Reviews for Broadway by Special Arrangement (Jazz-Style Arrangements with a "Variation"): Piano Acc.

The average rating for Broadway by Special Arrangement (Jazz-Style Arrangements with a "Variation"): Piano Acc. based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-29 00:00:00 Steven Walker This is a must read for musicologists and really, anyone who likes world history and/or world music or even just a variety of their own country's music (even if you live in India, for example). Who know that yodelling was found in so many places around the world with so many variation? Pygmies in Africa, Continental Europeans (and not just those living in the Alps), herds people in various parts of Asia and more yodel. You got it right, that epiglottal switch from chest to head voice (although in the Pygmies it is done somewhat differently) isn't restricted to the Swiss, Germans and American country music. Move over The Sound of Music and LeAann Rimes, because jazz, blues, classical and a number of other types of music share the joy (I have had a semi-secret desire to learn to yodel just for fun in the shower which led me to finding this book--I can hear my family's reaction now--"Mom, are you okay? Should we call 911?"). While I found this book, for my personal interests, ranged from high interest to utter boredom, there is a plethora of information, and not just the history--info about musicians, recordings and more, from old music right on up to avante garde. One of my favourite aspects of this is how music grows as people borrow from all over the place, that you can find elements of this in a surprising number of genres. Even Weird Al has done some yodeling in a few of his parodies. And, if you're not reading the for some reading game or challenge, you can just skip around and read whatever catches your interest. Perhaps it's time to break out of your reading comfort zone and read some obscure world history.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-08-08 00:00:00 Amber Tissandier When I just picked up the book I had the bemused grin many people have that the author was talking about in the introduction. But with the reading it disappeared and I now have a lot of appreciation and respect for this music type. It really has a very rich history and spread all over the world which makes it so special. Bart Platenga created the first yodel book. He really made a big study on yodeling going through pretty much all of the continents. I really liked the part of each chapter where he was talking about the history and types of yodeling in this particular area, but towards the end the chapter became more like an encyclopedia listing a lot of artists and their life stories. North America has about 5 chapters dedicated to it and there it seems like each chapter has less of the information part and more of the singer profiles. To me this was kind of ruining the book which is the reason I have to take a few stars away. I think this book may be perfect for a yodel enthusiast who wants to find more artists and learn about them, but for someone like me the book would have been better if the portraits were cut short and all the musician listings would be just another appendix.