Jazz Philharmonic: Cello (Making Jazz Easy in the String Orchestra) [Student Edition] [Paperback] Review

I'm very pleased with this.I'm only just now starting to learn how to play the cello and this starts out with a jazz piece that simple enough that even I can play.The first piece plays like three notes, then skips a measure and plays three more, and so on, so you have plenty of time to compose yourself between measures and don't feel rushed.The first exercise also plays a scale in a very nice 'musically sounding' way that actually sounds like jazz complete with a backing track.So you feel like your playing jazz even when practicing the scale.

The music is also quite complete.There are three Bass Cleff Staves.The top staff has the cello pieces you are learning.The second staff has the background bass which is being plucked and could be played by another cello, a double bass, or a bass guitar.So it comes with the music for the bass part too.

The third staff, also written in the bass cleff, contains the more-advanced cello solos.In fact, it took me a while to figure out what was going on.The lessons start out with the easier top cello line.Then proceeds playing more advanced stuff.I thought he was just doing his own thing after the lesson, but now I realize that he's playing the more difficult second solo part shown on the third staff.So it's all written down.

These are nice because the backing tracks aren't too overly crowded instruments either, just piano and drums and they are totally in the background just for accompaniment.

Also, every piece has a "prepartory lesson" before the actual piece is played.The preparatory lessons start out with the scale for that piece, then the scale is played with double notes (not double stops), just each note of the scale bowed twice. But it's done in a very nice rhythm that feels like playing jazz.Then the exercise moves on to "call backs" where the cello plays a measure, then you repeat it in the next measure and so-on.Each measure is designed to match various phrases of the piece.So then when you go to play the piece you've already played most of it during the prepartory exercise.

It's a really well-constructed book and CD.I highly recommend it for anyone starting out on the cello (assmuing you have the preliminaries out of the way).It doesn't start from scratch.In fact, this stuff gets pretty complicated too so it's not just for beginners I'm sure.But it's working well for me.It starts out simple enough that a new cello player could definitely get a handle on it quickly.You can always play the easier parts and just ignore the more advanced stuff because it basicaly plays the easy piece first, and then does it again more advanced.So you can just go as far as you're comfortable with and basically play the whole piece at that level.

For more advanced cello players there's probably a lot to learn here too, there are techniques going on in the advanced stuff that I have no clue how to do, but that's ok, if I learn all these pieces just on the simpler level I'll be happy for now.

The cello part can be tuned out if you have a balance control on your CD and you can practice whatever level you are comfrotable with with the backing track.The music is such that you keep repeating phrases that you've already learned.Or you can move on to the more the complicated way of playing them.

I think this is a good lesson plan that can be helpful to a lot of cello players on many different levels.I'm very happy with it.

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Product Description:
Jazz Philharmonic is a series of original jazz compositions offered in a carefully constructed pedagogical order.All of the tunes, backgrounds and solos are self-contained performance vehicles.Absolutely no improvisation is necessary for the successful use of this book!Development of some skill with improvisation will be a natural result of its use.The accompanying Compact Disc creates a great avenue for beginning improvisation as well as playing some great jazz tunes.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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