Not only is this (by far) the best saxophone instruction channel on CZcams, it is one of the finest channels in any genre. Fun, clever, practical, dripping with wit, INSPIRING, perfectly produced and edited - all combine into one of the most engaging teaching series - anywhere. His teaching style is one of the best I’ve ever encountered. It’s a joy. Dr. Wallace provides not only a wonderful masterclass on saxophone… it’s an absolute masterclass on teaching. This guy should be on TedTalks, standing on the shoulders of genius educators like Benjamin Zander. Well done sir and thank you!
What will help me very much is to locate a backing track that I can use to practice these lessons with and make them flow non stop. Have anything to go with these exercises?
Thank you Wally that was again an amazing valueble an constructive lesson and learned a lot . Greetings from out of Finland from a Dutch musical dude 😎🫶🤙
Thanks Dr Wally, it's a pleasure and a privilege to study under you. What's that magic that the great teachers have? They make you hungry for the next instalment. Stay well.
Nice job man ... I like the skulls on the bad keys. Great breakdown on the pentatonic world and the dangers of overuse (and ways around it). I've been playing on and off for decades but I'm still learning. Subscribed.
I'm giving you 5 cups of coffee today, thank you so much for the many materials and videos, I'm looking for jazz that I learn late because I'm old. Stephen Shim
Omg this is awesome… I was looking for some exercises but this is beyond words… I’m gonna grab my sax right now and play the sequence… thank you! my parents downstairs will thank you too :)
I have watched so many videos trying to understand how to use them besides noodling up and down or using some inversions. The call and response practice with melodic applications is AWESOME!
Thanks so much Joe! It's REALLY gratifying to hear that this is helpful. I struggled form many, many years. Finally started creating the kinds of lessons I wish I had, ya know? Hope you have a fantastic weekend and happy practicing!
Really great ideas and well explained. Before this I was confused as many of the on line tutorials give the minor pentatonic notes as 1, 3,4,5,7 but don't mention that you have to flatten the 3rd and 7th degrees of the scale. No wonder it didn't sound right.
Hi Dr Wally. Thanks for posting this. I love your - ahem, unique - teaching style. Maybe one day you could do a similar thing only this time not giving students the notes to read, but just the sound, so they are forced to use their ears a little more. You might do it with the blues scale as well. Just a thought... Thanks for great lessons, Peter
Really well done. I agree with the British fan base. I do think the dry humor is the majority of the draw.....emphasis on dry (very dry) btw. Oh, and the humility. I think explaining that even the mentor struggles and what your path has been to this point is huge. Creates a real empathy link and makes it real. Keep em coming!
Wally genuine question here... who is your target audience/ which demographic ends up watching your videos the most? I think all of your content is palatable for literally all ages and skill sets. I myself am a college student who is playing and trying to improve just for fun, but I always wonder about the thousands of others who watch your videos too! Thanks in advance and keep up the good work, very excited for part 2 and 3!!
Hi Bill, my target audience is adult amateurs. Strangely enough - a significant portion of my Audience is British. I DID NOT expect this, but they seem to take things a bit less seriously and appreciate teachers who can laugh at themselves (I certainly don't take myself too seriously - I hope). I kind of make the videos I want to see? Like if I were learning something, this is what I'd want to watch, make sense? Whatcha studying in college?
@@drwallysax That is very interesting, maybe you (and I?) would do good at a British comedy club lol. I think you nail that audience perfectly because all of your videos tackle topics that can be hard to get a grasp on in a very clear and concise way - which many channels lack. Your ideas for videos are always prevalent and help me to develop my playing - like in this one I had a good grasp of pentatonic patterns and I've been practicing them, but when you started to hammer the idea of melodic motifs / development it was like a light went off in my head! I've always had a passion for music / saxophone but I never saw myself as a performer, I am studying Economics and Computer Science in New York, so I can scratch my live music / jazz itch whenever necessary! One last thing, the fact that you respond so quickly and care about your audience speaks volumes to you not only as a teacher but as an indispensable part to the saxophone community - I can't tell ya how much I appreciate you!
