What You Learn Learning Music

Name: What You Learn Learning Music
Brand: Histria Books
Price: 19.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Kevin Bales, Mike Shaw
ISBN: 9781592117901

by Kevin Bales, Mike Shaw

$19.99

What You Learn Learning Music by Keven Bales & Mike Shaw is available for preorder. It will ship on or before its release date of November 3, 2026. Discover how jazz, practice, and community forge artistry, confidence, and lifelong learning in the world of music.

Expected: November 3, 2026

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ISBN: 9781592117901
Format: Softbound
Published: 2026-11-03

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GenreArts & Entertainment jazz learn music music book music guide music theory nonfiction self-help

About This Book

What You Learn Learning Music by Keven Bales & Mike Shaw is available for preorder. It will ship on or before its release date of November 3, 2026.

Discover how jazz, practice, and community forge artistry, confidence, and lifelong learning in the world of music.

What does it really mean to “learn music”? Veteran musicians Kevin Bales and Mike Shaw invite you behind the curtain, revealing the discipline, mentorship, and improvisational spirit at the heart of jazz and beyond. Through candid stories and podcast-style conversations, they show how the lessons of jam sessions, purposeful practice, and the wisdom of legends like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong shape not just musicians, but resilient, creative individuals.

This book isn’t about chasing perfection—it’s about finding your sound, building confidence, and learning to play for your audience, not just yourself. You’ll get practical strategies for practice, advice on navigating the business of music, and real talk about making a career from your passion.

From the thrill of live performance to the power of community support, What You Learn Learning Music is a must-read for educators, aspiring artists, and anyone curious about the craft behind great music.

About the Authors

Kevin Bales → Full Profile

At age 16, Kevin Bales was already an accomplished pianist, invited by Conductor Robert Shaw to audition for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. But his preference, already, was for jazz. His initial career move was to the University of North Florida where he met, performed with, and went on to record and tour with a number of monumental artists: Louie Bellson, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, Ben Tucker, Ira Sullivan, Sam Rivers, Nat Adderley. Meeting Bunky Green there led to five years of tours, and his encounter with guitarist Nathen Page blossomed into 15 years of spot tours and four albums. His work with trumpeter extraordinaire Marcus Printup has become a lifetime association that includes recordings on Blue Note/Capital records. Ten years of tours and recording with vocal iconoclast René Marie culminated in a Grammy nomination. His recording of music composed by Fred Rogers, Beyond the Neighborhood, was named one of the top 10 albums of 2018 by Cadence Magazine and AllAboutJazz.com. In 1994, less than a decade into jazz, Kevin won the American Pianist Association’s Jazz Piano Competition. In addition to nearly every important jazz venue in the South, he has performed in some of the most acclaimed clubs and festivals in America and around the world: the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, The Bakery in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center jazz series, the Toronto and Edinburgh jazz festivals, and the Moscow Center for the Performing Arts. While still a senior at North Florida, Kevin was drafted into a full teaching load, and continued to be an integral part of the school’s jazz program for upwards of a decade. Today, Kevin manages his own schedule of jazz students as well as the Improvisation and Small Group programs at Atlanta’s Georgia State University.

Mike Shaw → Full Profile

Mike Shaw is a writer and musician. A singer-pianist, he headed up a seven-piece New Orleans jazz funk band for two decades, and currently leads an Atlanta-based jazz quartet. As a writer, he counts more than 15,000 published works, from investigative pieces adapted for 60 Minutes and ABC 20/20 features, to marketing blogs and documentaries for corporate clients. He writes about jazz for EarRelevant, ArtsATL, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He does a bi-weekly podcast, Music Life and Times, with internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Kevin Bales. Mike’s first novel, The Musician, was published in June 2021 by Atlanta-based Blue Room Books. The same month, Understanding Economic Equilibrium, co-authored with Federal Reserve Chief Economist Dr. Thomas Cunningham, was released by Business Expert Press. The Leadership Edge, co-authored with corporate consultant Michael B. Ross was released by Business Expert Press in October 2024, and his latest effort, a collaboration with Bales titled What You Learn Learning Music, is scheduled for release by Histria Books on November 8, 2026, for distribution by Simon & Schuster. The audiobook version of The Musician, narrated by David de Vries, was released in February 2025.