These licks can be used in a variety of ways. Most of them are just plain chromatic patterns, some are over a minor tonality, some outline more of a 3 tonic kind of approach(Giant Steps…). I usually will talk with  students in person on how to use these but for all of you out there in cyber-space I have created some video lesson to talk about how to use these in your own playing.  You can find the lessons at my Neffmusic Lesson Store. These are great to get under your fingers. I hope you like them.  If you want to get more into the Brecker style of playing I would recommend buying as many recordings as you can of him. Hal Leonard also has a few transcription books out of his solos.  There are also some great sites out there with free transcriptions that you can find if you search around for them.   Steve

To be honest,  when I practice something on my sax for an hour or two,  you will usually find me humming or singing what I was practicing for the rest of the day.  I noticed this last week when i was practicing a tune that I didn’t know.  It was “I remember you” I  played it for about an hour and was really trying to memorize the melody and the changes. Later that day as I was taking a shower I was humming the tune and  scatting a little improvised solo over the changes. Later in the car I was doing the same thing!  It suddenly struck me that I do this all the time without even thinking about it.  It’s a way to practice what you love all the time.  The more you sing and hum a melody the more you will internalize it and be able to reproduce it.  The more you practice coming up with melodies and scatting solos the better you will become at playing them on your sax.

I have had many students over the years that refuse to sing or even try. I think they are doing themselves a great disservice.   I freely admit and tell people that I am one of the worst singers I know.  I can sort of carry a tune and match pitches but it isn’t pleasant to listen to.  Sometimes I’m a little flat, sometimes I’m a little sharp………the point is that I don’t think that’s important.  The important thing is to practice these melodies that we are learning and to practice creating melodies by ear.  Sometimes I will sit at the piano and just play the changes to a tune I’m working on and try to sing the melody while I play.  Sometimes I sing guide tone lines to it.  After that I will try to sing a little solo and try to hit the changes. The thing is, improvising is creating  something musical from the ideas in your mind. the fastest way to do this is by singing.  It’s right there coming out of your mouth.

I have also learned through the years that if I can sing a song then I can figure it out and play it.  If I can’t then I don’t have a chance.

If your serious about music and jazz improvisation then sing a little.  Maybe you’ll like it. Think of it as self improvement and a way to improve you playing while you are away from your horn.  It will do you a world of good (even if those around you can’t stand it.)

Learning these fundamentals and getting them mastered will help a musician to improvise in a more creative way. Below is a sample from the book. What I’ve tried to do is make the exercises very systematic and progressive. If you go to my Lesson on “The Ultimate II-V-I Primer”, the book is included when you purchase Part 1 of the audio lesson.
This book is also an excellent resource to use while improvising through tunes that you are memorizing. Playing these exercises will force you to really internalize each chord and it’s upper structures. Once you can play through these exercises it will make my “Best II-V-I Patterns” that much easier to master and learn. I hope you enjoy it. Steve
the-ultimate-ii-v-i-primer-sample