I bought a copy as soon as it was published and was struck with the seemingly simple nature of much of the material. It’s so good that you reviewed it! I can’t think of anyone better to do so in a compact way. Thanks for putting the word out about this incredible resource. And of course it’s hats off once again to Sher publishing but above all to the greatness of Michael Brecker. I’m sure this will keep his achievements alive and inspire musicians for generations.
Hi 5Geezers, Thanks! Yeah, it's amazing to see the level of simplicity in the notebook entries. It's a real insight into Michael Brecker's way of developing material. I was pleasantly surprised when I first started playing through the entries as most are quite natural to expand on. So glad Sher music put this book out there👍
I think what a lot of people expect, when buying people's transcribed solos or pattern books, is a secret language, a sort of, everything will be revealed. However, as with Joe Henderson, or Brecker, what the great players do/did, is play simple ideas and manipulate them with impeccable timing. In fact, as an example, I often find listening to a Joe Henderson solo as a sort of 'how come I didn't think that?' moment.
@@cardboardmusic Hi, I agree. The Brecker notebooks are fascinating in that the level of simplicity is astounding. it's absolutely almost the opposite of what one would expect. Most of the entries are short and then manipulated with sequences, up maj or min 3rd etc, cycle of 5ths or 4ths and playing in all 12 keys. It's easy to understand why he had such great mastery of improvisation because he had the fundamental ideas down to perfection and hence I would imagine that he could then develop them in any which way he chose. Yeah, I also agree, Joe Henderson is another great example.👍
Just bought the pdf of this yesterday & skimmed it all & played through some examples. Really a boon to musicians that Sher et al made this available. Your review is excellent & spot on!
Thanks Robby, Yeah, It's great that Sher put this out there because it really does give a great insight into Micheal Brecker's thinking and his ways of developing material for improvisation.👍
@@CliffordMartinOnline One thing that jumps out to me is that there's very little material about working on rhythm or dynamics. I wonder he had any specific ways of practicing polyrhythms & tuples & phrase lengths & variety of durations & accents etc.? I guess the solo transcriptions of 'Trane referenced at the end of the book covered alot of that but I think it's an interesting question.
@@robbyr9286 Hi, Yeah, I agree it's an interesting question....But, I wonder if he just took really simple short phrases or licks and sequences from such a basic elementary level and then applied anything and everything he could with them and naturally developed lines with polyrhythms & tuples & phrase lengths & variety of durations & accents when he was actually playing/practicing. .....It could also be that there are maybe more notebooks or material out there that he left behind that go into this.👍
Just discovered this gift of a book and had to have it. Very much looking fwd to gradually, thoughtfully working with it, probably for the rest of my life. You could spend months on one page, I'm sure. Thanks for the insights and demonstrations, very helpful.
Hi Guitarjonn, Yeah, it's a really useful insight into Michael Brecker's thought process and how he developed his ideas. Most of the ideas are actually quite simple and short in length, but he would play them in all 12 keys and sequence them. I think that's how he got so good, because he really had the absolute basics down so that everything that he developed was from a really solid root. 👍
Thanks Phil, It's a fascinating insight into Brecker's analytical thought process. His ideas and notes are a lot different than I thought they would be. He actually starts with really short simple concepts and builds from there. I learnt a lot in this video, I only wish I could have made it a bit better though, but, as usual with youtube there is never enough time.
7:10: Jaco did this all the time. Now I am not sure if Michael Brecker was being derivative of Jaco, or vice versa. That stated, MB was giving credit to Mike Stern (and I am sure others) in this book, but didn't mention he derived this from Jaco. Irrespective of whom originated this, it's just a very cool concept.
Yeah, I would imagine that they were all taking ideas form each other back then and were highly influenced by each other and bouncing off of each other's playing and approaches. Also, some of these concepts would have been really original back then and it must have been a natural environment for creative thinking. 👍
Thank you for this calm, very inviting and informative review! Well done!
Thanks Navy Musician, appreciated!👍
Wuuh, this is gold!. I incoroprate a lot of Brecker style phrasing in my practise but this is a treasure book. Thanks for the review, priceless!
