John Coltrane
Moving On…
If the art of improvising has been somewhat of a mystery, I hope it’s really beginning to unravel for you now if you’ve been learning the lessons up to this point. The two most important elements that we can use for improvising are scales (and their modes) and chords.
If you have studied and learned and then actually practiced this material so far then you’re well on your way to finally get a grasp of this wonderful thing we call improvisation.
If you’re still at the skimming stages then the mystery is yet to unravel itself… but keep forging ahead with learning these modes and chords and you’ll get there.
This next section (Part Two) is devoted to help you really open your eyes (and ears) to the possibilities of what putting this stuff into action can sound like.
You Are Not Alone
Every person that has aspired to become a saxophonist has spent a lot of time copying other players that were more advanced than they were. Whether their names were John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, or Kenny G, this is a fact and the best way to learn a solo. I’ve read stories about saxophone greats like Charlie Parker learning solos from established sax players such as Coleman Hawkins by getting their records and copying their solos from playing them over and over on a record player.
When I was a young saxophone student I worked a lot at copying other people’s solos. Although I also spend some time dropping the turntable needle on the right spot of the record, this task became easier by using a tape recorder. These days there are even easier ways.
Your Advantage
Learning the elements in part one of this course is the most important thing you can do to learn how to improvise. Personally, I always learn better from actual demonstrations and examples. In this section I want to give you some of that, both on the alto and tenor saxophones.
Exercises are a very important and necessary thing. Learning these exercises is a must and will take some time. But at some point you have to transform exercises into melodic ideas. When you have access to actual examples as I have laid out in these next videos, many of you will gain important additional insight on how to bring these elements together and make this transformation happen even faster!