Blues Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Book/Online Audio) (Keyboard Instruction) (Includes Online Access Code): The Complete Guide with Audio!

I am a late starter on piano and like many others I imagine, have purchased numerous books trying to find the easiest and quickest way to success. After 9 months, I realise there is no easy way, it is purely by dedication and hours of practise that anything worthwhile is achieved.Having said that I have found that this book has made me want to stick at it and work steadily and methodically through it instead of dipping in and out of numerous others and I am really enjoying it.The accompanying cd is great as you can hear all exercises as they should sound and I like the way Mark takes you steadily through the left hand (you need to really work on this as it pays dividends later) before introducing the "interesting stuff" with the right hand. I try to practise everything I have learned daily before adding another exercise and have found that by doing this I am making good steady progress (my wife said she thought she heard Jools Holland in the front room the other day!) I don't generally write reviews but felt that this was well worth it. If you want to learn to play the blues while learning lots of interesting bits along the way, buy this book, I'm sure you won't regret it. JN.

I love buying music books, and over the years I've acquired lots of guitar and piano books, CDs and DVDs covering a broad range of styles. Their quality and ease of use can be surprisingly variable, but this particular one I think is excellent for learning blues piano. I tried Tim Richards' Improvising Blues Piano first, but found that hard going. Harrison* just has a knack of putting together achievable exercises with good, straightforward advice (though see the discussion I've started....) So far, even though I'm doing exercises I feel like I'm playing listenable pieces - in fact, playing the blues! I'd happily recommend this one.* One of his other books - Stuff Piano Players Should Know - is also worth buying.

This is an excellent value, well presented package, broken down into manageable chunks and the link between the CD and book is straightforward (much better than other book / CD sets I have) so you can hear what you should be playing, which is often an aid to learning in itself - especially when you're trying to get the timing and rhythm of a piece right.One of the joys of blues piano is that it is accessible to new starters as even simple compositions can sound ... bluesy. However, you should know that you need to be able to read music to use this book - or at least be able to figure out the notes before playing them. Having seen learner books jam packed with notes for where your fingers should be, names of notes and key diagrams, I much prefer just to see the notation and go from there (and I've been learning for about 2 months).

I came to the piano as a person who plays guitar reasonably well by ear.I can read music (though not note timings) and so didn't have the problem of not being able to read music at all. IF YOU CAN'T READ MUSIC DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. The piano is, after all, a musical instrument so personally, I don't regard this as a limitation.This book has given me hours of pleasure - the samples are spot on, as is the progression through the book and I really enjoy playing this stuff (I'm on about page 55).Every other book I've bought has just kind of lost me at one stage or another but this one has kept me interested from the first page and I've never been left feeling that I don't know what to do next. But be under no misapprehension - you will have to practice hard - particularly the left hand stuff.Really the best fun I've had at the piano with my clothes on - Ok, I've never had any extra fun at the piano witout them on but you get the idea.

I have not started the lessons yet but it looks comprehensive and well structured. Will post more once I have had a play.

This book was great. It really helped me to expand and broaden my horizons and was laid out really nicely. The cover is also really glossy. The book is divided up into sections or 'lessons' and there is an accompanying cd with backing tracks and stuff.I can now play a basic 12 bar blues in every key signature and much more besides. And to think those music teachers said I would never amount to anything. Thanks Mark Harrison!I did have some difficulty, however, in getting the book to stay open on various keyboards.

I bought this for my niece who is starting to get very good at piano and guitar and was looking for a new style of music to play. This was a great book as it takes you through the mentality of blues from the start with a logical approach. Very detailed and easy to follow, the cd included is also a great addition to help learning. She loves it and will one day be a great musician.

Looking through it, it looks very thorough. Looking forward to working through it.