Thanks PVillez! 👍
I bought a copy as soon as it was published and was struck with the seemingly simple nature of much of the material. It’s so good that you reviewed it! I can’t think of anyone better to do so in a compact way. Thanks for putting the word out about this incredible resource. And of course it’s hats off once again to Sher publishing but above all to the greatness of Michael Brecker. I’m sure this will keep his achievements alive and inspire musicians for generations.
Hi 5Geezers, Thanks! Yeah, it's amazing to see the level of simplicity in the notebook entries. It's a real insight into Michael Brecker's way of developing material. I was pleasantly surprised when I first started playing through the entries as most are quite natural to expand on. So glad Sher music put this book out there👍
I think what a lot of people expect, when buying people's transcribed solos or pattern books, is a secret language, a sort of, everything will be revealed. However, as with Joe Henderson, or Brecker, what the great players do/did, is play simple ideas and manipulate them with impeccable timing. In fact, as an example, I often find listening to a Joe Henderson solo as a sort of 'how come I didn't think that?' moment.
@@cardboardmusic Hi, I agree. The Brecker notebooks are fascinating in that the level of simplicity is astounding. it's absolutely almost the opposite of what one would expect. Most of the entries are short and then manipulated with sequences, up maj or min 3rd etc, cycle of 5ths or 4ths and playing in all 12 keys. It's easy to understand why he had such great mastery of improvisation because he had the fundamental ideas down to perfection and hence I would imagine that he could then develop them in any which way he chose. Yeah, I also agree, Joe Henderson is another great example.👍
Wonderful review.
Thanks mate!👍
Just bought the pdf of this yesterday & skimmed it all & played through some examples. Really a boon to musicians that Sher et al made this available.
Your review is excellent & spot on!
Thanks Robby, Yeah, It's great that Sher put this out there because it really does give a great insight into Micheal Brecker's thinking and his ways of developing material for improvisation.👍
@@CliffordMartinOnline One thing that jumps out to me is that there's very little material about working on rhythm or dynamics.
I wonder he had any specific ways of practicing polyrhythms & tuples & phrase lengths & variety of durations & accents etc.?
I guess the solo transcriptions of 'Trane referenced at the end of the book covered alot of that but I think it's an interesting question.
@@robbyr9286 Hi, Yeah, I agree it's an interesting question....But, I wonder if he just took really simple short phrases or licks and sequences from such a basic elementary level and then applied anything and everything he could with them and naturally developed lines with polyrhythms & tuples & phrase lengths & variety of durations & accents when he was actually playing/practicing. .....It could also be that there are maybe more notebooks or material out there that he left behind that go into this.👍
Just discovered this gift of a book and had to have it. Very much looking fwd to gradually, thoughtfully working with it, probably for the rest of my life. You could spend months on one page, I'm sure. Thanks for the insights and demonstrations, very helpful.
Hi Guitarjonn, Yeah, it's a really useful insight into Michael Brecker's thought process and how he developed his ideas. Most of the ideas are actually quite simple and short in length, but he would play them in all 12 keys and sequence them. I think that's how he got so good, because he really had the absolute basics down so that everything that he developed was from a really solid root. 👍
Nice
Thanks Jacob!👍
Nice review cliff those licks are outside the box but love the bepbop line 👍🙏
Thanks Phil, It's a fascinating insight into Brecker's analytical thought process. His ideas and notes are a lot different than I thought they would be. He actually starts with really short simple concepts and builds from there. I learnt a lot in this video, I only wish I could have made it a bit better though, but, as usual with youtube there is never enough time.
7:10: Jaco did this all the time. Now I am not sure if Michael Brecker was being derivative of Jaco, or vice versa. That stated, MB was giving credit to Mike Stern (and I am sure others) in this book, but didn't mention he derived this from Jaco. Irrespective of whom originated this, it's just a very cool concept.
Yeah, I would imagine that they were all taking ideas form each other back then and were highly influenced by each other and bouncing off of each other's playing and approaches. Also, some of these concepts would have been really original back then and it must have been a natural environment for creative thinking. 👍
Scalar; scalic must be a disease of some sort😂.
Lol, my apologies! 👍