Play What You Hear: Thoughts

[FatJeff]

Looked at my friends copy. It's a pile of crap.

Wow, what a well-thought out response. Very helpful.

[Rickh]

Ok Mr. Sarcy. Having another read through it now. The first part is major scale exercises from scratch (over 60 pages of major scale patterns.) Then a short section on harmony.

Then it's book 2. Not too bad, a generic jazz method. Many licks and melodic patterns. The bulk of it is eighth note II V I licks just like the Aebersold II V I book. There are 8 examples over jazz standards at the end.

It's not a bad book as a generic method book and it's good that it's guitar specific. It would be ok for a beginner but absolutely no use to a nearly graduated jazz masters degree student. The music examples are so pixelated/low res that it's uncomfortable to read, pretty lazy. To be honest the main issue is that there is nothing specific in it or at least no revelations about ear training so the title is all hype. $97 is a lot of money for a tatty pdf and some poor playalong tracks.

There's so much better stuff out there, like the Bergonzi series.

[Rickh]

P.S. It's funny how two people here have bought it and can't even remember the book

[richard vandyne]

hey Bluewater- I didn,t answer your first reguest for info on this program but now i have some current info that may be helpful. This is my story. About a year ago i purchased this program and was really at the beginnings of my jazz quest so i really didnt have a real appreciation for the material I let the program sit all this time and to be real honest with you-I wasn,t very impressed although i really didn,t have the experience to judge it fairly. recently I wanted to look over the program again since you brought it up and to my surprise-there is a new program out and since i was an original purchaser i recieved the new updated version and am pleased w/what i see.All the lessons in the program have a musical example to hear and also a way for the learner to play along.THis is great for me because now i can more understand what the lesson is trying to get across.As the program says-it is more geared to the intermediate player than to the really advanced because they are trying to bring the player along slowly and give them a good understanding of how jazz is put togeather. further along in the program it seems to get very complicated.Covers a lot of material and is teaching you how to use your ears to help you improvise. If i am not mistaken they will give you your money back if you are not happy with it. For me I am getting an awful lot of information that i havent been able to get anywhere else and at a decent price. You seem to be well on your way to playing but there is always something to learn and help you along on the journey. Not trying to influence you one way or the other so its your call.If you need anything else don,t hesitato to ask>