I love this! Oh so many ways to skin a cat!🤣 What's funny to me is, back in the 90s I went to a week long Bud Shank workshop. Bud and most all the other teachers talked about how to analyze chord structures so you would know what mode to play over the top of it.... So of course that's been my approach since then. But your method is SO much easier! My conclusion: just play what sounds good!
Loved this video! A very simplistic but realistic approach to improvisation. Two techniques I was taught were: 1) listen - both in regards to keeping time and hearing the changes this way you can feel 8 vs 12 bar phrases without having to get lost trying to read it; and 2) if you play a wrong note just play it again so it sounds deliberate and cool.
Thanks Wally for this new series! Improvisation is THE subject for most Sax players... otherwise, we’d be learning piano or guitar... LOL... ready for practicing and applying your lessons every week. And, of course, following step by step the saxophone foundation course... it’s always important to make sure we’re not neglecting the basic stuff, no matter how experienced we are... thanks again for your time and dedication!
Thanks Dr Wally. I love the way you always just cut through to what really matters. Your guidance and advice are priceless. The music is sweet, The words are true, The song is you.
Speaking of learning the lyrics to a song, there’s the story of the great Ben Webster who suddenly stopped playing in the middle of a tune. His band mates, in a panic, asked him what was wrong. His reply was “I forgot the words”.
To Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond, among others, melody was always KING. Major, minor, chromatic - altered/varied - - - Blues & Pentatonic (+/-) Great advisement, Doc.
You are so bright an fun to listen to while teaching key concepts never so well explained. Please accept my gratitude for making my retiring so much more pleasant and going further of playing jazz. You arethe best UA-cam music educator. CONGRATS and all the best to you in 2024.
well, Thant brightened my morning, thanks so much! Congratulations on your retirement, now Claire 2.0 begins! (you're a jazz saxophonist now, by the way, repeat that often).
Melody is King! Melody is King! Melody is King! say it again with Dr. Wally: Melody is King! As far as the lyrics, I just like hearing the melody in my head cause I can't always remember all the words.
This is perfect! This is exactly what I've been struggling with and answers the questions that I have. I'm really looking forward to the next segments of this lesson series. Thanks Doc!!!
@@drwallysax Cold in the morning and warm in the afternoon (40 degree swings fairly often). Nice inside though, since I'm spending my time between lessons transcribing some Lester Young, Hank Mobley, and Cannonball Adderley.
Great video Doc. I love that point about taking different roads to the top of the mountain, there is no one way to getting there. I love that analogy that you used about using tools to get to your desired goal and not overwhelming oneself in the process. 🙏
Wally: this seems like such a great place to start on the road to learning jazz and improvisation. Like many others who have placed comments on the videos, I too have been lost with the great of information and courses available to learn improvisation. As vyou say, no method is right or wrong and not everything works for everyone but..... breaking things down to little bits and chunks will allow us to start building a foundation to keep building upon later on. You really know how to break things down! Thank you so much for all the help you provide us with.
I struggled for over a decade learning to improvise. I had all the technique in the world (literally, had won classical competitions), but the educational materials available for jazz just didn't connect with me. I finally adapted a system from a couple of mentors and made it my own. I'm actually having FUN improvising now! So glad you find it helpful!
This is a great beginning; looking forward to more. I started out just trying to be able to play the same stuff I would whistle while I’m listening to the tune. Playing short fills over a vocal rendition, in the vocalists pauses, for example. Playing “by ear” must be a learning step, no?
Thanks Dr. Wally! I can't wait for next installments. Your approach sounds very interesting so far. Melody is indeed a strong foundation although without more instructions when we try to embelish it we'll probably add lots of notes that sound "wrong". Hopefully you will add more information about it in next lessons.
I totally agree about the lyrics thing. I began playing late in life, and I want to learn a lot of standards. My experience is that I learn the tunes twice as fast when I try to learn the lyrics at the same time - or just follow the lyrics. It sounds like a paradox to learn twice the data in order to learn faster. The only explanation I can think of is that our brain just works better with aural and visual input together.
I've had the EXACT same experience, Kent. My brain doesn't remember the melody to many Parker tunes on the first hearing...but: "Back home again....in Indiana..." That sticks! Maybe because it engages the verbal/language part of our brain for the assist? I have no idea, but you're right!
