Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano - Volume 2 [Paperback] Review

Just love this volume 2 of a 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!

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Product Description:
Volume II teaches the piano student how to build a blues repertoire.Classic blues patterns and a myriad of embellishments are included.

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