Not an Ordinary Day Nor Ordinary Sheet Music

I must admit that I am no expert at playing the piano, intermediate level at the most. But what I love the most about this songbook is that is has a wide array of levels to play. I started with the first one in the book, "Ordinary Day" (which is also in the key of C Major), and managed to learn the whole thing with ease. But then when I look further into the book, I know I'll be challenged beyond what I am used to. Some of the songs have challenging rhythms, and they may be difficult to master at first, but it is well worth it.

The problem with some sheet music for popular music is that it ends up far from the original. Often, the melodies are overused compared to the original piano part the artist plays. The transcriptions in this songbook are incredibly close to the original, with a few exceptions. The biggest exception I noticed was with "Pretty Baby", and it is pretty much only the melody. Sorry to disappoint.

Overall, this songbook is not a bad one to add to your collection. In fact, it's now one of my favorites (for me it ties with Five For Fighting's songbook "A Battle for Everything").

Real rock piano not for lightweights

People are right to compare Vanessa Carlton to Ben Folds, and what you get here is a fantastic songbook that stays true to the original music. Unlike many pop-rock sheet music, this gives you like 90 percent (see exceptions below) of the original sheet music editions from the "Be Not Nobody" CD, not a washed up melody-driven easy-piano like transcription. So what you get is pretty much what Vanessa plays on her CD -- not always the melody, but the piano accompaniment. The REAL piano accompaniment. Because you're not just playing the melodies, songs can sound repetitive, and the rhythms are some of the hardest I've seen -- but you're considering buying this because you want the real deal, right? And this is the real deal.

However, I am rating it four stars because there are 1.5 disappointments: the transcription of Pretty Baby is washed-out, just the straight melody. No lovely piano intro, none of the lovely piano background you hear on the CD. Just a melody. The other partial disappointment is "Unsung" -- the music is written a half step lower than recording. So it's sorta in a different key. (Otherwise "Unsung" still sounds fantastic.)

Otherwise, I really want to give this five stars because for once, you are getting the real music that Vanessa plays on the CD. Because the songs' music notes in the book are more accompaniment than melody, they tend to sound naked -- so I suggest playing them with the CD or if you have a good singing voice, singing along.

If you like just "A Thousand Miles," don't just buy the sheet music for that song. For a few dollars more, I recommend buying this whole book. "Ordinary Day," "Rinse," "Paradise," "Wanted" are each songs you have to play on the piano and to do that you have to get this book. And the whole thing is 80 pages which is a great value for the price you pay. Vanessa's lesser second album, "Harmonium," unfortunately was watered down in its sheet music transcription.

For you guitar players, the book includes the guitar chords and diagrams.

This refers to the edition published in 2002, but I can't imagine they changed much for this new 2004 edition.

awesome!

I love that Vanessa's songs are more complex than a lot of modern pop music. That's definitly why I like her music!

Carlton does not disappoint

Vanessa's songs are very creatively written. With this book, you can teach yourself all of the songs from her debut album Be Not Nobody. There are 11 songs including:

1. Ordinary Day
2. Unsung
3. A Thousand Miles
4. Pretty Baby
5. Rinse
6. Sway
7. Paradise
8. Prince
9. Paint It Black
10. Wanted
11. Twilight

The songs have some difficult rhythms, but overall the songs are not too complicated (I have been playing piano for 5 years, By The Way). Three of the songs are written in C Major. Guitar chords and piano chords are included, as well as vocals. This is a great buy! I love the CD, and now I can play all of the songs with it!

perfect

this book is absolutely perfect for playing nessa...Of course the songs are very complicated and should be played by an advanced person...:P But, this book is great.

It has all the chords and vocals...I really enjoyed it and I think anyone would be happy with it. ^_^