Adult amateur, that’s me (and British too 🤔) and if adult amateurs is Dr Wallace’s target audience, his nailed it. They inspire the musical Luddite that I am to keep trying and one day I might just produce one line that sounds good! 😉
@@drwallysax I dunno how closely related it is, and I assume something similar is happening in at least some other places, but I just saw a report on a survey conducted in the UK that suggested that ~1 million people there picked up an instrument during the pandemic, which would be well over 1% of their total population. I've been playing a variety of instruments for many years, and have owned an alto for several years but barely had the courage to play it alone, let alone with roommates around, until the beginning of this year. Your course has been a godsend! I've been getting 3-5 hrs of practice a week, and doing just the warmup exercises from your online course, I've been improving by leaps and bounds, it feels like! Very grateful for the resource.
Hi Doc! Great video. You often mention your set up and was wondering what you were playing on you alto. (new signature mouthpiece? Reed?) Thanks. Have a good weekend!
Hi Edward! On alto and tenor is the new 56 Select (.080" for alto and .110" for tenor facing. Both with a Boston Sax Shop 3.5 reed. Hope you're having a great week!
Thanks Shitsure! It's an older, non-purple logo 62. After purple, but before the 62ii. make sense? It has the old style neck receiver, but an engraved logo.
Just one point - in your talking bits you are holding an alto sax but the demonstration sections have you playing on tenor. Some confusion before I realised that I didn't have to change instrument...
I plan on buying a new alto saxophone I was going to either get the 860 Jon-Paul professional around $1,200 or better saxophone produced by conn-selmer says it Metcalf
Hi Nefer, these videos take a great deal of time to make, and I'm quite backlogged at the moment. There will likely be an articulation video in the coming months, but not anytime in the next few weeks.
I've uploaded the etudes! As for the assignments, sorry - things got complicated. I'll be updating soon! I've got student metrics in the course - not many are to April yet!
Hi! Found this looking on info to help my neice jam with me (I play guitar). I'm trying to find a pentatonic scale for her to use to jam with me if I'm doing blues in like E or A . I understand that the sax notes don't match up But I'm having the hardest time finding any kind of info on what she can play to jam with our group if we're doing something like blues in e or A . Any advice or Even point me to a resource? I bought her two blues books but they don't seem to address this
Gotcha, had this same issue when I was a kid - jamming with my guitar friends. So, here's how it works. If she's playing the tenor saxophone, go up one WHOLE STEP. So, if it's an E blues - she'd be in F# . If you're in "A" - she would be in "B" Now for ALTO saxophone, you have to go up a 6th (don't kill me, I didn't invent this transposition). So, if you're in E - she would be in C# on alto. If you were in A - she whole be in F# on alto. As you might imagine, those are tough keys for a saxophonists (no capo, my dear). SO! Here's what I suggest - Learn a Bb blues for your niece! If she plays Tenor - it's the C pentatonic If she plays Alto - it's the G pentatonic Both of those feel good for saxophonists at any level. Make sense?
@@drwallysax Thank you so much for your quick reply! Yes that does make sense and it is super helpful. I don't mind trying to play in a different key I'm just hoping to be able to include her in some of our jam sessions when she comes and visits and I don't know if I'm going to be able to sell the entire group at an open jam on that🤣 Thank you so much That definitely gives us a great starting point! (She is playing Alto Sax)
Pentatonic collections have existed for a long, long, long, long, time. There are African mbiras that have the collection of 5 from many centuries ago.
On example 3 you start with a C but it is sounding like a Bb same with example 4 (probably also the others) here you start on a D but it is sounding like C. Are you thinking about a tenor in Bb?
@@drwallysax So i notice now that in the first example you play Alto then for the other examples switch to tenor, your transposition stays the same. So when you play the alto it is sounding like F and when you play the Tenor it is sounding like C. Also in the first round of back to back you play Alto and the second you play tenor. I got it right now?
@@drwallysax Awesome. I just googled it and confirmed that tenor sax is apparently Bb like my trumpet... (Not that you didn’t already know that...)I plan to master the call and response by ear... but what key am I playing in?
@@drwallysax Also, I mastered by ear the first section of this video with that ascending jazz type scale… I keep hearing about a skip step scale… Could you do a video on that? Sounds like it’s in sync with your jazz lessons?