As a saxophone teacher, I found your method very interesting and unique. Even though I tend to teach improvisation in a slightly more technical way, I can also connect to a lot of the ideas here. Great video, Thx!
thanks my friend. I think by episode 5 in the series, we may be closer to approach than you think! I kind of start with the "melody is king" concept to clear the mind a bit - prepare the for battle! Happy Monday! Side question - I can't read Hebrew, what shall I call you?
@@drwallysax Looking forward for the rest of the series! My name is pronounced "Yehuda Lichtenstein"... I should probably change it to english on my google acount...
It's a horn I'm play testing for review. Thanks, I think it's rather handsome as well! It's a house brand from Taiwan: Zen Cooper. A lot of specs for a great price. More to come!
Hey Wally! One of my insecurities as an improviser is uptempo improv; I can play ballads and mid tempo stuff but I can't CONSISTENTLY play uptempo. While I do have the dexterity and speed to play really fast, I could use some tips for actually taming the uptempo stuff. As a note: I'm typing this before I've been watched this vid in it's entirety so you may have already touched on this. Alas, you are a very helpful person and I'm sure I'll grow regardless. Thanks dude!
Dr Wally... you are the greatest person to ever hit YT with salient information to change folks musical lives..Paul Desmond, Johnny "Rabbit" Hodges, and Stan Getz were our heroes..in the 60's as teens we bought all the records that lawn mowing allowances would allow. We couldn't read music, but we burned up a Magnavox record player learning their solos note for note by EAR. When I listen to the college kids play when we jam it is easy to see the hesitation because of all the mental work going on trying to cobble together way too many ideas at one time...all I'm saying here is real Ear training has no substitute. The kids ask my brother and me how'd we think up those runs, notes.. we both say listening for hours to the Masters. Peace.
@@drwallysax Thank you Dr. Wally.. I'm learning to read at 76 thanks to you! I was so lucky in 1964 when my Band Pal turned me onto Claude Humber in Dallas..Ft Worth is our hometown. Humber re-faced the mouth pieces of Paul Desmond, Stan Getz and Pete Fountain..and many others. I'm still playing on my Desmond facing with No. 3 Rico, what Desmond used. Claude has been gone for many years.. I have an old copy of the Ferling...starting Slowly. That is a heavy study book.
I feel like if you know what a note is going to sound like, you can always play the right note. I don't get this modern talk about chords and scales. I can play the scales but if I know what tone I want and can play it, then I'm all set. Whap Bap a Loo La.
Jeez, looks like I fluked out on one of the first comments. Gonna be such a great time for sax improvisers - we’re both running improv segments. Love it!!! As always, wise words and a plethora of great advice Wally. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (I miss Olly though)
You are so correct for me as I play by ear and the only way to do that is to know the song well. I never think chords. Way to go doc Wally. Thanks for all
@@drwallysax would have tried to make one but we have got another vicious strain of this virus. So when all is well we should go for it. Stay safe doc and all who will read this. 💚
I enjoyed this video and agreed with everything you said , my main difficulty is that most of my good melodic content which is constantly going round my head when I’m not playing evaporates when I actually try to play is there a cure !
Always good to hear clear reasoning cut through obscurantism! A bit concerning that most of the questions centre around what notes to play, rather than rhythm and inflexion! Maybe a one-note solo demo?
I'm just starting to learn jazz I've played for 8 years and I'm ready to learn it (I think). Do you have tips on where to begin. Is this video a good beginning? I'm teaching myself I'm only in high school and I dont know where to start. I'm just having trouble finding a start and organizing my way to learn jazz without going to far ahead of myself on accident. I watched the video I'm just trying to get a VERY clear answer on my questions.
This is great. You're the first jazz instructor I've ever met who talks about by melodic and lyrical. Most are caught up in the bebop tradition of making riffs and patterns that frankly are just hard to listen to or are unpleasant. Most jazz improvisation, even the best, is boring because it's so formulaic. Charlie Parker wouldn't like to think of himself as being formulaic, and if you're Charlie Parker then you can get away with it. Most improv is just musical onanism, played for the delight of the player who wants to show how clever his is with his fingers and music theory. I keep trying to like jazz, I've played in jazz bands, but I always come back to the conclusion that it's just not very musical in the ways I like it. I hope more musicians spend more time being musical, lyrical and melodic and less preoccupied with formulaic rhythms and licks.
