A Lesson With Steve Allen: An Introduction to Jazz Piano

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Starring: Steve Allen
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: Homespun Tapes
Release Date: 2004-08-31
One of America's most beloved entertainers divulges his personal tricks of the trade (trills, octave vibrato, "fake runs," blues riffs etc.) and shows you how to build arrangements and spice up jazz pieces with a variety of easy techniques.

In his only instructional lesson, Steve Allen covers basic blues, boogie woogie, stride, walking basses, the use of 10ths, descending bass lines and more, while he plays and analyzes "Honeysuckle Rose," "Spring Is Where You Are," "I'm Confessin' That I Love You," "You Can Depend On Me," "A Time For Love" and other jazz standards.

You'll get inside tips about the musical contributions of several jazz masters too, including Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and Art Tatum in Steve's entertaining and informative overview of jazz piano. A great springboard to further jazz studies!

Interesting but too brief
I found this video interesting because I used to like watching Steve Allen on TV years ago. Pay attention to the word "Introduction" in the DVD's title. The 80-minute DVD left me wanting a lot more material to work on. Steve has large hands and made liberal use of 10ths with his left hand. My hands are too small to play tenths, so many of the songs I can't play. Steve mentions other Homespun instruction tapes and working with a private piano teacher, so he obviously knows that his lesson is not enough. It comes with music shrunk down to about 75% and stuffed inside the DVD plastic box. It seems best suited as a motivational and informative video one would check out of a library to view once. It is enjoyable to watch.

Useful and entertaining
I enjoyed this DVD. Steve Allen is both funny and clear. He gives lots of little points that point us in the right direction. The video is crisp and you can see what his hands are doing. He touches on specific riffs, general principles, and who to listen to.

Intro to jazz piano playing
The late Steve Allen was a modern renaissance man or maybe just a jack of all trades in music and performing. He wrote and played popular jazz standards as well as being a funny comedian, an author, and a very likeable TV personality. In this DVD made from a 1994 tape he shares a lot of little 'tricks' which he either discovered or learned from the greats of jazz like Art Tatum and others.

I'm just a beginner in piano and I can't pick up eveything he is doing the first time going though this. It will be something you will want to go over many times. There are a lot of things here that if you go over them on your own or better with a teacher can make you sound a lot better than you are.

The DVD is divided into 33 sections of 2-3 minutes each so you can find any of tricks to go over easily.

Perfect for any jazz piano enthusiast or student
This DVD presents a great insight into the world of jazz piano. Taught by Steve Allen, this is a great how-to on the tips and tricks of being a successful jazz pianist. Includes a number of great arrangements of standards.