Thx for all of the free tips. I'm on disability pension, and cannot afford to pay for lessons. You have done me and I'm sure others a great service. Thank you.
I never laerned to improvise . I am a very good 'reader' of notes. So this is a very useful lesson for me because I would like to be able to improvise . I am 58 years old, did not play for 30 years and now I started again since one year. Playing my alto gives me so much joy but always short of time because there is so much I want to learn. ( I am Flamish so sorry for my English writing) Thank you for your lessons.
I'm just glued to watching your lessons all this while. As I await the arrival of my saxophone, I'll keep following. Thanks so much for the simplicity. God bless your heart.
Go for it Mike. I have loads more resources to help you on my website. My free lesson Tool Kit is a great starting point. You can get it here: www.mcgillmusic.com/saxophone-tool-kit
Just great exercise, I'm a guitar/piano player since childhood and never really got the hang of improvisation and going to get a sax soon. Looking forward to play here, super easy and fun!
a great explanation of the blues scales. I've normally tried to play by 'ear' and failed many times. I've now got a structure to build on. Thanks Melvyn
the only improvement i can think of to this video is a short explanation of transposing these simple exercises to concert pitch but aside from that this was really helpful for applying sax concepts to the ewi
Thankyou so much. I will follow your channel. Thankyou for the great tips on improvisation i have just started to play on Tenor sax and this will really boost me in Jazz skills.
This is theeee best video i have seen so far, and i want to create my own channel and try to teach others :) thanks so much. I have played alto and tenor i am in Year 8 and that other video you made on the three mistakes not to make really helped.
Good to start slow and listen to your notes for ideas to play using just combinations of the G, B, and D. I use my soprano sax at the computer to play the b flat parts, Tenor is hard to maneuver around the screen and keyboard.
I'm a big fan of your sax lessons. You make it so easy to follow along. I very much appreciate it. I have listened and watched other wannabee teachers. There lessons have been sometimes more about showing of their playing skills, than trying to really teach the instrument. I'm trying to learn the circle of fifth, do you have a lesson about that? Please let me know.
Great stuff as always, I would love to go back to your course but like Tim, I am on my old age very low pension. I am 77, and hope I win the lottery so I can take your course. Keep on the great work.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. A longer loop of taking turns in different keys would be fun - you probably have that in the sax school? Anyway - new to the channel and absolutely loving it! :-)
Could you tell me if you could use triad pairs and the pentatonic scale at the same time. What I mean is if soloing and you say improvise over 4 bars using the pentatonic scale could you use triad pairs in the following 4 bars? Thank you
Hi Liam. There are lots of different techniques you can use to build your solo. The important thing is that you have a system for how you are using them. So, test and practice lots of different things, but keep the structure of what you’re doing at the front of your mind. Hope that helps.
Good session. very helpful. A question I have, though, is - if my saxophone is getting inconsistent and some notes are sometimes coming out weird and still too high and terrible intonation, what could be wrong? My sax is often warbling badly and malfunctioning in the B and G note below the octave key in the lower octave. It's expensive to get these instruments fixed if and w hen they develop leaks in pads or other related issues. Any hints or suggestions?
I refer to the short “jamming” session ........ it was great ..... very entertaining. But could you please explain how you chose those three notes for the tenor. It just wouldn’t have worked with a random selection of any three, so how did you decide on those ones ?
Hey Nigel, I have been playing tenor for 2 1/2 years, and I am looking for a new mouthpiece. I have been using a bad one that came with my sax, and I have been needing a new one. I am playing in a concert band, and will soon be playing in a marching/symphonic band. I am torn a little as well because I love playing jazz, but I am not in a jazz band, so I just want a mouthpiece that can be good in all genres of music. Do you have any suggestions for a new mouthpiece?
Great question. There are lots of options out there. Personally I am a big fan of the Theo Wanne mouthpieces for the same reason you mention - versatility. I'm playing on a Slant Sig hard rubber size 8 from Theo Wanne. It's a brilliant all-rounder for me. You could also check out the original Otto Link metal "tonemaster". I've also used a Vandoren V16 T8 piece a bunch over the years that is a bit dark, but very versatile. Hope that helps.
Lots of choices there. I played Vandoren “blue box” reeds for years but now only use Legere Signature reeds. They are more expensive per reed, but last much longer and are more consistent, so in the long run are far more economical.
Good question. Rhythm is something lots of us struggle with. I’ve made a full course on it inside my Sax School actually which I’m sure would help you. If you’re interested I have a 30 day free trial here: www.mcgillmusic.com
Not wishing to be negative but if you have never improvised before the chances are you haven't much of a clue about backing tracks. Look on line and there are hundreds and hundreds. Very frustrating when we are told ... right let's play over this track...as if this "track" is as obvious as knowing which way up you hold a saxophone!!