HUGO MONTUORI Hi DR WALLY for more than 30 years I haven`t play the ALTO SAX, now at the age of 82 decided to buy a soprano sax to put some music in my life. I always heard that the soprano is not a sax to start playing,
I thing I've got the same problem as you had before. I am a professionell flutist, who has been playing as a soloflautist in some of the greatest Orchesters. As a teen-ager I played the altosax in bebop groupe and now I habe my pension from the orchester and the musicacademie i am trying again to play the Jazz I allways loved, but as trained classical musician I find it difficult to get thos freedom I once had. I hope you can help me. As for the altosax and Baritonsax I habe a good sound and a not a bad technich. Sincerely yours Ole Birger Pedersen.
Great job, Wally, and thanks! I liked the building and foreign language analogies. Regarding lyrics, I vividly remember a masterclass I attended with Christian McBride 21 years ago where he stated that he listened to Frank Sinatra's versions when learning standards because Sinatra's interpretations where pretty true to the originals (and sung clearly). By the way...new alto? I see lacquer now.
Yes! I start with Sinatra and Julie London. For pleasure, just for listening, of COURSE I love Ella and Billie. But just to learn the melody...I mean, who's gonna argue with McBride! The alto is a new model, about to become available in the US. I'm testing and preparing a review :)
If I'm playing along with a guitar player and he says key of G, he'll go to the 3rd fret and play in Em. Both are the same key. Playing a tenor sax, I'd play in the key of A. Good lesson.
Great question: many times, a long series of chords are just a way to outline a tonal center. In "I got Rhythm" for example, the whole series of chords (I, vi, ii, V, I, vi, ii, V) is just elongating the home key (concert Bb) - so instead of JUST thinking two chords per measure - I like to think of 4 bars of Bb - building a melody around that major key area. (using the chords to pick up colorful tones along the way). Make senes?
Awesome Dr Wally, thank you so much. I never expected to hear an academic advising to learn the words of a tune as the starting point to improvisation. I thought it was only musical illiterates like me that took this approach due to lack of higher skill sets. I have been losing sight of this method in recent years, attempting to understand chord progression theory, modes and scales, and trying to memorise unmemorable licks and chord progressions. And feel I've gotten myself somewhat misguided as a result. So I have a question. How do you see licks and quotes fitting into your melody is king method. ? Are licks beneficial, and a way forward? should we be learning licks ? For many teachers, compounded licks are the basis for their improvisation. But they are so hard to remember compared to lyrics, and it is too easy to loose touch with the tune and even loose touch with the music. Maybe the solution is to perceive the licks also as melodies?
Hey, just replied to your email! Great questions. Also, I am NOT an Academic! I got my doctorate to help relieve my overwhelming imposter syndrome (didn't work). Seriously, Academia was not a good fit for me. I love learning, but I hate the culture and ethics. Luring kids into $80,000 of debt for a useless performance degree was something I couldn't do. Happy Wednesday my friend!
It's a horn that's going to be released soon (in the US), I'm playing it for a few weeks to do a thorough test before review. It's a Taiwanese house brand, "Zen Cooper." Looks like a good value of specifications for a reasonable price.
I would like to know how to improvise with the least effort. I am a lazy saxophonist and I guess this is the wrong question for this channel (or the wrong channel for this question). Anyways, do you have any tips let's say for an improvisation on one note for example
Does anyone know a good Overview of alternate Fingerings? I Bet there are dozens and when searching the web i get Tons of results so i'm overwhelmed. Just the most commonly used for tenor Sax.
Step one: Listen to recordings, find what you love. Seriously, that's ALL you need to do. Find a saxophonist you LOVE listening to. Until that happens, there's no point in learning to play jazz! Relax, listen to some records and enjoy Clinton!
Even though this helpful video is only 10 mins long...what few realize is that Wally was actually talking for five hours straight. Don't worry, afterwards he used the bathroom and got a hotdog.
My wife swears that every conversation with me FEELS like it's five hours or more. I take hotdog breaks in every video, but use adult diapers to save time.
Wow. Excellent. Where were you when I was 13 and needed a teacher?! Well, not in CA and I imagine younger than 13, so unless you are Dr Strange, this is not a real question...
Perhaps, Sonho....I AM Dr. Strange! I have a doctorate, and my wife calls me strange...it just makes sense! (thanks for the kind words my friend). happy Tuesday!
