Scott, This was an excellent tutorial & very helpful for establishing a strategy to improv over the blues. I am applying this to the piano, versus sax, but I completely followed it. I find that jazz pianists tend to make this more of a mystery, and I was excited to see your video. I love your step-wise approach to trying this out and building on it. Part of the complexity is in what finger numbers to use in navigating through the scales and chords, but I'm quite sure that evolves with time and experience.
Three months later ... Scott, I was reviewing my favorite sax tutorial videos (of which this is one) and at the start of this video you encouraged something I actually tried a few weeks ago when I practicing. In the first 2.5 minutes of this video, you encourage us to not only learn/practice the scales of the progression but the changes also. That is so incredibly and fundamentally important! In a recent practice session, I got frustrated with my improvisation, so I took a step back and simply practiced the scales of the progression (a few times) in 1/8 notes with my backing track, changing scales along with the song. I then I did it with the chord tones only. This forced my fingers to get better acquainted with the right keys to select from as I played. Man, what a difference that exercise made! This really IS a GREAT tutorial! It has many nuggets that you can miss if you watch it only once.
Scott - This tutorial is brilliant! The 3 option approach - then mix it up - was kind of a break through for me. Now I want to apply something similar to the 2-5-1 progression. THANKS!
Great, I can learn Saxophone and english at the same time :) Thanks a lot for sharing, your Videos are very didactic and educational. Ciao from France !
Awesome video Scott! It would be awesome if you could start a series of videos using this format going over how to solo over different types of chord progressions and changes, thanks for the great content!
I watched the video several months ago when I did not understand a lot of what is discussed here. I got the gist of it but I did not truly understand what was going on. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the content. I recommended this video to someone recently and have, since then, returned to review the content as a refresher. WOW! It makes so much sense now! Great tutorial, Scott.
Thank you so much for this Scott, I had been stuck on just using the blues scale for so long and explaining the mixolydian scale the way you did really clicked in my head
guys, it is all about practising, lovely video. Moving around th three progressions is a great experience. Not easy in the beginning if you hac=ve no memorized the respective notes. Scott, every time I watch one of your videos is a learning experience. Scott, thanks a lot. Just wonderful
Lovely Scott. Please could you do videos of licks and patterns of either blues, funk or any other style that we could add to our impro toolbox? Thanks.
Thank you for the video ! I have a question: when playing the blues scale on the 5th,6th 9th and 10th measures, do we use the related anchor notes or do we just play the exact same thing we play elsewhere? Thank you again !
Depends on where you are as an improviser. Beginner...just the blues scale is fine and the beauty of it is that it works everywhere over the blues progression. If you are further along in your improv, bringing out the chord tones is always going to make your solo sound more polished.
I'm a new sax player. And I can't understand why my sax is not making the B flat sound...could it be something is wrong with my sax...I'm sure it couldn't be me! ha ha ...but really what am I doing wrong? I mean, i'm putting my fingers where I'm suppose to put them, I'm making a good sound, but it's not any different from a B, B flat sounds the same as B. Any ideas out there? Wish I had an in person teacher. And thanks for the super great video!!!
Hmmm! As a beginner, the low notes can be tough, I did a video on tongue position for low notes. Check that out (3 tongue positions you need to know). BUT if your Bb and B are the same note, then that is most likely a different problem. Check and make sure your Bb pad is closing when you hit the low Bb key. It's easy to find, it's the last one on the bell. If it's not closing then you most likely have a spring that has come undone. (this is assuming you are talking about your low Bb, and not your regular Bb). Feel free to send me a message through my website with more info.
@@ScottPaddock Thank you so much for your help. I'm certain my pads are closing, but maybe they are not closing fully. I'm not sure about a low Bb and a regular Bb. And I will definitely check out the tongue video. Thanks again! A lot to work on for sure!
@@ScottPaddock Oh I'm sorry. I'm getting my A and B mixed up. It's not that the Bb sounds like a B, but it sounds just like the A. Maybe it's only a super subtle difference and with a larger reed you can hear that sound more distinctly. I'm guessing. Sorry for the confusion.
@@augustwestusa If you are just getting started, you should check out my Sax School - it will definitely get you headed in the right direction: www.scottpaddocksaxschool.com
This is the best video of all of them! I have been trying to figure this out for the last 2 months nearly. Memorizing some of my blues scales. Thanks, Scott!!!!
