Let’s continue our work on improvising by looking at your first complete II-V-I chord progression!
This is the 6th lesson in my series on improvising on the saxophone and you’ll find all on my other videos on my YouTube channel or in previous blog posts.
The II-V-I chord progression is arguably the most important progression in jazz music, and so let’s take a deep dive into it, with lots of exercises to work on to help build your accuracy and fluency when improvising.
Let’s get to it!
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!
Join me on my quest to help you learn to improvise on the sax! This is the 4th lesson in my series on improvising on the saxophone and you find the other videos on my YouTube channel.
In this video we’ll be looking at the hugely important chord progression in Jazz. That of the chord I to chord IV movement.
For this exercise we’ll be improvising over 2 dominant 7th chords, with 2 bars on each chord.
This time 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, I want you to improvise using mixolydian modes, as this will 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!
Jazz Licks for Saxophone, Vol. 1 is arguably the most authentic and efficient book for saxophonists to use to help them develop their jazz vocabulary.
Included in the book are 100 licks to play over the hugely important “long” Major II-V-I chord progression. The licks are written mostly in the bebop tradition and presented in all 12 keys. They all cover the key aspects of jazz including enclosures, tri-tone substitutions, diminished and altered scales. This is core jazz language for any saxophonist!
“A very enjoyable pair of books. Good tunes, cool licks, ace backing tracks and a great workout for my playing – Hugely recommend!”
J. Raisbeck, Sax Student, Newcastle, UK
As well as the 100 licks written out in all 12 keys, this book comes with a huge number of demo and backing tracks. You’ll get the following practise materials when you download the book: –
Please note, as most of my website’s visitors are now not UK based, I’m now processing payments in US Dollars for their ease of purchase.
Scroll images for example pages from the book.
Not only does Jazz Licks for Saxophone, Vol. 1 give you 100 great licks, the core concept of this book is that the licks are “interchangeable.” What do I mean by this?
In Jazz Licks for Saxophone, Vol. 1 I group the licks by the note that they land on beat 1 of bar 2. You can then transition to another lick at this point should you wish, and the result will always sound good. This then gives you lots of different options to work with, helping you use licks in a more creatively.
Jazz Etudes for Saxophone Vol. 1 is the first in a series of eBooks written to help the saxophone student learn to how to improvise.
Please note, as most of my website’s visitors are now not UK based, I’m now processing payments in US Dollars for their ease of purchase.
“The book is really good. So much material in each and every one of the études.”
Alistair Parnell, iSax Academy
If you are an intermediate or advanced level saxophonist, but when it comes to jazz and improvisation you don’t know what to play, then this series of jazz etudes is specifically written for you.
Scroll images for example pages from the book.
In the book, you’ll find 12 jazz etudes based upon the chord progressions to famous jazz standards and the blues. All in common keys for the saxophonist, so they’ll fit “neatly under the fingers.” No dubious transpositions to be found here!
It’s recently been the 100th birthday of the legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker. Most musicians, and jazz enthusiasts know that he was (and still is) a huge influence on the music, but don’t necessarily understand why. I therefore decided to not only post a transcription of one of his solos, but take a closer look at what he actually plays so we can try and understand his genius (even if it’s just a little bit)!
This is how I discovered the music of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt…
When I was fresh out of the Royal College, very young, and so very naive I arranged to have a sax lesson with the legendary American saxophonist Bob Mintzer whilst he was over in the UK on tour with his band the “Yellow Jackets”.
Back then I was still finding my feet with my jazz playing and if I think back to that lesson it makes me shudder! What on earth was I thinking?! Anyway, Bob was very kind to me in that lesson and actually he gave me some invaluable pointers.
UPDATE – I’ve had an awesome response with this offer and I’m thrilled with just how popular it has been with new and existing students, so I’ve decided to keep it running for another month!
I’m offering a 10% discount for any student who books and starts a block of 10 lessons in August (or now September) 2020. That’s up to a £40 saving if taking 60 min lessons, or basically you’ll be receiving one lesson free!
The summer holidays are upon us and yet with most of us staying at home, there couldn’t be a better time to take up a new hobby, or get cracking on your new goal for your saxophone playing.
Dexter Gordon is undoubtedly one of the all time great jazz tenor saxophonists. His performing and recording career spanned some 40+ years, winning a Grammy, and even earning an Oscar nomination in the Best Lead Actor category for his role in the 1986 film “Round Midnight”.
From a learning perspective his solos can be a dream to transcribe thanks to their clarity, therefore making them ideal for the intermediate player. Dexter’s phrasing, use of space, and sense of time often give his playing an unhurried feel, and so his solos are great examples to try and emulate.
The short answer is I always recommend that people start learning on an Alto Saxophone.
“Why?” you might ask…
So, as you might have gathered I’ve been teaching for quite a few years now and during that time I have literally taught hundreds of saxophone students. I’ve taught complete beginners (both adults and children) right the way through to advanced level students studying for their performance based degrees at the London College of Music.
I’ve seen how a lot of people handle and can cope with the various types of saxophone at different stages of their advancement and have drawn some conclusions.