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User Reviews about Jazz Theory Book

I am writing this review to point out that Mark Levine publishes TWO Jazz theory books " The Jazz Theory Book (1995)" and "The Jazz Piano Book (1989)." Amazon shows incorrect dates for these books. I purchased both here on Amazon. To my suprise, the two books are virtually the same with frequent identical paragraphs of text, illustrations, chapters, etc. Jazz Theory Book is essentially an update version of Jazz Piano Book. Both are superior well written music theory works but it is not necessary to own both. Either one of them is a must have for any aspiring Jazz pianist or theory hound. I am keeping the Jazz Theory Book since it is newer. I feel that Amazon or someone should point this 'duplication' out. -- 90% duplication of Mark Levine's other Jazz book

I'm primarily a guitarist, I learned to play blues by ear many years ago. But, as I grew more interested in playing jazz, it became clear that there were gaps in my knowledge that I wasn't going to get around by relying on my ear. This book has done an excellent job addressing those gaps.

It was not an easy book to get through. I don't have easy access to a piano, so playing many of the examples on the guitar didn't get the point across completely. Also, piano voicings and guitar voicings aren't ever going to match up completely. But, it was still a valuable experience. At some point I would like to go through the book again with a piano in front of me. In fact, I didn't absorb everything the first time through, I will no doubt read the book again anyway to pick up some of the loose ends.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the section on blues scales, things that I was familiar with. He was able to tie my understanding of the blues to a better understanding of jazz. I think I'll be a better blues player because of it.

I don't read standard music notation very well. I've seen some reviews where the use of standard notation was said to be a shortcoming of the book. I disagree. If you want to play jazz, learn to read music.

It's a challenging read, but worth all of the effort that I put into it. I expect it to also act as a long-term reference. If anything ever happens to it, I'll buy another copy. -- A remarkable achievement

The Jazz Theory Book is a excellent reference book. I was told by a few great guitarist that I should purchase the book if I want the complete information about Jazz. They were correct about the book. -- excellent reference

This book is simple, concise, to the point, and does not get overly verbose. This is probably the best music theory book I have seen. If you want to learn about chord structure and scale structure, this book is amazing. You will be reading chord changes after just reading the first couple of chapters. Excellent book! -- Great Book!

I still haven't finished the whole book, but up to now I find it so interesting and easy to read and study.

Because it is not only about theory, it is also about who and how is using this theory, in which context, in which song etc.

A great book if you want to have a great jazz theory guide. -- Great non-boring theory book