Learning (and retaining) music quickly, navigating non-traditional chord progressions and forms, and finding ways to expand your improvisations on modal and loop-based grooves, these are all things we do on a nightly basis with Snarky Puppy. I’m on tour with them and we just played Utrecht, NL—the city where we recorded “We Like It Here,” it seemed like a good opportunity to round up a few Snarky-related lessons, including one I made during that recording session.
Q&A: Marketing Yourself, Practicing Rhythm, Chord Visualization, and Writing for the Quartet
In this month’s Q&A we cover marketing yourself as a saxophonist, how to practice rhythm, what I’m visualizing when thinking of chords, and what my inspiration was on each track of Quartet.
A Case Study in Applying What You Transcribe and a Terrific Exercise for Getting Chord Changes under Your Fingers (Roy Hargrove on September in the Rain)
How to learn a new piece of vocabulary, apply it, and mix it in with your own improvisations.
Breaking down Stan Getz’s Solo on Pennies From Heaven (Part 3 & 4)
We wrap up this series by examining how Getz takes a familiar seventh chord and applies it in an unusual place to create tension. (See how a small piece of vocabulary can be used to practice tone, time, and technique.) We’ll also explore how to get more out of your transcription practice by including using play-alongs and a metronome.
How to work on keeping your fingers moving while taking breaths
What happens when the line you’re playing is longer than you have air for?
Two Birds With One Stone: Applying the Same Vocabulary Over Both Major and Minor II-Vs
This piece of vocabulary works over both major and minor ii-V’s, making the tune Summertime the perfect vehicle for practice. Remember: your fingers are the time-keeper.
Colorful vocabulary and flowing lines over the blues: Insight and nuggets from Charlie Parker
In this series we’ll explore insightful nuggets from Bird we can use on the blues–and many other places. Things like guide tones, thinking numerically, visualizing shapes, mixing subdivisions to make your lines swing more, a trick to injecting more “drama” in your lines, half-tonguing, alternate fingerings, and more.
An Athletic Approach to Converting the Major Scale Into 7 Important Chords
This diatonic 7th chord exercise is a must for developing better technique with the building blocks of improvisation: chords, scales, and modes.
The Way You Look Tonight: Applying Erroll Garner’s Lick
In this lesson I’ll show you how I take vocabulary from a transcribed solo and begin to apply it and make it my own.
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