Book Review: Shaken by Tim Tebow

Yes, I know this is a blog about music. Specifically, teaching the piano but I have also reviewed a few famous authors who are popular musicians... Blueprint by Kirk Franklin, Pop Piano Book, Power Chords and Beginning Jazz Keyboard.

Now, I've been given an opportunity to share my review of a new book from Tim Tebow. No doubt you have heard of this famous football star. I was reading towards the begin.ning of the book where he meets Alicia Keys and you know how I love her songs and you can find chord charts like No One, Unbreakable, You Don't Know My Name and A Woman's Worth.

Perhaps you've experienced rejection with label recording. Maybe your heart has been broken with a failed marriage or your band broke up and all your dreams are shattered. Take heart, this book is for you!

My Review

"Shaken Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life's Storms" byTim Tebow is an encouragement to us all! The author's second book points us to discovering our true identity in the midst of life's storms. From my past experiences in talking with Junior Seau and John Carne of the San Diego Chargers, I have not felt such warmth and compassion (like a young Timothy in the Bible) sharing from his heart the ups and downs he has experienced lately. Folks, this superstar in just like you and me.

To say everyone loves Tim Tebow is simply not true. The media went after him for 'taking the knee,' and I can recall numerous intense negative reports. What I found by Tim's example in facing the darts 'on print' and through the airwaves was to take heart and be strong. Knowing that all the shattered dreams (the high and low days) were working for his good in trusting Christ. The 'nay-sayers' cannot extinguish the light shining through Tim.

In my opinion, the book should be required reading for everyone. It's about character building. It's about not letting success or failure define you but knowing who you are in Him and following God's plan (what really matters). I admire Tim's convictions and there are many lessons from the book that I can apply to my own faith journey as well. 

I'm happy the Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is receiving more accolades in sports, playing pro baseball. Truly, he is getting the nod of approval from the Lord in fulfilling his destiny in sharing the gospel of Jesus to the world. Well done, Tim!

5/5 stars. Highly recommend. He hit the ball out of the park with this one!

Shaken by Tim Tebow

My Favorite Review

“Shaken is everyone’s story. All of us know what it is to experience the best of days and the lowest of days. For Tim, he’s lived those days in public. I have the privilege to call Tim my friend and can tell you that with him, what you see is what you get, which seems rare these days! I appreciate how real and raw Tim is with his own struggles. In Shaken you will find great encouragement for your own life and faith.”
—Chris Tomlin, worship leader and songwriter

My Favorite Chapter

We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in irst stepwhatever time He chooses to make it available. but this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith. -- Charles Swindoll

My Favorite Line

"God is greater than your heart."

About The Book

Who are you when life is steady? 
Who are you when storms come?
 
Most of us have been on the receiving end of rejection, a broken dream, or heartbreak. And while this is not an easy space to go through, when we are grounded in the truth, we can endure the tough times.
 
In this powerful book, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow passionately shares glimpses of his journey staying grounded in the face of disappointment, criticism, and intense media scrutiny. Following an exceptional college football career with the Florida Gators and a promising playoff run with the Denver Broncos, Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. He was released after one season. 
 
In Shaken, Tebow talks about what he’s learned along the way, building confidence in his identity in God, not the world. This moving book also features practical wisdom from Scripture and insights gained from others who have impacted Tebow in life-changing ways. 
 
Though traveling hard roads is not easy, it’s always worth it!

Shaken

About the Author

Tim Tebow is a two-time national champion, first round NFL draft pick, and Heisman trophy winner. After playing in the NFL for the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets, Tebow joined the SEC Network. In addition to his role on SEC Nation, the network's traveling road show, Tebow also contributes to a variety of other ESPN platforms. Through everything, Tim's true passion remains the work of the Tim Tebow Foundation which he began in 2010. The foundation's mission is to bring Faith, Hope, and Love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The foundation is fulfilling that mission everyday by serving thousands of deserving children around the world.

A.J. Gregory is known for over thirty-five book collaborations, some New York Times bestsellers, with fascinating high-profile figures from celebrities to scientists. She is also the author of two books, Messy Faith and Silent Savior, which chronicles finding faith in the middle of unavoidable and sometimes harsh realities. A.J. calls New Jersey, and her husband and three kids, home. Learn more at www.ajgregorybooks.com.

Two reasons why you should buy a copy (or two) of Shaken today:

1) Shaken is a great read! Get the scoop on Tim's time in the NFL...some of the challenges he's faced...and how his identity has stayed grounded in in God and not in this world!