Part 1 of 5: Answering your most asked questions! Next week, bring your horn for call and response training!
I love this! Oh so many ways to skin a cat!🤣
What's funny to me is, back in the 90s I went to a week long Bud Shank workshop. Bud and most all the other teachers talked about how to analyze chord structures so you would know what mode to play over the top of it.... So of course that's been my approach since then. But your method is SO much easier!
My conclusion: just play what sounds good!
Loved this video! A very simplistic but realistic approach to improvisation. Two techniques I was taught were: 1) listen - both in regards to keeping time and hearing the changes this way you can feel 8 vs 12 bar phrases without having to get lost trying to read it; and 2) if you play a wrong note just play it again so it sounds deliberate and cool.
Absolutely! All 12 tones sound good over every chord, it's just how you use them!
Cheese and crackers sound pretty good right now. Thanks for the snack suggestion Dr. Wally!
Ha! Happy munching Alex! Then go practice...
Thanks Wally for this new series! Improvisation is THE subject for most Sax players... otherwise, we’d be learning piano or guitar... LOL... ready for practicing and applying your lessons every week. And, of course, following step by step the saxophone foundation course... it’s always important to make sure we’re not neglecting the basic stuff, no matter how experienced we are... thanks again for your time and dedication!
Most welcome, Eduardo! Happy practicing my friend!
This video is so great, Dr. Wally. Thank you so much! Where are the other 4 parts of this series, please?
Well said. This is a great public service.
Thanks my friend, bring your axe this Sunday - it's call and response ear training time!
I liked this video and immediately started playing Bmaj7 over G7! Thanks!
Gmaj7..Bmaj7 makes me nervous.
Fantastic videos & resources. They are priceless. Big Thankyou to you Dr Wally.
So glad you find it useful - plenty more to come!
"Melodic content over a key area".... such a great way to put it.... a light-bulb moment for me - thanks!!
Thanks Martin, I'm building my entire core of my teaching around this principle. Giant course coming soon :)
Thanks Dr Wally. I love the way you always just cut through to what really matters. Your guidance and advice are priceless. The music is sweet, The words are true, The song is you.
Thanks my friend, happy practicing!
Your singing is not that bad Dr Wally… love your teaching approach!
I can't wait to watch this this evening! Dr. Wally you've got style, material, and delivery. Always makes me smile to see you give us new material:)
Awwww, thanks Aaron!
Great voice Dr. Wally and clear ideas for soloing
Thanks Wilson, much appreciated my friend. Happy practicing!
Speaking of learning the lyrics to a song, there’s the story of the great Ben Webster who suddenly stopped playing in the middle of a tune. His band mates, in a panic, asked him what was wrong. His reply was “I forgot the words”.
Haaaa!!! I LOVE THIS!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 good one so far
To Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond, among others, melody was always KING.
Major, minor, chromatic - altered/varied - - - Blues & Pentatonic (+/-)
Great advisement, Doc.
Those are my heroes!
@@drwallysax mine too! Lyrics, lyrics and a little bit more of lyrics ❤️🎷
Also Lester Young.
@@Vitupers
Nice introduction, looking forward to the upcoming episodes
Thanks! Bring your horn next week - it's almost all playing and trading phrases with me!
You are so bright an fun to listen to while teaching key concepts never so well explained. Please accept my gratitude for making my retiring so much more pleasant and going further of playing jazz. You arethe best UA-cam music educator. CONGRATS and all the best to you in 2024.
well, Thant brightened my morning, thanks so much! Congratulations on your retirement, now Claire 2.0 begins! (you're a jazz saxophonist now, by the way, repeat that often).
such a breath of fresh air!
Thanks Nate! Happy practicing my friend!
Extremely Gratifying... again.. thank you so much Dr Wally
Most welcome my friend! Much more to come, bring your horn next week!
This is good content! I'll be buying you some coffee sooner rather than later Dr. Wally, cheers!
Thanks my friend - more good stuff coming very soon. Bring your horn on Sunday!
Thanks Dr. Wally this video is much appreciated. Have a great day.
You as well, Jason! Happy practicing!
Thank you for sharing Doc. Wally! God bless!
Thanks my friend!
Melody is King!
Melody is King!
Melody is King!
say it again with Dr. Wally: Melody is King!
As far as the lyrics, I just like hearing the melody in my head cause I can't always remember all the words.