Your voice got real low when you said go practice at the beginning there. I could use a strong bass like you in my barbershop quartet....jk thanks for the great video!
The first sequence there is an actual pattern the second third fourth and fifth are just random notes that came out of your head that sounded good because you have been playing for 30 or 40 years there’s no pattern so there’s no way to teach it or to practice it other than just to learn it. Not good.
I wish people making these videos would put links in the description to skip to the part described in the title, what we actually clicked on to watch. Sick of getting a lecture on the most basic stuff over and over.
Not only is this (by far) the best saxophone instruction channel on CZcams, it is one of the finest channels in any genre.
Fun, clever, practical, dripping with wit, INSPIRING, perfectly produced and edited - all combine into one of the most engaging teaching series - anywhere. His teaching style is one of the best I’ve ever encountered. It’s a joy.
Dr. Wallace provides not only a wonderful masterclass on saxophone… it’s an absolute masterclass on teaching. This guy should be on TedTalks, standing on the shoulders of genius educators like Benjamin Zander. Well done sir and thank you!
That's beyond kind, thank you my friend. Hope you're having a great week and happy practicing!
The Saxo-Community is lucky to have The Saxophone Academy. So thankful for what you all do ✌️
Jordan, that is incredibly kind. Thanks my friend. Happy Tuesday!
What will help me very much is to locate a backing track that I can use to practice
these lessons with and make them flow non stop. Have anything to go with these exercises?
Thank you Wally that was again an amazing valueble an constructive lesson and learned a lot . Greetings from out of Finland from a Dutch musical dude 😎🫶🤙
Dear Wally!
Your patterns are always very relevant and practical. Thank you very much for the content provided.💚🎷
I was impressed with the detailed explanation.
Beautiful tone.
Appreciate these lessons!. Been playing a long time but now rededicated myself to be a better player. Thank You very much
As soon as I heard dr WW playing it sounded so good I smashed the like button
Awwww, thanks Craigie! That's kind. Hope you have a fantastic rest of the week!
Once again a simple and practical approach! Great work as always!
Thanks David, happy practicing my friend!
These videos really help out. Makes things more understandable.
That makes me incredibly happy! Glad they're helpful, happy practicing!
O som que você tira do seu sax alto é impressionante. Parabéns.
Thanks for everything that you do in sharing such great and understandable content!
Most welcome, Douglas. Happy practicing my friend!
Wow …what a great lesson ❤❤❤
Really Great Professor ! 🎶❤️
Great teaching sir, everyone should look for a teacher like you delight to see your teaching method. Thanks a lot.
You are most welcome, happy practicing!
Thanks Dr Wally, it's a pleasure and a privilege to study under you. What's that magic that the great teachers have? They make you hungry for the next instalment. Stay well.
That's incredibly kind. Thank you my friend :)
Pretty god for me. That I want to play this style of music. Thanks a million
Most welcome, Raul!
Nice job man ... I like the skulls on the bad keys. Great breakdown on the pentatonic world and the dangers of overuse (and ways around it). I've been playing on and off for decades but I'm still learning. Subscribed.
Thanks PL, happy practicing!
I'm giving you 5 cups of coffee today, thank you so much for the many materials and videos, I'm looking for jazz that I learn late because I'm old. Stephen Shim
Omg this is awesome… I was looking for some exercises but this is beyond words… I’m gonna grab my sax right now and play the sequence… thank you! my parents downstairs will thank you too :)
This sounds so good
I have watched so many videos trying to understand how to use them besides noodling up and down or using some inversions. The call and response practice with melodic applications is AWESOME!
Thanks so much Joe! It's REALLY gratifying to hear that this is helpful. I struggled form many, many years. Finally started creating the kinds of lessons I wish I had, ya know? Hope you have a fantastic weekend and happy practicing!
Wasn't really sure what pentatonics were, but I've been playing some over the last few weeks. Your playing is a massive inspiration!!
Oh wow, that made my morning! Thanks GRoss - hope you have a fantastic weekend and happy practicing!
great lesson here! Thanks!
