Here's Johnny KILLING IT playing live :)

[Michael]

Hey guys,
I stumbled across this video someone recorded of a live performance by Johnny and his band playing “Johnny B.Goode” and simply had to share….you’re killing it here Johnny! I almost couldn’t watch this; it’s too good! LOL I only wish, 10 years from now, I can Improvise even half as good as this….good grief. I’m shaking my head watching this in disbelief and my wife tries to encourage me and says “you’ll get there”….she’s too nice LOL

https://youtu.be/7M9rtd6YBPk?t=46s

[Michael]

The video didn’t appear on the forum, just the link; not sure what happened. Take a good look at the lead singer’s face as Johnny starts Improvising….he’s loving every bit of it of Johnny’s playing 🙂

[jake]

WOW!! Thanks for sharing. That was simply amazing!!!!!!! That’s how I wanna play the sax for sure! Great role model Johnny!!!!!!

[Michael]

You and me both brother……that is so good it’s almost “depressing” LOL From what I can see in Johnny’s Killer Blues + what others are saying about his new Improvisation course…it appears that Johnny has provided the tools that we need to pull off solos like that, but it still takes so, so much hard work/time to learn how to do to the point where it’s “second nature”. We’re usually talking something that takes years to be able to do; and that’s why I think that statement of the Saxophone being “easy” to play is so misleading. I’ve had a few moments where pulling out something from the Blues Scales felt like second nature to me, but only a few moments–and those few moments have been far in between each other LOL I’ve had to spend a lot of time making sure to play those key notes, at the right time, and make a solo that actually works. We can’t just put anything together in a “random” way, otherwise it just sounds like junk.

[Anonymous]

lol – aw my sax looked at me with big eyes and said why cant i play like that?

[Michael]

It looks like around the 3:56 mark, Johnny’s had to “calm down” his guitar player/singer…not sure if his guitar player/singer was getting ready for a stage dive or something LOL

[Michael]

Hey Johnny, I was wondering if this solo you pulled out and played in this video was something you kind of just did on the spot, or was it something that you had rehearsed/practice with your band? Please don’t tell me you did that just on the spot! LOL To have that ability to create our own solos and pull them out like you’re doing here, I think, is one of the coolest things in all of the world of Saxophone playing 🙂

[john]

sorry Michael…totally on the spot as I hadn’t ever done the song with this guy before. His name is Zachary Stevenson and he does a Buddy Holly tribute act. We usually perform in the bigger theaters but this was a special party for a small club owner and we went outside of the normal Buddy Holly repertoire so they pulled out Johnny B Goode. But it’s like you say, I have laid it all out in the Killer Blues book…simple 5 note scales anyone can learn. there’s no mystery here, if you anylize my solo you’ll see that’s all it is, just like I did with Bobby Keyes Brown Sugar solo in Killer Blues. Proof you can play a killer solo using only 5 notes! Onece you get the scales down, it’s just a matter of putting some ideas and patterns together, either your own or copy them from my solos, Bobby Keyes, King Curtis, etc the list can be endless. Then, if you get energetic and inspired on stage with a good rockin band it will come out!

[Michael]

I can definately see what you did in that solo is based 100% around what I’m learning in Killer Blues right now and I’m SO HAPPY you made a course like it available…that’s an understatement. It’s all starting to click with me for sure and it’s really straight forward to see what you did there–that’s easy to see…but to see so, so much experience in how you play? WOw…I guess that’s what years of playing the Saxophone will get you; I’m only 41 years old and I think you’ve been playing Saxophone for around that long? That’s ludicrous to say the least LOL. Not just touring all those years, but didn’t you also Major on the Saxophone in College? Is that where Collin James found/discovered your playing?
Everything I’m learning in Killer Blues is most certainly clicking with me, absolutely yes it’s clicking….my new Blues Brothers Improvised instrumental will be coming soon for you to critique…it’s over 5 minutes long and there’s no sheet music at all; totally Improvised…that’s clear proof that it most certainly is clicking with me–and it’s an awesome feeling to say the least 🙂 But being a student/learner, I’m at that stage where I have to, first, take the time to experiment with those patterns/ideas to make sure I’m creating an Improvised solo that will work. Once that is done, then I can play it and I’m feeling better and better about what I’m learning, it’s just taking some time to make it “my own” if you know what I mean. But when you play/Improvise…you don’t think about it at all, you just do it.
What I love about Killer Blues specifically is that this kind of Improvising is letting me learn how to express myself in a way that I’m not sure any other kind of music will allow me to do. I know with your new course it’s a totally different ball game and from what I’ve seen others saying, it goes way beyond what I’m learning right now–and the time will come when I’ll get to your new course. But with the Blues and the Blues scales, it’s the style, sounds, rhythms, etc.. that really appeals to me, is loads of fun to play and it just seems like virtually everyone loves to hear.

[Lorna Black]

Hi Lorna Black here, Thanks Michael for sharing this video of Johnny. I have just watched this video, it is just so much fun, I know Johnny has said it is a simple 5 note scale, but it really is so good to listen to Johnny playing this.Johnny gives everyone so much encouragement to learn.

[Author]

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