2) Shaken makes the perfect gift! Give the gift of faith, hope, and love to your son, daughter, mom, dad, grandparent, coach, teacher, pastor, minister, neighbor, or friend!



New from Tim Tebow, Shaken. Get the book!!

Follow Tim Tebow on FaceBook.

Thank you, WaterBrook Multnomah for the privilege of receiving a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to Daniel Decker for the opportunity to be on the promotional team!


Love the book! What a great role model!


-- LadyD

 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Book Review: Beginning Jazz Keyboard

In my music library, I own Noah Baerman's book,

Complete Jazz Keyboard Method: Beginning Jazz Keyboard
It's The Complete Jazz Keyboard Method with CD for:

• Beginning
• Intermediate
• Mastering

Here's a little blurb from Amazon:

"Anyone with basic keyboard skills (equivalent to Alfred's Basic Piano, Lesson Book 2) can dig right in and begin learning jazz right away. Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way through 7th chords, pentatonic scales and modulating chord progressions, this book features a full etude or tune demonstrating every new concept introduced. Beginning Jazz keyboard breaks the age-old tradition of dry, intimidating and confusing jazz books, and provides an actual step-by-step and enjoyable method for learning to play in this style. The CD demonstrates examples and offers opportunity to play along."

It's a great resource and what I like about this book is that it takes you to some exotic chords,
instead of the regular major/minor chords. I think you'll like this one and the price is good.

 On my other blog, that is mostly for Jazz songs, I posted a favorite of mine,
Bouncin' With Bill E.  You can find the music chord chart at Bouncin with Bill. But today I
wanted to talk a little bit about shell voicings.

Some chord tones are more important than others. Let's take a look at the 3 most
common 7th chords (major, minor and dominant) from a root of D.

D Maj, which is DF#AC# played together.
D7, the notes in the chord are DF#AC.
Dmin7 chord has the notes, DFAC.

We know the root is important since that is what defines the chord. the 3rd and 7th
are not the same from chord to chord, so we need those to determine the chord quality.
The 5th is another story. The major, minor and dominant 7th chords all have perfect 5ths.
That means three chords are being played.

To play shell voicings, we use the same concept we've been using but leave out the 5th
of each chord; the roots go in the left hand and the right hand takes the 3rds and 7ths.
If the melody note is the 3rd or 7th of a chord, we have three-note chords; if not, we add
the melody note on top and have a four note chord. This is a very sparse, compact way to
voice chords without losing the character of the changes.

Play this I-vi-ii-V-I in G Major.

(I) GMaj7 =  (root) G/F#B (7th and 3th)

(vi) Emin7 = (root) E/DG (7th and 3th)

(ii) Amin7 = (root) A/CG (3th and 7th)

(V) D7 = (root) D/CF# (7th and 3th)

(I) GMaj7 = (root) G/BF# (3th and 7th

These voicings just get easier on the hands. In the above example, the
right hand barely has to move at all. This ease in voice leading is common
with shell voicings whenever the roots are moving down in 5ths (or up in 4ths).
In these cases, the most you'll have to move to get from the 7th of one chord to
the 3rd of the next is a whole step, sometimes only a half step. To get from the
3rd of one chord to the 7th of the next, you often need only to repeat the same note!

GMaj7 = G/F#B (7th and 3th)

Emin7 = (5th) E/DG (7th and 3th)

Amin7 = (4th) A/CG (3th and 7th)

D7 = (5th) D/CF# (7th and 3th)

GMaj7 = G/BF# (3th and 7th)

If you like Jazz, then consider looking into these dvd courses from HearandPlay:

Jazz101  and  Jazz201

Thanks to many of you that have asked about shell voicings. You can learn so much about
Jazz from Willie Myette and James Wurbel. Look them up on YouTube... some great stuff!

Warmly,





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Book Review: The Pop Piano Book

The Pop Piano Book: A complete Method For Playing Piano 
and Keyboards In Contemporary styles by Mark Harrison.

If you are interested in popular styles, as a beginner you won't be scared off by the book because it is lots of fun to learn new things. You'll play better in the end. I'm very impressed with the material in this book.

This 498 page book will teach you licks and patterns.
The Pop Piano Book
 
Let me ask you a few questions:

1. Have you ever bought sheet music for a pop tune, only to be disappointed because you don't know how to fix it to make it snazzy? 

2. Have you ever used a Fake Book or lead sheet but not sure how to interpret the chord symbols? Perhaps you need help with voicings.

Well, the first part of the book provides basic building blocks that are necessary to play contemporary style. The second part gives you specific methods to make your own style of accompaniment patterns.