Thanks Dan, happy practicing my friend!
SA - is YTs bestest Sax channel by a significant margin 🙂
You are too kind. My friends (fellow CZcamsrs) have amazing content as well, I'm a fan of many of them. Happy practicing my friend!
This feels like teaching the Sax the same way Dora teaches language, which isn't to say it doesn't work. Fun exercise!
Thanks Dr. Wally! Nice to see you!
Hey Julie! Hope you're having a great week. Whatcha working on (saxophone wise)?
Working on the July Blues, and pentatonic patterns, apparently! 🙃
Wow Awesome Master!!
Thanks Felix, hope you have a great weekend and enjoy practicing the pentatonics!
Prep work for September's swinging Studio session!
Really great ideas and well explained. Before this I was confused as many of the on line tutorials give the minor pentatonic notes as 1, 3,4,5,7 but don't mention that you have to flatten the 3rd and 7th degrees of the scale. No wonder it didn't sound right.
Buenísimo!!
Gracias!
Thanks a lot ! Excelent!!!
Thanks Jose! Hope you're having a happy Thursday my friend!
This channel is tremendously underrated
We've got a fun lil "pack of strays" that hang around here. A nice bunch. Welcome!
Hi Dr Wally. Thanks for posting this. I love your - ahem, unique - teaching style. Maybe one day you could do a similar thing only this time not giving students the notes to read, but just the sound, so they are forced to use their ears a little more. You might do it with the blues scale as well. Just a thought... Thanks for great lessons, Peter
Awesome video Doc. Quite an interesting intro. Sounding great sir and the content is timely.
Thanks Kadrian, hope you're well my friend!
@@drwallysax I am thanks, and I trust you are too. Have a great week Doc.
Good topic Dr Wally. Sequence and Rhythms give you More mileage
Ooo…this was fun! 😊
Wait for September - The modal stuff we're doing is coooooool!
Really well done. I agree with the British fan base. I do think the dry humor is the majority of the draw.....emphasis on dry (very dry) btw. Oh, and the humility. I think explaining that even the mentor struggles and what your path has been to this point is huge. Creates a real empathy link and makes it real. Keep em coming!
Thanks Dave! Glad to know my horrible struggles and shortcomings are helpful 😂
Nice
Cool!
You're cool, Henry. You're cool my friend ;)
I’m just getting to pentatonics now learning to improvise using them
They're fun aren't they! happy Valentines Day!
Excellent Video.
Love the Call & Response exercises.
Something tells me I will see these again somewhere :)
You'll get FRESH ones in the private studio. Piping hot, right out of the oven.
@@drwallysax Cool! sounds like I will get baked learning them ;)
@@BruceWL Wait...that's not what I .....BRUCE!!!
I felt very proud of myself when i saw a video about something i can actually play
Yay!
Sorry. Pretty good. Really he sounds so different to others. Is so nice. Congratulations! I'm. Very interested in try to sound like you. Woooow
6:36
6:52
7:09
7:25
7:41
7:57
8:13
8:28
8:45
Great lesson and your way of teaching is superb....thank you Sir....
Thanks, Walter! I really appreciate the kind words my friend. Hope you have a great weekend, and happy practicing!
Your intros..... and reason to "like" ....... always make me laugh
Thanks David - have a great weekend my friend (and....gooo.....practice!)
Wally genuine question here... who is your target audience/ which demographic ends up watching your videos the most? I think all of your content is palatable for literally all ages and skill sets. I myself am a college student who is playing and trying to improve just for fun, but I always wonder about the thousands of others who watch your videos too! Thanks in advance and keep up the good work, very excited for part 2 and 3!!
Hi Bill, my target audience is adult amateurs. Strangely enough - a significant portion of my Audience is British. I DID NOT expect this, but they seem to take things a bit less seriously and appreciate teachers who can laugh at themselves (I certainly don't take myself too seriously - I hope). I kind of make the videos I want to see? Like if I were learning something, this is what I'd want to watch, make sense?
Whatcha studying in college?
