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To answer this question and help someone out I have to know the answer to certain questions:

1. How long have you been playing for?  How long have you been playing jazz and improvising?
2. What do you know?  Do you know all your major scales?  Do you know your blues scales?  Do you know all your major triads?  Minor triads?  Seventh Chords?  Pentatonics?  Bebop Scales?  Approaches?  Do you know some II-V-I patterns?  Diminished Scales?  Whole Tone Scales?  Altered Scales?  Chord Substitutions?  Have you transcribed a solo? Etc……….Print every  lesson category I have. You can find them here, and do this exercise for all the subjects.  Go through the list and rate your self from 0-10 for each item. (many of the lessons are listed in more than one category so be aware of that as you work through the list. I tried to put all the lessons either in Beginner,Intermediate or Advanced) 0 means you don’t know it at all. 10 means you have it mastered……(*Important! I’m not just asking if you know something intellectually  but if you know it so well that you can apply these things in a  live playing situation. For example: I’ve had many people tell me they know their major scales but then when it comes to improvising on a Db major chord they are hitting all sorts of wrong notes. It’s not enough to be able to write it out on paper. You have to be able to execute it and play it.)
3. Have you taken lessons before? What did you study?
4. Can you improvise on a jazz tune without getting lost?  Which songs are you comfortable on and which do you have trouble with?  (For example you might be able to get through Watermelon Man but get totally lost while improvising on All the Things You Are or Giant Steps”
5. What are your main goals in taking lessons?  How do you hope to change? How would you like your jazz improvisation to be different in 3 months? A year? 5 years?

Now these are the types of questions I usually ask someone who emails me  ”Where should I start?” To answer that question for yourself, you need to think about the questions above in an honest and truthful way.  Being in denial about where you’re at will not help.  If you don’t know all your major scales or  can’t improvise through a blues without getting lost then you have to be honest about that.

Now, what do you do with that information……….Well you start with the most basic level of lesson and move forward from there.  This will help you to see where you would jump in.  Look at the list you printed out above. Start in the Beginners section and work your way through. If you rated yourself a 7 or less on something then this is something you need to still work on. To me 8-10 is the level of competence that you want to have in any jazz improvisation area. 7 or less and it will most likely be a weakness and stumbling block in your progress later on.  Each of these subjects are building blocks to the foundation that you are laying to become a great jazz improviser.  If you have a 3 for major scales in all keys then this will cause major problems later on in your jazz development.

As you work through the list from Beginners to Advanced Pick 4 lessons that you rated lower. Go to the Neffmusic Store. Find the lesson and read the description and watch the sample video.  At this point you have to make a decision whether this is the right video or audio lesson for you.  It has to be something you need work on but to be honest, it also has to be something you are interested and excited about working on. (Although, sometimes you won’t be excited but you need to do what you know is right and work on the topic!)

If you are a saxophone player I would recommend 1 improvisation lesson, 1 lesson on a saxophone related subject, one lesson on a jazz tune (that you don’t have memorized and is appropriate for your level) and one lesson on ear training (If you play another instrument then you can skip the saxophone related lessons obviously).  If you don’t want to download them all at once then you also have the option to download one video lesson, work on it and then when you are ready download the next video lesson.  (One person might only need a week to master one triad pairs lesson, another person might need a month……….)

I hope this blog post will help you find the right place to start with my improvisation and saxophone video lessons.  For those of you who have been members and are reading this please feel free to add any comments and tips that you have realized that might be able to help others out there.  If I think of anymore ideas I will be sure to update this post.  If you want more information on becoming a member click here.  Enjoy the journey!       Thanks,    Steve

3. Don’t be afraid to communicate with me so I can provide more detailed online lessons for you……Some of my video and audio lessons can be overwhelming because of the amount of info I am giving you. You have to remember that I’m making these online lessons for a wide audience.  One person who gets the Dominant Bebop Lessons could be a player who has played for 30 years and can crank through the material.  Another person might only be playing for a couple of years and have a harder time.  If you are in the latter group and need more specifics and direction email me or write in the forum and I can provide more detailed step by step lessons to meet your specific needs.  If you are working on something but are having trouble applying it to a jazz standard just email me or post in the forum and I can do a online lesson on that so you can learn how to apply it.  I can’t respond to every individual email but I can provide more lessons that everyone can use. I am more than happy to provide lesson for your specific needs.

4. Don’t be afraid to post in the Neffmusic forum. This is an area that I made so that we could all communicate to each other.  You might be able to get some different perspectives from other members that are in the same place you are in or that have already worked on the lesson that you now have.  I also like thinking of this as a hub of ideas where I can go to see what you are all thinking and how you are doing.  The more we use this area the better the results for everyone.  In a one on one teaching scenario there is communication back and forth.  The student and teacher both shift and change their approaches and styles to help each other along. Even though this is the internet and the lessons are online we can still have some communication through the use of the forum so that I can meet your needs in a better way.