Mark Harrison is a keyboardist and you can get more information from his website, www.harrisonmusic.com

Here's a breakdown of the book.

The first ten chapters reviews:

a. Scales and chords
b. Triad inversions and voiceleading
c. Chord shapes using fourth intervals

The next eight chapters covers:

Ballad, Rock, RnB Funk, Country and Gospel.

In the back you'll find:

* Glossary terms
* Scale fingering guide for major and pentatonic scales.

Here's a simple Pop Ballad example:

Start off with a simple arpeggiated right hand against simple left hand, playing the chords using half notes on each chord change.

C/EGC to G/DGB, then F/FAC to C/CEG

C/EG to G/DG, then F/FA to C/EG,  G/CF (F/G)

CC/DEG to G/BD , F/FA to C/EGC, B/GBD (G/B)

A/EGCE (Am7)
G/DABD (G)
F/CFAC
C/DEG
E/CEGC (C/E)
F/CC
G/BDGB
F/FAC
C/EGC
AE/CEA (Am7)
GD/BDG
FC/ACF
CG/GCE
EC/EGC (C/E)
FC/FAC (F)
GD/DGB
F/FA
C/EGC

 HearandPlay offers a great music theory book for learning progressions in playing by ear, The 300 page course book.

Hope you're making practice time a habit! Do you have a favorite book on keyboard instruction?

Until next time,






"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Book Review: The Blueprint by Kirk Franklin

Cover via AmazonDear Readers,


Thank you for your comments, song requests and support. You're the greatest! I'm doing something different here today,
so stay with me. First time ever, I'm posting a book review about a fabulous person and awesome musician. As you know, I've posted many chord charts from Kirk Franklin's songs. You can find them on this site by using the search box. So very 
thankful for each of you on this Good Friday... read on!  

I finished reading The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life's Storms by Seven-Time Grammy Award Winner, Kirk Franklin. I LOVE this book!!! I have always admired Kirk Franklin as a musician and now I appreciate him even more in revealing so many truths through his own life's struggles, pain, gain and victory. 

Boy, he sure tells it like it is so you better get ready if you're in need of a spiritual boost (jump start) because The Blueprint is a real page turner! It will effect you greatly, you know, like change your perspective (divinely focused lens). I'm talking about a solid foundation you can build upon. Not a shaky one that no amount of money and fame can make solid. 

Reading through the pages of Kirk's book, you'll receive such affirmation and encouragement leaping off the pages if you're feeling all alone and no one cares. Kirk Franklin is so nurturing with his loving insights into our Heavenly Father's heart. (He knows the word.)

So, how do you want to live your life? Further into the book, Kirk shares (like a map) some basic tools for you to choose. Basically, The Blueprint is all about establishing the steps you need to take to get where you want to go. 
The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life's Storms

Within the 13 Chapters Kirk discusses issues from sex to the soul; dealing with the overgrown weeds in our hearts, and talking about our commitments from faith to family. As a musician, one of my favorite parts of the book is where Kirk talks about Michael Jackson's video Billie Jean. (Curious? It's in the book!) And to feel what Kirk sees abroad on tour with so many folks wanting truth (Jesus) instead of rules and empty talk.

In my opinion, Kirk's honest heart-felt testimony of his own personal issues is powerful (sets him free) and revolves full circle with breaking harmful cycles (repositioning) and helping others get back in the race. (His passion for America).   5* book!

"Can you imagine that? Pursue your dreams, but don't lose yourself during the chase. Imagine you!" -- Kirk Franklin

I can't even imagine how Mary felt (Good Friday), seeing her son crucified but never has greater love been shown to us. (John 3:16).

About The Book:

Seven-time Grammy award winning Gospel artist Kirk Franklin reveals his most intimate life struggles and offers his blueprint for propelling toward a fulfilling spiritual life in the face of adversity.

 

THE BLUEPRINT:  A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms (Gotham, on sale 4/5, $16) is a part-memoir, part-instructional guide that chronicles Franklin ’s own adversities with drugs, teenage parenthood and poverty which, with the guidance of God, resulted in the life lessons that ultimately brought him success.  Franklin offers his guide, his blueprint, to help individuals achieve success in their own lives.  THE BLUEPRINT is the essential guide to creating a better you, one day at a time. 

For more information, Kirk Franklin maps out The Blueprint with Essence.

Chris Zdunek with Gotham Books/Avery Marketing for contacting me for a review. (Thank you!) 


I love Kirk Franklin. You do, too? Give a shout out!

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King