A “Quick Win” Vocab Nugget: A ii V Phrase Highlighting the Dominant Flat 9 Sound
A quick nugget of vocabulary over a ii-V-I that utilizes the b9 sound.
Members Play Branford Marsalis’s Solo On “Englishman In New York” (Pop)
Great work everyone!
Operating Instructions for Improvising Within a Modal Pop Song: Branford Marsalis on “Englishman in New York”
Branford’s playing on Sting’s “Englishman in New York” provides a great blueprint for improvising in a pop context. We’ll go over the song’s harmony, practicing wide intervals, and combining technique practice with musical practice.
Members Play “Laura” (Jazz Ballad)
Such beautiful playing from everyone. Great work!
Vibrato: Common Mistakes, Practice Methods, and Performance Suggestions
Vibrato is an expressive tool, but many saxophonists overuse it (without knowing). In this lesson I’ll show you when and how to most effectively use it, as well as a great exercise to practice it.
Members Play Charlie Parker’s “April In Paris” Solo (Bebop / Doubletime)
Great work on this solo everyone! Many actually found it more challenging than last month’s Eric Alexander solo.
Let’s learn the beautiful ballad, “Laura”
Here’s a great opportunity to focus on tone, phrasing, timing and nuance.
Improvisation Play-by-Play: Here’s Exactly What I’m Thinking as I Improvise My Way into a Standard
Here’s a captioned play-by-play of exactly what I’m thinking as I freely improvise. Halfway through, a tune pops into my head.
Takeaways From My Conversation With Chris Potter About Playing Standards
Chris Potter is still practicing standards from the 1930’s after all these years. You should be too.
The Sharp 4 Half Diminished Turnaround: A Common Jazz Chord Progression and Effective Practice Tool
This is an important turnaround to be familiar with not only because it appears in some common jazz standards, but because it’s an extended series of building blocks.
Listening Lab: Charlie Parker’s beautiful melodic embellishment and ornamentation on “April In Paris”
A brilliant example of how to embellish a melody from one of the all-time masters of phrasing.
Members Play Eric Alexander’s Solo On “Four” (Hard Bop)
Outstanding work folks! Made several lesson suggestions and practice tips in this one.
“What’s he doing there?!” – How to make use of Eric Alexander’s solo break on “Four”
It’s a killer “break,” and you can use it in a lot of places. Let’s examine the parts that make up this whole so you can shed it—and apply it.
Call and Response – Find New Material While Developing Your Improvisational Phrasing
This improv exercise will help develop your phrasing and help you break free of the same old licks and streams of eighth notes you’re stuck using.
Members Play “Ecaroh” (Hard Bop Classic)
Bob’s review and feedback plus a PDF breaking down the “nugget” and what to do about that one note. 😉
Soloing Over a Pop Tune: Finding Colors Beyond Basic Pentatonics
We’ll look at the modes inside the hit song “Happy” for some ways to build solos that fit the context of the tune but develop beyond just the “meat and potatoes” melody and root-based pentatonic scale.
How Do You Accompany Another Soloist With Your Saxophone?
In this lesson I’ll walk you through what I’m thinking as I accompany trumpeter YAYennings in a chord-less band.
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.
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.
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.
How I Shed: Working Out New Ideas Over a Snarky Puppy Groove
I’m often asked how I go about incorporating new ideas into my improvising. Here’s how.
A Detailed Case Study in Copying a Solo from a Recording and Harvesting Material Inside It – Michael Brecker’s Solo on “Escher Sketch”
A deep-dive, nitty-gritty case study on how to break down an advanced solo, copy it in small doses and turn it into etudes, exercises, and vocabulary you can apply in your own unique ways.