Let's get T-shirts made! When I started learning the lyrics, I remembered the melodies more easily. I kinda find it fun!
Really practical and really funny real information. Thanks for this...
Thanks, so glad you found its useful Bongslzr!
This is perfect! This is exactly what I've been struggling with and answers the questions that I have. I'm really looking forward to the next segments of this lesson series. Thanks Doc!!!
Thanks Spencer! We're going to be playing together next week, bring your horn!
Will do!
Thank you everything ~~!! I, ve been learning this video ~ you had a good skill!!
Awwww, thanks!
Really enjoying your channel. Learning alot. Thankyou for your educational and entertaining videos.
Thanks Daniel, much appreciated man!
Cheese and crackers, thanks again for your fun, informative approach!
Thanks Aaron. happy Tuesday my friend! How's the weather out there in Reno?
@@drwallysax Cold in the morning and warm in the afternoon (40 degree swings fairly often). Nice inside though, since I'm spending my time between lessons transcribing some Lester Young, Hank Mobley, and Cannonball Adderley.
@@oboeash Nice!
Great video Doc. I love that point about taking different roads to the top of the mountain, there is no one way to getting there. I love that analogy that you used about using tools to get to your desired goal and not overwhelming oneself in the process. 🙏
This is the way my friend! Happy practicing, Kadrian! Hope you have a great weekend!
@@drwallysax Thanks Doc, your content has been very useful to me. Have a great weekend and an awesome week too.
Wally: this seems like such a great place to start on the road to learning jazz and improvisation. Like many others who have placed comments on the videos, I too have been lost with the great of information and courses available to learn improvisation. As vyou say, no method is right or wrong and not everything works for everyone but..... breaking things down to little bits and chunks will allow us to start building a foundation to keep building upon later on.
You really know how to break things down!
Thank you so much for all the help you provide us with.
I struggled for over a decade learning to improvise. I had all the technique in the world (literally, had won classical competitions), but the educational materials available for jazz just didn't connect with me. I finally adapted a system from a couple of mentors and made it my own. I'm actually having FUN improvising now! So glad you find it helpful!
This is a great beginning; looking forward to more. I started out just trying to be able to play the same stuff I would whistle while I’m listening to the tune. Playing short fills over a vocal rendition, in the vocalists pauses, for example. Playing “by ear” must be a learning step, no?
Abso-tootley! Check out the pre-cursor video: Jazz transcription. Playing by ear is essential!
Thanks Dr. Wally! I can't wait for next installments. Your approach sounds very interesting so far. Melody is indeed a strong foundation although without more instructions when we try to embelish it we'll probably add lots of notes that sound "wrong". Hopefully you will add more information about it in next lessons.
Much, much more to come Javier!
I totally agree about the lyrics thing. I began playing late in life, and I want to learn a lot of standards. My experience is that I learn the tunes twice as fast when I try to learn the lyrics at the same time - or just follow the lyrics. It sounds like a paradox to learn twice the data in order to learn faster. The only explanation I can think of is that our brain just works better with aural and visual input together.
I've had the EXACT same experience, Kent. My brain doesn't remember the melody to many Parker tunes on the first hearing...but: "Back home again....in Indiana..." That sticks! Maybe because it engages the verbal/language part of our brain for the assist? I have no idea, but you're right!
As a saxophone teacher, I found your method very interesting and unique. Even though I tend to teach improvisation in a slightly more technical way, I can also connect to a lot of the ideas here.
Great video, Thx!
thanks my friend. I think by episode 5 in the series, we may be closer to approach than you think! I kind of start with the "melody is king" concept to clear the mind a bit - prepare the for battle! Happy Monday! Side question - I can't read Hebrew, what shall I call you?
@@drwallysax
Looking forward for the rest of the series!
My name is pronounced "Yehuda Lichtenstein"... I should probably change it to english on my google acount...
Hey Dr. Wally,
Great video. Thanks for it.
On a side note, have you changed/switched horns? This cognac one looks great. What kind is it?
It's a horn I'm play testing for review. Thanks, I think it's rather handsome as well! It's a house brand from Taiwan: Zen Cooper. A lot of specs for a great price. More to come!
Thanks, very helpful and encouraging.
Thanks Lawrence, bring your horn on Sunday, we're going to have some fun!
Thank you so much! You are the greatest teacher.
You are very kind and that made my morning. Thanks Calvin. Bring your horn on Sunday, we're going to have some fun!
