For the price you get six jazzy pieces, tips, explanations and exercises, a CD, and the iconic Mr Cullum sharing the secrets of his technique and style. This did not mean much to me, but it meant much more to some of my teenage boy pupils. Goodness, how they loved it! How would you like to play the piano like James Cullum? is the headline sentence and the answer was invariably yes. The book is aimed at Grade 2-4 standard pupils, but I used it for some grade 5-level pupils who had not played much jazz but wanted to. Jamie Cullum breaks down six songs including: I Get a Kick Out of You and What a Difference a Day Made. He explains jazz and pop techniques and improvising, and breaks each piece into short exercises to teach it. The CD has examples of the exercises, complete performances and backing tracksit is an excellent book which should encourage quite a few piano students to explore this jazzy musical style.
Music Teacher Magazine Products and Reviews Supplement 2012
There are already a number of music books that cater for those wanting to play Jamie Cullums music, but this is the only one also marketed as a jazz and pop styles tutorial..Each arrangement is introduced by a brief lesson or two on such topics as swing rhythm, chords and improvisation relevant for the arrangement that follows. The content is demonstrated on the accompanying CD, so you can easily check if youre getting it right..The arrangements are well written for players at this early-intermediate level, containing no unnecessary difficulties or passages that require disproportionate effort to express their musical purpose.
Pianist Magazine, February/March 2011
