Author: Karen Berger

ISBN: 1-59257-459-9

The following reviewi was contributed by: Kathryn Atwood: Click Here To View More Of Kathryn's   Reviews

Sometimes accomplished pianists don't have loads of extra patience for teaching,
well, idiots.  Not so Karen Berger, a pianist on the faculty of the Berkshire
Music School.  Berger's very enjoyable book, "Pocket Idiot's Guide to Piano
Chords," thoroughly presents the material necessary for a complete novice begin
to playing from a "fake" book (a book that contains a melody line for the right
hand and chord symbols for the left) with a large dose of patience and humor.

The book begins with chapters containing simple musical concepts such as note
reading and rhythm before moving quickly (but not too quickly) into chord
building, proceeding from simple triads to augmented, suspended, diminished
chords as well as a whole chapter on sevenths.  Since chordal knowledge is
absolutely fundamental to fake book playing, Berger includes an illustration and
explanation of "the circle of fifths," an indispensable visual tool for
navigating the relationships between the chords usually found together in one
song.

The easy-to-understand text is dotted with very helpful explanatory boxes (in
the tradition of "Idiot's Guide" books) with such titles as "Practice Makes
Perfect," "Universal Language," "Music to Your Ears."  Each chapter ends with
"The Least You Need To Know" - the summation points of that chapter's
information.  Appendices include a glossary, as well as scales and chord
listings.

A book that takes the reader from a simple five tone C-D-E-F-G scale to a 12-bar
blues pattern in a mere 185 easy-to-understand pages is quite an accomplishment.
"The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Piano Chords" really packs an educational punch and
will be helpful, not only to those trying to learn chordal techniques
themselves, but will also be of great assistance to those who teach these
concepts to others.