RB Keyboard: The Complete Guide with CD! (Hal Leonard Keyboard Style)

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

RB Keyboard book great for scales, 2007-05-12
Just the first 20 pages make the purchase worthwhile for beginners to playing keyboard for pop, rock or RB: an easy to understand overview of the scales for solos and fills.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Very competent but does not go far enough, 2007-03-19
Mark Harrison is one of the best teachers in keyboard style methods, perhaps even the best. His approach is always logical, playable and error free. Above all he explores styles quite deeply. This is far more than most other self-teaching approaches. Most books you get out there are shabby interpretations that are not researched, poorly fingered and don't touch on many aspects of the real thing. br / br /In this book Harrison takes you through a lot of styles and unpacks them so logically that you can see where all the periods or RB history fit in. Styles such as Memphis Soul and Neo Soul are presented so you understand them. br / br /However, I think in this book Mark Harrison often doesn't go far enough - the book is still basic, even if it is streets ahead of other method books. The style examples of Green Onions and Alicia Keys "Woman's Worth" are too basic. The originals are alive with feeling but the teaching arrangements seem to miss this. Also there isn't a deep enough exploration of each style - is Memphis Soul summarized in a half a dozen examples? br / br /Also the range of the keyboard is limited in the book; perhaps for teaching purposes (I think Mark does this in some other books as well). This leaves me wanting to know more - do all RB keyboard players always play these simple chord structures in the middle of the piano, or do they use the range and chord voicings in more interesting and expanded ways? I want to get more out of RB piano and play it like the best. br / br /I found the CD examples to be very dry and bland, although their accuracy is perfect. I would expect a superior rendition of the tracks with a decent recording ambience. After all I am trying to learn to play RB in the most musical way possible. You need to rock or be tender to do that - it is missing from the CD and I feel that an important part of the teaching is therefore lost. br / br /Other teaching books either present far too difficult and unstructured material and they end up on the bookshelf. Harrison's book and this particular one never have that problem - he really understands popular keyboards, probably better than anyone else. I do recommend this book to intermediate players, but it would be great if Mark added the extra level of keyboard mastery - some advanced techniques and voicing's, and a better CD. br /

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

GREAT book for aspiring RB composers and keyboardist., 2007-02-12
I wouldn't recomend this book for those without a solid knowledge of theory or notation but for those who have a moderate knowledge of both shouldn't hesitate to purchase this book. The aurthor breaks down the information into sections starting with the basics such as chord voicings, common RB chord types, and rythms. The accompnying cd also does a good job of illustrating the concepts aurally and does so with well known artist and songs from the different era's of RB. br / br /The era's from the 50's until today are covered and the piano arrangments are broken down into rhythm, chord type, and are all notated. Later in the book the aurthor brings everything together and breaks down whole tracks into sections (song structure) all the while explaining the contruction of the song (including other instruments). The cd presents all of these songs in an easy to understand fashion and further fleshes out the descriptions. br / br /Fully recomended for any aspiring musician or composer who wants further knowledge in the genre of RB.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

RB galour!, 2006-11-01
RB has always had a certain appeal to me, maybe it's just because it's something different, but this book breaks it down into an easy to understand format. As a mainly classical piano player, that is all I really feel comfortable playing, even though my listening enjoyments fill a broad spectrum. I have a few of the other books in this series and find them all great! This book includes important information about scales and modes, voicings, chords, inversions, comping, harmony, and much more. It goes through early RB, Motown soul, Memphis soul, Philly Soul, Funk, Disco, RB Ballads, Dance/Pop, and even into Neo-Soul. This book covers any generation that you may have grown up in and brings something new to the table for those just starting. The book moves quickly but provides the information that is important for those of us looking to play. It comes with a very handy CD which allows to hear what it's supposed to sound like. I highly recommend this book.