PLAY LIKE ME: I GOT RHYTHM
Bill Susman
Bill Susman, nationally known arranger, teacher and composer designed the Play Like Me approach to help you learn to play great sounding modern arrangements of jazz classics like Manha de Carnaval and I Got Rhythm from easy to follow step-by-step multi-level video lessons. Unlike many piano systems that never teach you how to apply concepts, Bill shows you how to apply chord concepts to your favorite jazz songs. Learn what the chord symbols mean and how to build rich sounding open position chords that you hear all the great jazz pianists use. From the very start, you build chords you hear pros play all the time. Multiple levels of instruction introduce you to building chords with a step-by-step approach which is the essence to reading from a fake book. Over 2 hours of interactive video lessons teach you to play chords and melody notes in each measure of the song. Complete video chord tutorial shows you step-by-step how to build and play great sounding jazz chords from a fake book. Interactive menus allow you to go directly to specific measures so you can work at your own pace. Annotated on-screen animation shows each note as its played to help you properly position your hands on the keyboard. Great sounding contemporary arrangements for each song keep you sounding great. Multiple levels of instruction shows you how to progressively enhance jazz songs using added chord tones. 40+ page instruction guide provides a background of the song, chord tutorial, lessons and all lead sheets.
I Got Rhythm: Not only is I Got Rhythm one of the fundamental American classic songs, it is arguably one of the more important songs in the evolution of American jazz. Many great jazz artists such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Django Rheinhardt recorded both their own versions of the song and built totally new versions based on the changes from I Got Rhythm. More recently, contemporary artists have used this song as a vehicle for wide ranging jazz expressions. In fact, the chord changes to "I Got Rhythm" are so popular as a jazz framework that they have their own name, "rhythm changes." For any jazz piano player, a thorough understanding of rhythm changes is a must!
I Got Rhythm was written by the great George Gershwin for the 1930 Broadway production Girl Crazy starring Ginger Rogers. It was performed in the Broadway show by a new singer named Ethel Zimmerman. After her successful debut on Broadway in Girl Crazy, she went on to worldwide fame known as Ethel Merman. The original pit orchestra for the Broadway production featured a number of world-class jazz musicians including Benny Goodman.
Even though the song was recorded as a jazz piece by Ethel Waters in 1930, the origin of I Got Rhythm as a hot up-beat jazz tune may come from when producer John Hammond tried to get Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman to play together. Goodman resisted but finally relented to his old friend Hammond. Goodman counted off I Got Rhythm at a supersonic pace. Christian played the changes with no problem and just blew everybody away.
Ever since that first blistering jam session led by Goodman, I Got Rhythm has inspired multiple generations of jazz players who have loved to improvise over these great changes. Early versions of the song were recorded and made popular by Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, and Louis Armstrong.
In the 1940's, bebop emerged with small swing groups, playing up-tempo complex rhythms with more complex harmonies. As you can imagine, great songs by Gershwin and Cole Porter provided fertile ground for the great bebop improvisers. Their improvisations were based on scales implied by those chords, and the scales used included alterations such as the flatted fifth.
Many great jazz artists such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Django Rheinhardt recorded both their own versions of the song and built totally new versions based on the changes from I Got Rhythm. More recently, contemporary artists have used this song as a vehicle for wide ranging jazz expressions. In fact, the chord changes to "I Got Rhythm" are so popular as a jazz framework that they have their own name, "rhythm changes."
Retail Price: $21.95
Online Sale Price: $20.85
Product Details: DVD, Piano
Product Code: PLMI
This item usually ships within 5 to 7 business days.
What Are NTSC and PAL?What are NTSC and PAL?
- NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is a standard used in North America and Japan. It has the ability to display up to 525 lines of resolution on your television.
- PAL (Phase Alternating Line), a standard used almost everywhere else in the world, has the ability to display 625 lines of resolution on your television.
What DVD standard does my country use?
If you're in North America, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and parts of South America, you use NTSC. Most other areas of the world use PAL. Half of Brazil uses NTSC while the other half uses PAL-M. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay use PAL-N. The rest of the world uses mainly PAL.
What Does This Mean?
What this means is that if you live in a country that uses NTSC, only this format will be compatible with your player. If you live in a country that uses PAL, most likely only this format will work for you. However, there are many players that will play both formats. The best bet is to check the manual for your DVD player before making a purchase.
What Is the DVD Region System?
DVDs themselves are encoded for a specific region or indicated as 'all region.' On the back cover of many DVD packages, you will a find a region number (0 thru 6) placed inside an image of the Earth. This refers to which region the DVD is encoded for.
The geographical regions are as follows:
- REGION 0: ALL AREAS OF THE WORLD
- REGION 1: USA AND CANADA
- REGION 2: JAPAN, EUROPE, SOUTH AFRICA, AND MIDDLE EAST
- REGION 3: SOUTH KOREAN, TAIWAN, HONG KONG, AND SOUTH EAST ASIA
- REGION 4: AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CENTRAL AMERICA, MEXICO, AND SOUTH AMERICA
- REGION 5: EASTERN EUROPE, RUSSIA, INDIA, AND AFRICA
- REGION 6: CHINA
The way this works is that DVDs encoded for regions other than Region 1 cannot be played on a region 1 DVD player. In addition, DVD players marketed for other regions cannot play region 1 DVDs. All region (region 0) DVDs may be played anywhere in the world.
The region system was designed to protect copyright and film distribution rights in the sense that movie studios can dictate who can watch what and when.
Please note that there are code free or Universal DVD players on the market that will play any disc from anywhere. Most Home DVD players are subject to region code restrictions, but most computer DVD players will play any DVD.