@@drwallysax That is very interesting, maybe you (and I?) would do good at a British comedy club lol. I think you nail that audience perfectly because all of your videos tackle topics that can be hard to get a grasp on in a very clear and concise way - which many channels lack. Your ideas for videos are always prevalent and help me to develop my playing - like in this one I had a good grasp of pentatonic patterns and I've been practicing them, but when you started to hammer the idea of melodic motifs / development it was like a light went off in my head! I've always had a passion for music / saxophone but I never saw myself as a performer, I am studying Economics and Computer Science in New York, so I can scratch my live music / jazz itch whenever necessary! One last thing, the fact that you respond so quickly and care about your audience speaks volumes to you not only as a teacher but as an indispensable part to the saxophone community - I can't tell ya how much I appreciate you!
Adult amateur, that’s me (and British too 🤔) and if adult amateurs is Dr Wallace’s target audience, his nailed it. They inspire the musical Luddite that I am to keep trying and one day I might just produce one line that sounds good! 😉
@@drwallysax I dunno how closely related it is, and I assume something similar is happening in at least some other places, but I just saw a report on a survey conducted in the UK that suggested that ~1 million people there picked up an instrument during the pandemic, which would be well over 1% of their total population. I've been playing a variety of instruments for many years, and have owned an alto for several years but barely had the courage to play it alone, let alone with roommates around, until the beginning of this year. Your course has been a godsend! I've been getting 3-5 hrs of practice a week, and doing just the warmup exercises from your online course, I've been improving by leaps and bounds, it feels like! Very grateful for the resource.
Great lessons, thanks for your time and efforts, please can the reverb...
I'll drop the reflection time to 1.25....best I can do, final offer.
Super noob question: what style would these exercises fall under? My brain says blues/jazz? Love the chill vibe coming out of these.
Hi Doc! Great video. You often mention your set up and was wondering what you were playing on you alto. (new signature mouthpiece? Reed?) Thanks. Have a good weekend!
Hi Edward! On alto and tenor is the new 56 Select (.080" for alto and .110" for tenor facing. Both with a Boston Sax Shop 3.5 reed. Hope you're having a great week!
😂 hilarious intro
Very nice exercises! (a bit macabre with your skulls on which notes not to play and the penta____)
Thanks Rob, hope you're having a great week!
Thank you. Could you please give a reference to download a background minus track?
Which is this saxophone is this Bb? Or another one please tell
Hi Manjit - I'm playing both Bb tenor and Eb alto in this video
Good morning ! what model of mouthpiece do you use for the alto saxophone in this video? thank you and good luck
An other perfect lesson! Thanks for sharing! Is this tenor a YTS 62 purple logo or the previous YTS61?
Thanks Shitsure! It's an older, non-purple logo 62. After purple, but before the 62ii. make sense? It has the old style neck receiver, but an engraved logo.
@@drwallysax Yes, it makes sens. Thanks for the info! Now I go back to practice.
Can we play this on tenor sax the same way! thanl you so much, really good material!
Absolutely! I have the tenor exercises in the same video. Happy practicing!
Tell me Wiley which one to buy
Is this the Theo MP? do you play the 56 or prefer this ?
Just one point - in your talking bits you are holding an alto sax but the demonstration sections have you playing on tenor. Some confusion before I realised that I didn't have to change instrument...
What mouthpiece and ligature are you using?
I plan on buying a new alto saxophone I was going to either get the 860 Jon-Paul professional around $1,200 or better saxophone produced by conn-selmer says it Metcalf
really nice exercise. My wife just walked by and the only thing she mentioned was: "This guy also doesn't shave."
Wait, whhhhaaaa?
@@drwallysax Women.......
Hy Mr Wallace. I'm still waiting for the articulation and scales video/Pdf on how to practise them. Thank you
Hi Nefer, these videos take a great deal of time to make, and I'm quite backlogged at the moment. There will likely be an articulation video in the coming months, but not anytime in the next few weeks.
A
Is that a note? Or my grade? Or a typo? Hope it's my grade!
Hi Dr Wally, what's happened to The Sax Academy. No new assignments for the past 2 months. :)
I've uploaded the etudes! As for the assignments, sorry - things got complicated. I'll be updating soon! I've got student metrics in the course - not many are to April yet!
Hi!