I have (relatively) good knowledge of my scales. In my humble opinion, my constraint is rhythm. I get locked in a certain rhythm, play it over and over, and can't break from it. There is lots of good advice on scales, but a relative paucity of advice on how to improve one's rhythmic playing? Any advice? Possible video lesson? Thanks Scott! Your videos are really useful!!!!
Thanks Douglas! Yeah, that's the way I usually get my students to start following the chords with their improv once they've built some confidence by just jamming out with a single scale.
Thanks Scott. Your videos are great. I have a question about your tone. It is smooth, silky, and sweet. How do I get there? I have tried different reeds, mouthpieces etc on my Alto Sax Yamaha YAS 62 and still far from that sound. My sound is still a bit like a fog horn. Please advise. thanks Mark
Hey, it's all about how I put the air through the sax and my breath support. My setup has something to do with it, but it is more the way I put the air in the mp. I did a few videos on it on RU-vid check them out. I also have a sax school which talks about tone, style, breath support... etc. www.scottpaddocksaxschool.com
Hi Scott, Have been faithfully following and learning from your videos and just started to try solos. You mentioned Aebersold’s book and the iReal studio. Have you looked at Band in a Box as a way to get some background tracks? If you have, can you say how it compares with iReal Studio? Thanks in advance. And as an ex-teacher (of Chemistry) and a sax newbie, I find your videos super useful and motivating!
Hey Herve! I don't know much about Band In A Box, but it has been around for years. I used Abersold for years, and still use Maiden Voyage with private students, but now I almost exclusively use iReal Pro. iReal gives you sooooooo much control that you really can't beat it. You can change the tempo, key, and feel. Edit the changes, and highlight a section to repeat. In the end, use whatever works for you :-)
@@ScottPaddock Actually, just downloaded iRealPro and did my first blues solo and for $13 it is an amazing value. Less flexibility in accompaniments than Band in a Box but much much cheaper by a factor of 10!!!! Thanks for the recommendation!
Hi Scott Love the video and have a question regarding Alto sax. If the key of a tune is C major then for alto it's A major and from this the blues scale ( minor ) 1 3b 4 4# 5 7b and I fully understand and apply this set of rules. However.......... When the tune is the key of A minor then I have found the A major scale fits for the Alto perfectly without changing anything. Could you post a video to explain what should be done for minor key signatures because the soul type and smooth jazz tunes generally have a minor key. If the key was B minor I would just play the B major scale over this and the same rule for all minor key signatures ? It would be excellent if you could explain the theory around this. Regards David
Hey David, what you are doing is kind of right and kind of wrong. The transposition is the same whether it is major or minor. It's always down a minor 3rd (or up a major 6th). So yes, concert C major is alto saxophone A major. In regards to concert A minor the alto saxophone key would be F# minor (still down a minor 3rd/up a major 6th). F# minor has the same key signature as A major (3#s). They are known as relative major and minor. Relative meaning they have the same key signature. So the correct key for you to be playing in over A minor would be F# minor (F#, C#, G# in your key signature) with F# A C# E being your chord tones. You are playing A major which also has F#, C#, G# as your key signature and A C# E G# as your chord tones. So it's a very close fit, but if you think of F# as being the root instead of A your improvisation lines will sound better.
Hi Scott hanks for a quick reply I get the transposition fine for a major chord and now what you have said about the minor. Thanks However, on Alto by playing essentially the A major over the A minor backing tune it works without really having to think about it. So A minor would transpose down a third to F# and then applying the minor blues scale to it would be F# G# A B C C# E. and F#G#A A# C#D# (major blues scale) I will try playing also using C and A# to see what enhancement this makes Regards David
Another great video Scott. Newbie question for you. Is the general idea to start and/or finish with the root before moving to the next chord? I have been using the blues scale to improvise for some time, but haven't paid much attention to the chord progression. I also found it sounds better to start with the flat 7 than the 1.
Hey! Yeah, the blues scale is cool, but if that is all you are using you are really limiting yourself. To answer your question, you don't have to necessarily have to play the root before you move on. The goal is to either use chord tones or the mixolydian scale as your building blocks.
You can play all of the notes of the blues scale over any of the chords in the progression including g7 and c7. You might find some sound better over the different chords than others. Of course when improvising their are no rules so you don't have to play all of the notes of the scale or all of the notes of the chord. Just be playful with the notes and you'll stumble upon licks and phrases that have an authentic blues sound.
