Posts Tagged ‘Jazz Improvisation’
Neffmusic Jazz Improvisation Lessons: Where do you start?
January 23rd, 2010 | 
Author: The most commonly asked question I get emailed to me is “What mouthpiece should I get?”. The second most common question would be ”I looked at all your jazz improvisation lessons and really want to start but I have no idea where to start or what jazz lessons to get. What do you suggest?”
To answer this question and help someone out I have to know the answer to certain questions:
Posted in Jazz Education, NeffMusic News | 
Tags: improvising, Jazz Education, Jazz Improvisation, online jazz lessons, saxophone lessons, video lessons | 
No Comments »
Practicing away from your instrument! Part 1
I had a lesson the other day with a student and I realized that he was really having a hard time coming up with melodic ideas and phrases. I asked him “Do you ever sing?” ”No!” ”How about humming?” “No!” ”How about in the shower?” “No!” This really got me thinking about things and are started asking my other students about this. The thing that I’m noticing is that the students that hum and sing a lot are the ones that have an easier time improvising and creating melodic ideas. Why is that? Well I think the answer is that they are spending hours everyday practicing creating melodic ideas and improvising. Hours that the other students are using.
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.)
Approach Note Books and Lessons
“Approach Note Velocity” by Steve Neff
Approach Note Velocity is a book that I created for myself so that I could master all the different approach notes in every key. I have divided the book up into sections by key and have written out the exercises so that you can practice them and read them if you need to. I added the word velocity to the title because as I practiced these approaches I found that I could play faster and faster over chord changes. Below is the intro to the book and a little more detail into it’s genesis and creation.
Posted in Book Reviews, Jazz Education, NeffMusic News |
Tags: approach note velocity, approach notes, Jazz Improvisation, jazz playing, online lessons |
No Comments »
Getting the Most from Neffmusic Online Lesson
To get most out of my NeffMusic Online Lessons I would suggest a few simple ideas.
1. Focus on one topic like Blues scales, Approach Notes, Pentatonics……..etc.
In my mind it’s always better to focus on one topic at a time and master it. Working on bits and pieces of 10 different lessons and not mastering any can be tedious and frustrating. Read through the online lesson descriptions, watch the sample of the videos and then pick a topic that you think would be a good place to start for you. Try to stay within that topic until you feel you have a good grasp of the concept and it is coming out in your playing. If you would like more online lessons on the topic or would like to know how to use it over a specific tune feel free to email me and I can make another video lesson for you.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Jazz Education, NeffMusic News |
Tags: Jazz Improvisation, online lessons, sax lessons, steve neff, video lessons |
No Comments »
