Harmonic Mechanisms Exercises for Improvisation and Composition

Pianist and composer Dan Siegel brings you "Harmonic Mechanisms", a valuable book that offers an exploration and analysis of various harmonic structures that can be applied as vehicles for improvisation and composition. The text can be employed as supplemental material for intermediate to advanced level theory, musicianship, composition, and jazz improvisation coursework.

Dan has 22 solo albums, and hundreds of other producing, arranging, composing, and performing credits in his extensive recording career. His impressive experience and mastery of music come together in the creation of this one-of-a-kind music composition book.

Born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Dan began piano lessons at age eight, and started performing professionally as lead singer and guitarist in a rock band at the age of 12. He holds a BS in Music Composition and a MM in Jazz Studies, and studied piano in Boston with the legendary Madam Chaloff.

After earning a degree in music composition from the University of Oregon, Dan began recording his own songs with his band. In 1979 he was signed to Inner City Records, a New York based independent jazz label. His second album, The Hot Shot (1981), reached No.1 on the Radio & Records Jazz Chart and remained in Billboard's Top 10 selling Jazz albums for 10 weeks. Siegel has produced, recorded, and performed with a variety of artists, and his albums have provided an abundance of diverse material, from the electronic oriented Another Time, Another Place (1984), which Keyboard Magazine called the best keyboard oriented fusion LP of the year, to the exotic world music direction of Hemispheres (1995), which features an ensemble of eclectic musicians, playing in unique and unlikely combinations. He has traveled and performed around the world in support of his numerous Top 10 recordings, and maintains a global audience.

In 1983 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue film and television work as well as a more active recording career. Siegel's work as a TV and film composer has included the score for the cult film, Reform School Girls, and Universal Studios dramatic TV series, Hard Copy, and has played on numerous TV and film projects as a session player, including the Oscar winning film, The Usual Suspects.

You can stay up to date with everything Dan is doing on his website: www.dansiegelmusic.com.