Hal Leonard Dick Hyman's Century Of Jazz Piano Transcribed!

It is for advanced pianists. You need to read music well. Excellent combo (video and book) for the history of jazz from the musician point of view.

This is an extraordinary work. It is like taking master classes with Dick Hyman on the development of jazz piano. You get examples of multiple piano styles and Dick’s comments (often humorous) on them. I learned from just watching him attack the keys. The work is transcribed completely, and often has fingering for playing fast runs. This work is so unusual and good that it could be a model for teaching other subjects. This book is not for beginners, but it would make a good gift for a teenager who was an intermediate to advanced pianist, because it shows what can be done with various styles of piano playing.Note to the author: Dick, I know that this might be a bit tame for you, but would you create a similar book on cocktail piano in the same style, giving your thoughts, how you think about playing technique, about chord substitutions, etc.? That would be another wonderful work. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

A great companion for the CD set even if you can't play piano as well as Mr. Hyman. Since that group consists of every other human on the planet there is quite a large market for these transcriptions. It is wonderful to be able to see how some of the most famous sounds or "tricks" translate into or from notation. Work up some of these arrangements and you will be a better pianist.

A great accompaniment to his Century of Jazz series

This book and DVD are a treasure for anyone interested in ragtime, stride, and jazz piano styles. The author demonstrates analyzes and deconstructs the devices and techniques of many of the great jazz pianists as well as the history and evolution of piano styles in general. Everything he shows you on the dvd is also transcribed in the book. For a beginner you could watch this a few times just to see the landscape of what is possible and what has been done before and intermediate to advanced players can pick up lots of good technique tips. The 2 hour dvd alone would be worth the price of admission but having the transcriptions along with the dvd really makes this a great value. The author is an amazing piano player in his own right. Highly recommended. Like the other reviewer I own a lot of piano learning material and this package stands out as a real gem.