Join me on my quest to help you learn to improvise on the sax! This is the 5th lesson in my series on improvising on the saxophone and you’ll find all on my other videos on my YouTube channel.
In this video we’ll be looking at another hugely important chord progression in Jazz. That of the chord II to chord V movement.
For this exercise we’ll be improvising over 2 bars of a minor 7th chord followed by 2 bars of dominant 7th chord.
Again, I want to work on the progression in two different ways with you. Firstly, I want you to improvise using purely chord tones, as this is great for your ear and accuracy. Then secondly, improvise using the associated modes modes, as this will give you more colours to play with and help you build a better sense of flow into your soloing.
Ultimately, when we improvise we use a combination of both scales and arpeggios to express our ideas!
Let’s get to it!
Here are the free downloadable pdf charts and mp3 of the backing track for this video: –
Bb Tenor/Soprano Saxophone Chart
Eb Alto/Baritone Saxophone Chart
MP3 Backing Track
Use the notes on the screen or the charts and have fun! Enjoy it!
Try and use my playing to bounce your ideas off of, and once you can play over the chord progression accurately using both the chord tones and mixolydian modes have a go on your own.
Let me know how you get on in the comments!
Please do check out the other videos on my saxophone teaching YouTube Channel, and please do like and subscribe!
If you have any queries or would like to know more about my teaching, do get in touch.
Happy practising!
Best wishes, Nathan
What stands out here is how improvisation is framed not as magic but as responsive listening. The shift from ii to V isn’t presented as a trick to memorise but as a point of conversation between harmony and phrase. That matters because it reframes the exercise from technique alone to something that invites curiosity about how sound wants to move.
Reading this made me think about how many students get stuck trying to “play licks” instead of learning how to hear the shift in function between chords. This approach, rooted in attentive listening and context, makes improvisation feel less like an obstacle and more like a way of understanding the language of the music as it unfolds. That feels like a useful orientation for anyone serious about moving beyond patterns into expressive choice.