Thanks a lot Dr. Wallace!
So the lyrics also help with articulation, I guess?
And then, when improvising, can I make up my own lyrics?
Absolutely!! The intro song for this channel is one I wrote. Although it's saxophone, I wrote lyrics to it!
Hey Wally! One of my insecurities as an improviser is uptempo improv; I can play ballads and mid tempo stuff but I can't CONSISTENTLY play uptempo. While I do have the dexterity and speed to play really fast, I could use some tips for actually taming the uptempo stuff.
As a note: I'm typing this before I've been watched this vid in it's entirety so you may have already touched on this.
Alas, you are a very helpful person and I'm sure I'll grow regardless. Thanks dude!
ABSOLUTELY, we'll talk about that in the final week - burnin'!!!
Dr Wally... you are the greatest person to ever hit YT with salient information to change folks musical lives..Paul Desmond, Johnny "Rabbit" Hodges, and Stan Getz were our heroes..in the 60's as teens we bought all the records that lawn mowing allowances would allow. We couldn't read music, but we burned up a Magnavox record player learning their solos note for note by EAR. When I listen to the college kids play when we jam it is easy to see the hesitation because of all the mental work going on trying to cobble together way too many ideas at one time...all I'm saying here is real Ear training has no substitute. The kids ask my brother and me how'd we think up those runs, notes.. we both say listening for hours to the Masters. Peace.
That's so cool - and the right way to learn! Thanks for the kind words, Jim. Much appreciated my friend!
@@drwallysax Thank you Dr. Wally.. I'm learning to read at 76 thanks to you! I was so lucky in 1964 when my Band Pal turned me onto Claude Humber in Dallas..Ft Worth is our hometown. Humber re-faced the mouth pieces of Paul Desmond, Stan Getz and Pete Fountain..and many others. I'm still playing on my Desmond facing with No. 3 Rico, what Desmond used. Claude has been gone for many years.. I have an old copy of the Ferling...starting Slowly. That is a heavy study book.
I feel like if you know what a note is going to sound like, you can always play the right note.
I don't get this modern talk about chords and scales. I can play the scales but if I know what tone I want and can play it, then I'm all set. Whap Bap a Loo La.
Dr. WALLY singing. Pretty good!
No it's not! But hopefully helpful :) Thanks Brian!
Jeez, looks like I fluked out on one of the first comments. Gonna be such a great time for sax improvisers - we’re both running improv segments. Love it!!! As always, wise words and a plethora of great advice Wally. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (I miss Olly though)
Looking forward to checking your series out as well, Jamie!
Whoa your sound is a lot different than what I've listened than what I've heard before am a fan of it!
Thanks Miguel!
You are so correct for me as I play by ear and the only way to do that is to know the song well. I never think chords. Way to go doc Wally. Thanks for all
Thanks my friend! If you know the melody, you know the song. We should have T-shirts made of that!
@@drwallysax would have tried to make one but we have got another vicious strain of this virus. So when all is well we should go for it. Stay safe doc and all who will read this. 💚
Love your channel, very useful content!
Thanks Steve, happy Tuesday my friend!
7:40 I had a teacher @% years ago who said his teacher from ancient times made this statement, “When your brain hurts, you know you’re studying jazz”.
Ha! Yes, brain....ego....and bank account all hurt!
thank you for an other top tier video. please continue showing us how to play like in the intro
I have to show you how to play like the intro - it's the only style I can play! (well, only style I can be bothered to play - cool school 4life)
Great sir 👏
I enjoyed this video and agreed with everything you said , my main difficulty is that most of my good melodic content which is constantly going round my head when I’m not playing evaporates when I actually try to play is there a cure !
We'll chat about that! Great question! Happy Monday, Colin!
Always good to hear clear reasoning cut through obscurantism! A bit concerning that most of the questions centre around what notes to play, rather than rhythm and inflexion! Maybe a one-note solo demo?
That's an excellent idea! Thanks Roger!
I'm just starting to learn jazz I've played for 8 years and I'm ready to learn it (I think). Do you have tips on where to begin. Is this video a good beginning? I'm teaching myself I'm only in high school and I dont know where to start. I'm just having trouble finding a start and organizing my way to learn jazz without going to far ahead of myself on accident. I watched the video I'm just trying to get a VERY clear answer on my questions.
Great start!
