. John is talking about when he refers to the chord structure / inversions/ substitutions/ progressions etc. If you are looking for a quick "play piano like Dr. John in 10 easy lessons" you will be sorely disappointed. There is a LIFETIME of material in these 3 volumes.
What I love about this book/CD the most is that it is all piano SOLO. I can really hear everything Dr. John is doing - you will never get that from his albums with a band backing him up. He does sing along with a few tunes, but it is 95% piano solo. I listen to it over and over and never tire of it - It is good enough to be a solo CD on it's own without the teaching aspect, and hearing Dr. John talk about his influences and the different styles is something I think any real fan would appreciate, even if they never intended to play a note on the piano.
Buy all 3 volumes - and then you'll go out and get the videos produced by the same folks so you can see how on earth anyone's fingers can play like that!

Mac Rebennack is not a teacher, he's the Nighttripper
Obviously you don't get here an easy "Dr. John for Dummies" just because this series of books is not made for the regular weekend piano-player. It is supposed to introduce the N'Awlins style of piano playing for the skilled blues/classical/something else pianist.

I've got the VHS versions and well before I got those I managed to learn some Dr. John's stuff by ear, like the "Honey Dripper" (in G, left hand boogie 5ths/6ths pattern) and I found it quite useful when I was learning his version of "Good Night, Irene" because I just couldn't figure out exactly what the left hand was doing, so I watched the video a couple times to get the left hand part and a couple more to get the right hand licks and it was done. Of course he won't play everything here in half-tempo and tell you to add a crushing f# to your g octave so it'll sound more Orleans. Hello, he's Mac Rebennack, aka Dr. John the Nighttripper, he isn't your piano teacher.

Well, you should get this if you are a Dr. John fan or if you are really into blues piano, but don't think this will make you a Professor Longhair. This is an aid, not a pair of crutches.

You call this teaching?
Dr. John is one amazing piano player. You'll certainly be thoroughly impressed with his trills and lightning quick fingers. BUT WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL HIM TO SLOW DOWN A LITTLE? What's the point of teaching if all he does is play at mach speed? He can't help but add his fancy touch, which is fine for a performance, but not for a "lesson." And when you do hit the right notes it doesn't sound the same anyway. Unless you have some way of playing this CD in half speed I would not recomend this so-called "lesson" book unless you want to be screaming at the thing like I am to "slow down superstar." The book does however give a good basis for New Orleans blues and you get hear some cool stories. This guy should stick to performing. I'd hate to hear how patient he must be in volume 3.