Found this looking on info to help my neice jam with me (I play guitar). I'm trying to find a pentatonic scale for her to use to jam with me if I'm doing blues in like E or A . I understand that the sax notes don't match up But I'm having the hardest time finding any kind of info on what she can play to jam with our group if we're doing something like blues in e or A . Any advice or Even point me to a resource? I bought her two blues books but they don't seem to address this
Gotcha, had this same issue when I was a kid - jamming with my guitar friends. So, here's how it works. If she's playing the tenor saxophone, go up one WHOLE STEP. So, if it's an E blues - she'd be in F# . If you're in "A" - she would be in "B"
Now for ALTO saxophone, you have to go up a 6th (don't kill me, I didn't invent this transposition). So, if you're in E - she would be in C# on alto. If you were in A - she whole be in F# on alto. As you might imagine, those are tough keys for a saxophonists (no capo, my dear).
SO! Here's what I suggest - Learn a Bb blues for your niece!
If she plays Tenor - it's the C pentatonic
If she plays Alto - it's the G pentatonic
Both of those feel good for saxophonists at any level.
Make sense?
@@drwallysax Thank you so much for your quick reply! Yes that does make sense and it is super helpful. I don't mind trying to play in a different key I'm just hoping to be able to include her in some of our jam sessions when she comes and visits and I don't know if I'm going to be able to sell the entire group at an open jam on that🤣 Thank you so much That definitely gives us a great starting point! (She is playing Alto Sax)
Take 5... notes. Okay, who will be the seventh one to give me a D- for my pun?
Bob, that's a Level 8 dad joke, not bad.
@@drwallysax thatnks for the generous grade! I've had just a bit of practice trying to keep the kids smiling... especially while learning.
Did musicians get it from the blues scale or was it in use before that?
Pentatonic collections have existed for a long, long, long, long, time. There are African mbiras that have the collection of 5 from many centuries ago.
@@drwallysax Thank you.
All of Jazz explained in 11 min.
Well, some of jazz explained? Hope you're having a great week!
Where’s the PDF 🎵🎶🎷
On example 3 you start with a C but it is sounding like a Bb same with example 4 (probably also the others) here you start on a D but it is sounding like C. Are you thinking about a tenor in Bb?
All examples are written as transposed parts (being a saxophone channel). This allows the students to play along in the workshop.
@@drwallysax maybe i'm a bit confused because i always read in C with my alto. I'll check again.
@@drwallysax So i notice now that in the first example you play Alto then for the other examples switch to tenor, your transposition stays the same. So when you play the alto it is sounding like F and when you play the Tenor it is sounding like C. Also in the first round of back to back you play Alto and the second you play tenor. I got it right now?
@@3TBlue Alto C = Eb concert Tenor C = Bb concert
Hi Dr., what key is this in? I’m trying to play it on my trumpet...
Hey Micah, there's a tenor workshop at the end of the video - you can play along with that!
@@drwallysax
Awesome. I just googled it and confirmed that tenor sax is apparently Bb like my trumpet... (Not that you didn’t already know that...)I plan to master the call and response by ear... but what key am I playing in?
@@drwallysax
Also, I mastered by ear the first section of this video with that ascending jazz type scale… I keep hearing about a skip step scale… Could you do a video on that? Sounds like it’s in sync with your jazz lessons?
@@drwallysax
Best I can figure is I’m playing a Gm pent scale on my trumpet... does the doctor concur?
funny :))
Your voice got real low when you said go practice at the beginning there. I could use a strong bass like you in my barbershop quartet....jk thanks for the great video!
Done. I'm there!
But I like to noodle.
Noodle away, George! (and then practice these and make some interesting motives). Happy weekend!
common, show the damn buttons :(
The first sequence there is an actual pattern the second third fourth and fifth are just random notes that came out of your head that sounded good because you have been playing for 30 or 40 years there’s no pattern so there’s no way to teach it or to practice it other than just to learn it. Not good.
I wish people making these videos would put links in the description to skip to the part described in the title, what we actually clicked on to watch. Sick of getting a lecture on the most basic stuff over and over.
Womp womp, just scroll through ya ding ding