Thanks Rob, muuuuch more to come. Bring your horn next week!
New sax? Looks shiny. That just help you play with even more melody.
Testing a new horn, about to be released in the US! Full review coming soon..
I’d like to get the full intro song sometime. I’d like to play it. Is there an email for you on your website?
wally @ thesaxophoneacademy.com
Hi Mr.Wallace Thank you, what horn are you playing on this video?
Zen Cooper - Legend vi alto!
Is there a full version of “Your Love is a Gamma Ray” available anywhere? It sounds like a very fun tune to learn
I'll see if I can dig up the lead sheet!
This is great. You're the first jazz instructor I've ever met who talks about by melodic and lyrical. Most are caught up in the bebop tradition of making riffs and patterns that frankly are just hard to listen to or are unpleasant. Most jazz improvisation, even the best, is boring because it's so formulaic. Charlie Parker wouldn't like to think of himself as being formulaic, and if you're Charlie Parker then you can get away with it. Most improv is just musical onanism, played for the delight of the player who wants to show how clever his is with his fingers and music theory. I keep trying to like jazz, I've played in jazz bands, but I always come back to the conclusion that it's just not very musical in the ways I like it.
I hope more musicians spend more time being musical, lyrical and melodic and less preoccupied with formulaic rhythms and licks.
HUGO MONTUORI Hi DR WALLY for more than 30 years I haven`t play the ALTO SAX, now at the age of 82 decided to buy a soprano sax to put some music in my life. I always heard that the soprano is not a sax to start playing,
It's a little trickier due to intonation issues - but it's a fantastic instrument! Good luck and have fun!
I thing I've got the same problem as you had before. I am a professionell flutist, who has been playing as a soloflautist in some of the greatest Orchesters. As a teen-ager I played the altosax in bebop groupe and now I habe my pension from the orchester and the musicacademie i am trying again to play the Jazz I allways loved, but as trained classical musician I find it difficult to get thos freedom I once had. I hope you can help me. As for the altosax and Baritonsax I habe a good sound and a not a bad technich. Sincerely yours Ole Birger Pedersen.
My webadresse and Website you'll find under Ole Birger Pedersen Kunstner.
Great job, Wally, and thanks! I liked the building and foreign language analogies. Regarding lyrics, I vividly remember a masterclass I attended with Christian McBride 21 years ago where he stated that he listened to Frank Sinatra's versions when learning standards because Sinatra's interpretations where pretty true to the originals (and sung clearly). By the way...new alto? I see lacquer now.
Yes! I start with Sinatra and Julie London. For pleasure, just for listening, of COURSE I love Ella and Billie. But just to learn the melody...I mean, who's gonna argue with McBride!
The alto is a new model, about to become available in the US. I'm testing and preparing a review :)
What brand of this Saxophone ?
Zen Cooper!
How do we follow one lesson and get to the next in sequence?
If I'm playing along with a guitar player and he says key of G, he'll go to the 3rd fret and play in Em. Both are the same key. Playing a tenor sax, I'd play in the key of A. Good lesson.
Hi Wally, just to clarify when you say 'key area' are we saying to improvise in key centers . Thanks.
Great question: many times, a long series of chords are just a way to outline a tonal center. In "I got Rhythm" for example, the whole series of chords (I, vi, ii, V, I, vi, ii, V) is just elongating the home key (concert Bb) - so instead of JUST thinking two chords per measure - I like to think of 4 bars of Bb - building a melody around that major key area. (using the chords to pick up colorful tones along the way). Make senes?
Wally: keep it simple, don't worry about terms and different scales by their names.
Also Wally: Appogiaturas, approach notes, etc🤣
Seriously, I agree.
We're gonna add that hot mess of chromatic alterations. But we're just not going to THINK about it. We gonna HEAR it. Happy Tuesday my friend!
@@drwallysax to you, as well!
blu es scale pentatonic helps
Gerry Mulligan and Harry Carney= Kings of Bari sax Melodies
I have MANY a Mulligan vinyl record, he's one of my favorites to be sure!
Awesome Dr Wally, thank you so much.
I never expected to hear an academic advising to learn the words of a tune as the starting point to improvisation.
I thought it was only musical illiterates like me that took this approach due to lack of higher skill sets.
I have been losing sight of this method in recent years, attempting to understand chord progression theory, modes and scales, and trying to memorise unmemorable licks and chord progressions.
