Introduction As we come out of the first year of a historic global pandemic, I am glad to say that many musicians have adjusted and come out with creative ways to release and promote their existing and new music, as well as simply survive. One such musician is renowned saxophonist, Tim Garland. I am very [read more…]
There seems to a be a common idea that improvising in odd time signatures is hard. When I come across a new time signature, I remind myself that it isn’t difficult – it’s unfamiliar. If you think 4/4 is easy, that’s likely because you’ve spent significantly more time playing songs in four, making it familiar [read more…]
You know that adrenaline you get from hearing a saxophonist tearing through super-hip lines with incredible clarity and a rock-solid time feel? Now, obviously, there's a lot more that goes into great sax playing than just playing a bunch of fast notes, but without solid technical skills, your playing is going to lack a critical dimension when it comes to exciting your listeners.
Luckily, there is, indeed, a clear path to developing those head-turning chops while at the same time adding original modern vocabulary to your improv "vocabulary", and renowned sax recording artist and educator Adam Larson's course, 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 is a "one-stop shopping" destination to get you there. Instead of blindly running scales or reading out of an exercise book, Adam takes you through a method similar to that of Brecker and other masters, where it's all about increasing the speed of not only your fingers, but your mind, and most importantly, your ears.
So if you're willing to do something you've never done so you can have something you've never had - click below to learn more about Adam's popular, game-changing course and start turbo-charging your playint - today.
SAXTECHNIQUE.COM
Lightning-Fast and Crystal-Clean Saxophone Technique
Introduction If you’re looking for another smokin’ alto player to add to your list of people to check out, Nick Biello is your guy. Besides being as a top-notch alto player, Nick can also be seen playing bari, tenor, and soprano in various groups. I first saw videos of Nick playing alto saxophone when I [read more…]
Introduction The following article is a mini-lesson that incorporates an etude from Little Leaps and Sounds, which is my latest book geared towards the intermediate level and includes etudes written over twelve common jazz standards. After releasing Volume 1-3 of Leaps and Sounds between 2018-2020, I saw there might be a need for etudes written with [read more…]
Introduction I strongly believe that transcription is the key to learning jazz improvisation. This certainly was the case for me and for the numerous jazz musicians that I have performed with over the years. I do not believe that I have met a great improviser that claimed to have never transcribed. For me, a light [read more…]
How can you improve the essential elements of your improvisation? Follow the advice in Sy Oliver & Trummy Young’s song: “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It).” Great soloists play interestingly and confidently. As listeners, we perceive that as charisma. In jazz education, there’s a lot of focus on what [read more…]
Lately I’ve been asked by other saxophonists how I am able to play notes below the normal range of the saxophone, which, as just about anyone reading this would know, is the low Bb, below the staff – especially since there don’t seem to be any keys on the instrument which would appear able to [read more…]
The saxophone can be a very rewarding instrument to learn how to play. You’ll be able to use it in dozens of genres from jazz and blues to pop and rock. However, picking your first saxophone can be very intimidating. You want to make sure that you get something that will be able to last [read more…]
Introduction As many people know, becoming a full-time musician, is no easy feat (with or without a global pandemic). It has become increasingly difficult for even somewhat-established artists to maintain a steady stream of income due to fewer jazz clubs and heightened competition from other musicians vying for a smaller pool of gigs. Although jazz [read more…]
Photo by Norm Johnstone Introduction I remember first meeting Anibal at Rafael Navarro’s booth at the NAMM 2014 Show but had been checking out Anibal’s playing for quite some time beforehand. If you have not checked out his Altissimo Fingerings & Body & Soul video as well as his SAXREX Session Videos (Learning Jazz Standards [read more…]