Improvising with a bass or guitar uses visual formulas. The only thing you need to know is the root note, and the exact same patterns apply to every key. You learn the pattern for a major scale, bam, you can play 12 major scales.
@@IsaiahSMC In other words, bassists and guitarists know that the 2nd is two frets up, a major 3rd is one fret left and one string up, etc. This actually makes it incredibly difficult to solo using random notes.
a good tip is also to try to improvise only using the thrid and the seventh degree of the chord. it's really limiting but limitations enhance creativity ;)
Bro first time I improvised was 3 weeks after my HS band teacher asked me to fill in the first alto spot cuz the other guy quit. Knew nothing bout jazz so it went bout as well as you would assume. Thanks for putting this out so hopefully I improve and sound less like a dying duck
Amen to this entire post. Music studies is so ass backwards today. YOURE SUPPOSED TO USE THE THEORY TO ANALYZE , TRANPOSE, COMMUNICATE THATS IT All your melodies / vocabulary should be gained from aural practice of listening and shedding. Theory is after the music, never before.
Using scales to improvise over chords is a lot more fitting for classical music rather than jazz And with jazz I do find working with chord tones to be alot more fun
It’s an interesting exercise to supplement other improv theory. However, nothing new here. This is a throw back to the early days of jazz ; think pre-bop, pre-swing. You can here this in early Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbeck. Should be helpful for young players and beginners who want to get some fundamentals on chord tonality across changes
The point is to start with scales and understand relationship as a foundation for making up patterns using the chord tones. Young students are more likely to grasp scales than arpeggios and their inversions. You shouldn’t start with something complicated.
Something about that B on G7 after Dm7 just doesn’t sit right with me and my brain wants that itch scratched to satisfy that F and A in Dm7😂😂 especially with the A7 C# and A leading up to the Dm7 phrase
This seems like it’s going in the wrong direction though- Too much of anything is bad, and while I completely agree that only playing scales doesn’t sound like jazz, only playing chord tones doesn’t sound too much better. Using the scale to pass between chord tones isn’t at all wrong, and being able to have both scales and chords in your vocabulary when improvising is so much better than one or the other. Both approaches mentioned (one focusing on chords and one focusing on scales) have their advantages and differences, and neither is bad or wrong if you’re reasonable and view the vocabulary you’ve learned with either method as a tool, not a religion. I think this video is a great way to let beginners know to slow down and focus on the chord tones, but I think the message is going too far in the right direction, too much of either is bad for your playing.
Find a song with a vocalist who you think did really well. Try to play what they sang. Then try to use that voice on other tunes. Doesn’t always work so find a lot of good singers (and MELODIC sax players) that resonate with you and learn their stuff by heart.
It’s a part of the journey. No, you don’t give that to a beginner and say “make up a solo!” But it’s good to have a reference. Not great for blues, but any standard with lots of ii V I’s will help to train a young players ears. But if they’re not LISTENING to recording of great soloists over and over, NOTHING will help them.
What you're saying about not sounding like jazz just isn't true. I mean there are plenty of examples of primarily scaler improvisers who sound brilliant, how about Lester Young. Besides arpeggiation as you know is actually no different than a scale at the end of the day it's the same solution set if you arpepgiate to the 13th. So the classic Bop Approach will leave you sounding like 1952 plus it encourages learning licks and patterns that if solely relied on will leave you sounding predictable. There is the common tone vs uncommon tone approach or just understanding what notes change vs what notes stay the same. There's actually learning the tune hey there's a novel approach. There's making sure you understand all the possible chromatic alterations. That is helped by the 3 diminished shapes and the 12 melodic minor shapes. There is having a teacher to make sure you don't get bogged down in nomenclature and spelling like understanding that a major scale has 7 different names but it's the same scale. Same for melodic minor. Then there's learning transcribed solos . It's not helpful without chord symbols btw. Not to mention learning to quote standards like Dexter. But there's no right answer. But at the end of the day scales aren't a bad place to start.
This sounds incredibly boring to anyone to doesn't know exactly what he is doing. What he SHOULD actually be doing is building a melody or a phrase using some of those notes and then building something from that melody. This is just the sax equivilant of noodling, even if it is noodlingly "correctly" Nobody wants to hear note to note to note.... the human mind wants patterns and subtle deviations from those patterns which build composition, not note, note note note note note note note note...
Stop sounding so exasperated. Every talking head on the internet is doing a big exasperation act to make us think they are the end-all expert... and it's gotten very old.
That explains why basses are so good at improvising
Hell yeah but I just play random notes that sound good usually it comes out like this tho or something similar lmaoo
is he basically telling us to learn improv with just chord tones first?
@@imauz1127 yes
Improvising with a bass or guitar uses visual formulas. The only thing you need to know is the root note, and the exact same patterns apply to every key.
You learn the pattern for a major scale, bam, you can play 12 major scales.
@@IsaiahSMC In other words, bassists and guitarists know that the 2nd is two frets up, a major 3rd is one fret left and one string up, etc.
This actually makes it incredibly difficult to solo using random notes.
a good tip is also to try to improvise only using the thrid and the seventh degree of the chord. it's really limiting but limitations enhance creativity ;)
Hmm im gonna try that on guitar!
Your videos have been so helpful.
My musician side: Nice, sounds good.