And feel I've gotten myself somewhat misguided as a result.
So I have a question.
How do you see licks and quotes fitting into your melody is king method. ?
Are licks beneficial, and a way forward? should we be learning licks ?
For many teachers, compounded licks are the basis for their improvisation. But they are so hard to remember compared to lyrics, and it is too easy to loose touch with the tune and even loose touch with the music.
Maybe the solution is to perceive the licks also as melodies?
Hey, just replied to your email! Great questions. Also, I am NOT an Academic! I got my doctorate to help relieve my overwhelming imposter syndrome (didn't work). Seriously, Academia was not a good fit for me. I love learning, but I hate the culture and ethics. Luring kids into $80,000 of debt for a useless performance degree was something I couldn't do. Happy Wednesday my friend!
Thanks Wally have you changed your horn?
It's a horn that's going to be released soon (in the US), I'm playing it for a few weeks to do a thorough test before review. It's a Taiwanese house brand, "Zen Cooper." Looks like a good value of specifications for a reasonable price.
I would like to know how to improvise with the least effort. I am a lazy saxophonist and I guess this is the wrong question for this channel (or the wrong channel for this question). Anyways, do you have any tips let's say for an improvisation on one note for example
One note? maybe. you don't need much, just play a little with conviction. We'll talk about it in part 2 this week. Bring your horn!
5 parts? we've truly been spoiled
Good stuff to come, Jackson. Bring your horn this Sunday!
uah! pearl of wisdom maestro... uah!... 💥🎷💥❤️💥🎷💥 🐻👍👍👍
Is it really necessay to learn scales or should this do it if i practice enough?
Know your scales, absolutely. But like a boxer, lifting weights is just part of the training!
Does anyone know a good Overview of alternate Fingerings? I Bet there are dozens and when searching the web i get Tons of results so i'm overwhelmed. Just the most commonly used for tenor Sax.
I'll cover that in a few weeks.
How can I know what notes will sound good in the tune structure, no matter what chord changes is there gonna be in the tune?
That's a looooong discussion, short answer - if it sounds good it is good. Follow the melody!
Finally!!!!!!
Hey Leo! Go to bed, it's late in Paris!
@@drwallysax the caffeine won’t let me!!! ♥️☕️🎷
Right now I feel lost I haven't even stepped into jazz
Step one: Listen to recordings, find what you love. Seriously, that's ALL you need to do. Find a saxophonist you LOVE listening to. Until that happens, there's no point in learning to play jazz! Relax, listen to some records and enjoy Clinton!
Wow thanks Sir this is good advice for me😌❤️
Sir could you tell me why we cannot built a harmonic minor scale on the third degree of a major scale but only on the six degree
That's a long theoretical discussion - but the 6th degree is the relative minor.
@@drwallysax thank dr for having reply but sir what will be the musical name if we construct a harmonic minor scale on the 3 degree of a major scale
So why am I learning the blues, pentatonic, and diminished scales? Should I not?
They're a tool, but I don't practice them (though the diminished scale is something Getz uses over dominant chords quite a bit).
@@drwallysax I impatiently await Part 2. But I do enjoy the blues scales.
Good day Wally.
Happy Sunday!
if you can sing it you should be able to play it . theory helps too
Even though this helpful video is only 10 mins long...what few realize is that Wally was actually talking for five hours straight.
Don't worry, afterwards he used the bathroom and got a hotdog.
My wife swears that every conversation with me FEELS like it's five hours or more. I take hotdog breaks in every video, but use adult diapers to save time.
@@drwallysax I'll have to be more cautious with my comments in the future... :D
What song do you use in your intro?
Hey Nate, it's a tune I wrote called "Your Love is a Gamma Ray."
Wow. Excellent. Where were you when I was 13 and needed a teacher?! Well, not in CA and I imagine younger than 13, so unless you are Dr Strange, this is not a real question...
Perhaps, Sonho....I AM Dr. Strange! I have a doctorate, and my wife calls me strange...it just makes sense! (thanks for the kind words my friend). happy Tuesday!
Did you get a Selmer 👀
Not a Selmer! It's a new horn about to be distributed in the US: Zen Cooper. I'm giving it a thorough testing - full review coming soon!
... and is that a new sax?
Testing a horn for review! House brand from a Taiwanese factory: Zen Cooper. Full review coming soon!
still did not understand
real cz what was he yapping ab