Lesson 24: Major Melody
This is a very simple melody that clearly outlines the major 7 sound (with a passing natural 11). First learn to sing the melody in one key to get familiar with the sound and help internalize the phrase. Singing is
Lesson 39: Bach Cello Suite
Here’s a very simple lesson taken from the 1st two bars of the second Bach Cello Suite prelude. The melody outlines the chord progression i minor to V7 b9. First, sing the melody until you hear it like a nursery
Lesson 38: 1st Inv Triads
Over the years I consistently hear from my students, “I know all my triads” and, “I know all my major scales”. After closer examination, it turns out that, for many developing sax players and musicians, this often means root position
Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol.2
The second volume of Modern Jazz Vocabulary is finally done. I made some changes in the books format based on a lot of the feedback I got from people about vol. 1. This book is bigger in size but should
Lesson 37: Singing Modes
This is an exercise I came up with since I have carpal tunnel syndrome and can’t play as much as I’d like to. I either sing along with this mp3 or I do long tones on the root while listening
Lesson 36: ii-V-i Harmonic Min.
This exercise is a (second) example of using a harmonic minor scale to create a melody over a minor ii-V-i progression. To do this we use the harmonic minor scale of the i chord. For example in a D-7b5 (ii),
Lesson 35: ii-V-i Harmonic Min
This exercise is an example of using a harmonic minor scale to create a melody over a minor ii-V-i progression. To do this we use the harmonic minor scale of the i chord. For example in a D-7b5 (ii), G7b9,b13
Lesson 30: Sing and Play
Since I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in 1990, I began to sing as a way of practicing the saxophone without using my hands. After my operation, I could not use my hands to play the sax for 4 months so
Lesson 28: My Shining Hour
This is a short etude I wrote over the chord changes to My Shining Hour in concert C. The etude utilizes a lot of modern-ish concepts in terms of rhythmic groupings and harmonic/triadic substitutions. You’ll find several uses of #9
Lesson 23: Harmonic Maj
This is exercise works as a supplement to my book “Jazz Vocabulary Vol. 1 Harmonic Major” or on its own. There are three mp3s for this scale practice below, one at 40bpm, one at 80 bpm and one at 160bpm.
Lesson 22: ii – V – I Chromatic
In lesson 20 and 21 we worked on using chromatics as melodic material over specific harmony. Continuing along these lines, this exercise is another ii-7 – V7- Imaj7 using the chromatic scale. The melody ascends from the minor 3rd
Lesson 21: V7 Chromatic
Although we all practice chromatic scales over the years, sometimes it’s challenging to actually use them as convincing melodies while improvising. One thing I’ve noticed is that every other note of a chromatic scale creates a whole tone scale, and
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