My producer side: SOMEONE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET THAT MAN SOME MORE SLACK IN HIS HEADPHONE CABLE
Bro first time I improvised was 3 weeks after my HS band teacher asked me to fill in the first alto spot cuz the other guy quit. Knew nothing bout jazz so it went bout as well as you would assume. Thanks for putting this out so hopefully I improve and sound less like a dying duck
I dont play saxophone but still learnt something musically from this love it
Amen to this entire post. Music studies is so ass backwards today.
YOURE SUPPOSED TO USE THE THEORY TO ANALYZE , TRANPOSE, COMMUNICATE
THATS IT
All your melodies / vocabulary should be gained from aural practice of listening and shedding. Theory is after the music, never before.
I think of theory, scales, et al as the menu, while music is the actual food. And of course, real gourmets know the best stuff is often ‘off menu’. 😉
That sounds cool and simple. Thanks!
Ive been waiting for a bettersax tenor👀
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Using scales to improvise over chords is a lot more fitting for classical music rather than jazz
And with jazz I do find working with chord tones to be alot more fun
My teacher, Joe Solomon teaches like his teacher Lennie Tristano , the idea of using your ears to follow the melody and improvise around that.
Well done.
There's a lot of things you can do to a chord with scales or part's of scales and there's a lot of kinds of jazz.
Each note you play changes the chord when off of arpeggio
Adam larson cameo outta nowhere
adam larson jumpscare
Is that the new better sax tenor in your hands? When do you anticipate it being available at sweetwater?
Yeah he teased it before on earlier video can't wait for it to come out
Listening to the pros i hear both and the use of non-chord tones on the beats, especially the 11th (4th).
It’s an interesting exercise to supplement other improv theory. However, nothing new here. This is a throw back to the early days of jazz ; think pre-bop, pre-swing. You can here this in early Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbeck. Should be helpful for young players and beginners who want to get some fundamentals on chord tonality across changes
Agreed
The point is to start with scales and understand relationship as a foundation for making up patterns using the chord tones. Young students are more likely to grasp scales than arpeggios and their inversions. You shouldn’t start with something complicated.
I don't have musical knowledge about chords: can someone explain me what happens?
It sounds like a walking bass.
Yesss I was thinking the exact same thing
Something about that B on G7 after Dm7 just doesn’t sit right with me and my brain wants that itch scratched to satisfy that F and A in Dm7😂😂 especially with the A7 C# and A leading up to the Dm7 phrase
Like saying a walking line?
This seems like it’s going in the wrong direction though-
Too much of anything is bad, and while I completely agree that only playing scales doesn’t sound like jazz, only playing chord tones doesn’t sound too much better. Using the scale to pass between chord tones isn’t at all wrong, and being able to have both scales and chords in your vocabulary when improvising is so much better than one or the other.
Both approaches mentioned (one focusing on chords and one focusing on scales) have their advantages and differences, and neither is bad or wrong if you’re reasonable and view the vocabulary you’ve learned with either method as a tool, not a religion.
I think this video is a great way to let beginners know to slow down and focus on the chord tones, but I think the message is going too far in the right direction, too much of either is bad for your playing.
this is a brief excerpt from the full video. please watch that for context
I can agree that too much in any direction is bad, however this method creates a far better skeleton to work from that simply using a scale
Release the tenor!
Find a song with a vocalist who you think did really well. Try to play what they sang. Then try to use that voice on other tunes. Doesn’t always work so find a lot of good singers (and MELODIC sax players) that resonate with you and learn their stuff by heart.
That's really insightful. Thanks!
😂😂 everybody does that aleady !!!
why these videos give me the impression that my tenor is smaller XD
quarter notes, with a pep
It’s a part of the journey. No, you don’t give that to a beginner and say “make up a solo!” But it’s good to have a reference. Not great for blues, but any standard with lots of ii V I’s will help to train a young players ears. But if they’re not LISTENING to recording of great soloists over and over, NOTHING will help them.
this sounded exactly like it would if you were using scales... up and down...
What you're saying about not sounding like jazz just isn't true. I mean there are plenty of examples of primarily scaler improvisers who sound brilliant, how about Lester Young. Besides arpeggiation as you know is actually no different than a scale at the end of the day it's the same solution set if you arpepgiate to the 13th. So the classic Bop Approach will leave you sounding like 1952 plus it encourages learning licks and patterns that if solely relied on will leave you sounding predictable. There is the common tone vs uncommon tone approach or just understanding what notes change vs what notes stay the same. There's actually learning the tune hey there's a novel approach. There's making sure you understand all the possible chromatic alterations. That is helped by the 3 diminished shapes and the 12 melodic minor shapes. There is having a teacher to make sure you don't get bogged down in nomenclature and spelling like understanding that a major scale has 7 different names but it's the same scale. Same for melodic minor. Then there's learning transcribed solos . It's not helpful without chord symbols btw. Not to mention learning to quote standards like Dexter. But there's no right answer. But at the end of the day scales aren't a bad place to start.
this is a brief excerpt from the full video. please watch that for context
a better sax tenor???????????????
This sounds incredibly boring to anyone to doesn't know exactly what he is doing. What he SHOULD actually be doing is building a melody or a phrase using some of those notes and then building something from that melody. This is just the sax equivilant of noodling, even if it is noodlingly "correctly" Nobody wants to hear note to note to note.... the human mind wants patterns and subtle deviations from those patterns which build composition, not note, note note note note note note note note...
Stop sounding so exasperated. Every talking head on the internet is doing a big exasperation act to make us think they are the end-all expert... and it's gotten very old.
But Jazz is just blues and rock gone all out of tune, isn't it?
{:o:O:}
Sounds like monk