Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OSCAR PETERSON - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes & Pieces

Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes & Pieces for Piano 2nd edition. Hal Leonard publishers.

http://www.amazon.ca/Oscar-Peterson-Exercises-Minuets-Etudes/dp/0634099795

Seems several of us are working on this book, so why not have a thread about it - and then maybe someone will make a pretty box we can put in our siggy lines when we get through it!

I'm just starting, and Playing with Exercise N2 and Minuet N2.

Who's next?

I got exercise 4, 5 and 6 almost under my belt.
#5 probably needs a bit more work, I'm gonna start on the minuet of #6 in my next practise session this afternoon.

Didn't try any of the other minuets yet, might give them a go sometime depending on my experience with minuet #6.


They're really good exercises, and I actually tend to play them often when my friends or family ask me to play some piano for them, and so far everyone loves them. :p

Okay, both of you have convinced me that I should buy this book and join in. I will order from Amazon today.

Yeah! Glad you're joining in!


I order most of my English books from Amazon (UK) simply because they aren't available here - but for music I'm in heaven !!!!!!!

The amount of material that is available - and easy to get hold of - is mind boggling.

Next time I'm in the music shop I'll take pictures to give an idea of what is available -(If they will let me), it is UNbelievable.

It's funny that I saw this post this morning - I just ordered the Oscar Peterson book! Haven't seen the contents, but it sounded like a great addition to what I'm now doing.

So, who knows, I may be joining in here, too. I should have my book within a week.

Oh hey! I got a copy of that book a couple of years ago, when I was contemplating restarting on piano again. At the time, I thought I might try to branch out and learn jazz. But then, sort of by chance, I found a (classically trained) teacher I liked. She has assigned me a steady diet of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. And so, Oscar Peterson got placed on the back burner.

Since then, I've occasionally broken the book out to practice sight-reading. I feel like I must be doing something wrong though -- everything I did just sounded kind of flat and un-jazzy. I don't think I can figure jazz out on my own, so I'm glad that you guys have started a thread on this book.

I might need to go look this book up. Oscar Peterson is one of my favourite artists of all time and both Night Train and Canadiana Suite are pretty high up on my list of albums I'd take to the desert island with me.

I've seen this book mentioned a lot and it intrigues me! Can anyone share how it's structured and what it entails? I'd be highly interested in joining the study group, but I just haven't seen it around anywhere.

The book has three sections: It begins with "exercises and minuets." Each pair of exercise/minuet introduces some particular concept (like the boogie woogie pattern). These are short (each pair takes up just a page). The minuet seems to be a slightly harder variation on the exercise. Then there is an "Etudes and Pieces" section. These are a little longer (a pair spans 2-3 pages), and they seem more complex. The third section is another set of (multi-page) exercises.

Here is an excerpt from the preface blurb that I found motivating:


I still feel pretty much hamstrung, but I hadn't really worked honestly and sincerely on these jazz exercises yet.

Thank you!

Are the excercises, etudes, and pieces progressively in more difficult order, or do they all just present a new idea? Is it something a beginner to jazz could work with, or is it more for an advanced student looking for technical work?

They do seem to get progressively harder. The first set seems more like it's just introducing ideas. I think this is a beginner book.

Thank you so much! I'll be ordering it tonight

Well, looks like we're off to a flying start!
The funny thing is that I am not a huge jazz fan by any stretch of the imagination - but I do love Oscar! When I saw the book, - and yes, it really IS a beginner, or at least low level book - I just couldn't resist.

I think we'll really get rolling in about 10 days or so when everyone's books start arriving from Amazon!

Woah, lots of people joining in I see! How very nice!

I gave minuet #6 a try yesterday, but it was rather difficult. I think I'm gonna save it for the weekend when I've got more time on my hands.
I think it's pretty manageable if I stay focused.

Exercise 3 page 8: I have to say that the first bar really stumped me on how to move my hand!

4 5 4 5 4 5 4 2
C D C A C D C A

The same patter is repeated in the first bar of the last line but the 4th note (the first A) is N2 finger. I wonder if the first is a typo?

That is definitely a typo... I'd say finger 2, just like it says later.

I felt it had to be, thanks for the confirmation!

I got my book today, yea! So what's the plan? Are we going to work on the same exercises, etc. or pick each others' brains? Post recordings?

I've only quickly scanned through the book, looks like it will be fun.

Don't forget to swing those notes!

I can't really work on the same exercises as you, since I don't have the actual book, just some copied pages my teacher assigned to me.

I can, of course, record those pages I do have! Here's a rather slow recording of #6 I made a while back.
http://www.box.net/shared/4c0v5j0dff



Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Don't really know why, guess I just like alternating.