Introduction After reviewing Hip Licks for Saxophone Volume 1 and Volume 2, I contacted Greg when I heard about his new book called The Lobster Theory (and other analogies for jazz improvisation). I will be offering an overall review, my thoughts, and a conclusion as to what I was able to take away after workingย throughย this [read more…]
By now, many of you have noticed that many saxophone players also play the flute, which is commonly referred to as a โdoubleโ in our world. Often, saxophone parts, particularly in big bands, include segments written for the flute, giving composers and arrangers an added color to work with. And in the studio and show [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, ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ-๐๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ-๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ 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
If you’re someone that has been tinkering and experimenting with the altissimo range of your saxophone, then good for you. It’s something we can all use as an important tool for increasing our expressive abilities when playing the sax. If your attempts have been a bit frustrating then I have good news for you… you [read more…]
When you think of great saxophone players, who comes to mind โ Coltrane? Parker? Brecker? All great, to be sure. But there are other wonderful musicians worthy of your exploration. Here are 3 that I came across simply by happy accident. One via a late night DJ, the 2nd having a chance to meet, and [read more…]
Introduction I have seen more and more players using the ReedGeek to work on reeds that are not performing to their standards. Before the ReedGeek, I used to use various grits of sandpaper to work on my reeds which sometimes worked but other times I ended up destroying the reed or sanding the reed down [read more…]
Most people have heard of overtones and have gotten the idea that they can be a helpful practice tool. That is definitely true, but why? How does transforming your saxophone into a bugle help you? While the answer is fairly simple, it takes some basic knowledge about acoustics to fully grasp what’s happening. Understanding what’s [read more…]
Introduction During my time here at BSWE, I have reviewed such products as mouthpieces, reeds, ligatures, mouthpiece patches, saxophone necks, saxophones, cases, books, etc. Most recently, I was sent information from Bengt Lidgard, CEO of ScoreCloud, to review their product, also called, ScoreCloud. When I first reviewed the product information and the website, it reminded [read more…]
Scales are the “raw material” of melody, whether improvised or composed. It’s not likely that you’ll study jazz improvisation to any serious degree without spending a lot of time learning, exploring and creating melodies with scalar material (as well as understanding how these scales relate to harmony). In modern jazz improvisation, many different scale colors [read more…]
How many times has it happened that you tell somebody that you play the saxophone, and the first thing that they say, with a glint in their eyes is, “Oh, I love the saxophoneโฆ” Now, I hate to say it, but they probably aren’t thinking of Bird’s burning solo on Donna Lee, Coltrane’s “sheets of [read more…]
Professional classical musicians seem to be able to memorize impossibly complicated solo works, orchestral excerpts, and other pieces in a short amount of time and with remarkable recall and precision. Similarly, professional jazz musicians know hundreds of tunes and seem to be able to play back almost anything they hear – in any key [read more…]