Ive avoided scales too long, no more

[Anonymous]

Started the C scale and D scale. Will do so everyday. In about a month I will know all 12 and will continue to apply them for life. Vinny

[Anonymous]

Good on you Vinny – Give us all an upload after a month – you will definitely sound better in tone & finger flowing technique!,
those hands will change into spiders!

What ever you do – Don’t Leave Out The Long Tones – everywhere i read, all the pro’s bang on and on about practising Long Tones
everyday. They all say the same thing – You Want A Good Sound – Long Tones, Long Tones, Long Tones….
even if you’ve got good finger technique, know your scales, arpeggios off by heart, you can’t ignore the Long Tones.

i sit there thinking Long Tones? Looney Tunes?

Sorry for harping on mate, just wan’t you to do great!!

[Dazza]

Good point on the scales issue Vin. I read recently some good advice which I have adopted in approaching scales. I had G, F, D, C and A all pretty sound and consciously was avoiding the flats and UGLY sharp laden scales until I read n article on JAZZSCALES.com that they are not harder just different. The advice was to start at what is often the end so I made myself practice Db and F# scales for two weeks solid as long tones and WOW, I actually have them down quite well now and moving onto the EASIER scales of B and Db LOL. It is quite interesting how the brain works and although not as fluent yet as D and A they are getting there. Just like Johnnys methodology, daily practice turns into weekly advancement in skills. Someone give this a go and share.

[Michael]

Good for you Vinny–scales are simply a must. I recently had an experience with someone who told me that, when it comes to the Sax, musical theory was a waste of time! We simply MUST know as much about scales, chords, arpeggios, etc.. as any guitar or piano player. It’s the life-line of all music and it’s impossible to know how to improvise and create our own licks/solos without knowing scales…..it would be impossible to play with a band too. The more scales you know then all the better my friend. Great job Vinny!

[Anonymous]

Dazza – if you want to get really good in scales & arpeggios, a
tip from my sax teacher! Is to approach them from different angles!

For example – most people do the scales say C major starting from Low
C and going up to High C (2 octaves) and then back down to Low C.
Mix it up and start at High C and go down to Low C instead and go back
up to High C! Do this with all the scales and Arpeggios!
Better still if you can do scales across 3 Octaves!

And to stop scales from being boring, play them
in different styles – say Swing style, oompah style,
growling,

[Anonymous]

I am not there yet but I will implement that. Thanks vinny

[Anonymous]

I am starting D major today. I’m going slow but going to get it down. You know, I’m not quite sure why I haven’t done this when I first started, I have a lot of music on this site that would absolutely love to play. Thinking that I’d work on the tune and work on the scale. That is probably be the reason gor my frustration and wanting to throw in the towel. No one ever told me to do that, I was just trying to put the cart in front of the horse. Anyway, I’m on the right track now, vinny

[john]

If we learn all scales really well then there’s a good chance we’ll be a good step ahead of a lot of the popular music we’re dealing with here. In other words, the songs you are working on will not be as hard to play as a C# or F# major scale up tempo. That is the point of the Daily Practice Routine. Also notice how that routine is divided up into time segments which ends with playing your favorite music at the end for just as long as you worked on the other exercises.
So, if you work on those few exercises everyday and then work on playing your songs, those songs will become a lot easier to play because you are improving on the exercises which are harder to do than the songs.
You’re on the right track Vinny, just do this for one month and you’ll prove it to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much. Appreciate all your feedback and direction. Vinny

[Anonymous]

Thankx for everyone’s comments , direction, and encouragement. I’ll br working on these everyday. Thanks again, vinny

[Author]

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