I hope these four steps help you with my lessons and I wish you lots of success. Thanks, Steve

1. After you receive your 4 lessons for the month and listen to them you need to come up with a goal for the month. It needs to be realistic but still challenging for you. You need to consider how much time you have to practice and the other commitments you have on your time. Whatever you set your goal to be you need to make sure that you meet it thoroughly. If you decide that you want to learn all 12 dominant bebop scales then you need to be specific with what that means……
Do you want to be able to play all 12 without hitting any wrong notes?
Do you want to play them one after another through the circle of fifths?
Do you want to play them at a metronome marking of 80,100,120,320?
Do you want to play them through in quarter notes, 16th notes?

The more specific you are with your goals the better. They can’t be vague. It’s best to set some sort of finish line or benchmark to it so you know that you have met the goal. Setting a goal like above of learning the 12 scales is great but….what does that mean? when have you learned them enough? When are you ready to move on? These are things a teacher will address usually but if you can start thinking this way it will become a powerful tool to help you teach yourself.

2. Set up a weekly and daily plan to reach your goal.
What I do is set a goal and then on Monday I come up with a plan for the week. When am I going to practice? How am I going to practice? What keys will I tackle this week? Challenge yourself but be realistic. Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting a goal that is crazy. I’ve been there and done that. It’s not fun. I have a family and 3 kids and many commitments. I can’t set a goal of practicing 8 hours a day and ignore my family and other commitments. I mean I could but in the long run is it worth it? Those kind of questions are the ones you need to wrestle with when setting up your plan.

3. Be flexible!!!! You have to be disciplined and try to stick with your plan but don’t be so rigid that you make yourself and others miserable. If something comes up then readjust. Stick to the plan. Don’t get depressed and stop trying. Just think about the next day and come up with a plan for that day that is reasonable and doable.
get back on track.

4. Don’t be motivated by guilt!! This is a big one for me. I use to set up these challenging goals and plans and then if I messed up or didn’t stick to it I would feel guilty and bad. I would use that to motivate me to get back in the practice room. The problem with that is after awhile I would look for things to be guilty about or feel bad about for motivation. If I didn’t feel like practicing I would start thing about how bad I was or how if I missed a practice time I would be a loser. Sure this would motivate me but in the long run it killed my mindset. That is no way to live a positive joyful life. You end up being miserable all the time.

5. Reevaluate things constantly.
I don’t mean change direction but evaluate how you are doing and make changes to the plan to compensate and meet your needs. Again, don’t change directions. This is a common problem with many people. They try something and come up with a plan but they don’t follow through. They don’t complete the task. It so much better to practice one thing and master it than to practice 10 and not master any of them. When i think back to the times in my life when I grew the most it was when I focused on one thing and mastered it.
The summer I spent learning all my bebop scales.
The 4 months I worked on nothing but approach notes.
The 4 months after I got my first gig that I just spent learning the repertoire by memory.

This same concept is true for around my house also. I can walk around my house and show you the projects I completed. the pond I put in, the door installed, the walls I painted……I’m proud of those things. I did a good job. I was focused and completed the task. At the same time there are 20 other things I’m diddling around with that are always in a state of not being completed.You see my point.

I usually reevaluate on Mondays when I’m coming up with my plan for the week and around the first of the month when I’m coming up with a goal for the next month. I think about the last week or month and the positive and negative things. I then come up with a new plan. If last weeks plan was too hard then I make this weeks more reasonable. Sometimes it just means I have to look at my schedule and come up with a better plan for my time. I’m someone that has to schedule my practice time and write things down. Sure, I have many times where i just feel like playing but to be honest there are many times I feel lazy and don’t. Those are the times where having that plan and schedule on paper help me to push through.

5. Write everything down.
Get some sort of book or pad to write everything down. Your goals, your plans, your practice time details, your self evaluations. the more details the better. If I’m going to practice something in 12 keys and have a goal of a specific speed then I write 12 keys on a piece of paper and track which one I’ve practiced and at what speed. This helps me to stay focused but also to know what I’ve worked on and what I need to work on tomorrow. When I start to practice I look at the sheet and decide what to practice today. If I mastered the key of F# yesterday at 320 then I might review it for a second but I know that I don’t need to spend an hour on it. Instead, I might move to Ab which I know I haven’t done and need work at.

6.There has to be a balance between discipline and freedom.
To achieve anything great you have to have discipline. But at the same time you have to allow yourself some freedom to go with the flow. You have to be hard on yourself to practice and stick to the plan but you can’t be so rigid and obsessed that you make yourself miserable and insecure. You have to be positive and enjoy the journey. Trust me, there will always be someone better than you. You will never be as good as you want to be. You will always make mistakes. You will never perfect your saxophone playing. These things are facts. Just accept them. Get over it. Let it go. Focus on just loving the music and the sax. Focus on enjoying the journey of getting better and improving whether it be at a fast pace or slow pace. If you feel negative thoughts and feelings and don’t feel like practicing, motivate yourself with positive things. Listen to a great recording. Let it inspire you. Close your eyes and imagine you are the person playing. Focus on that feeling and that sound. That’s what is all about. That’s what all the practice and planning and lessons are about. Enjoy it. I hope this helps. Steve

If you haven’t seen these yet, here are a few tips from the great Jerry Bergonzi. Jerry is an amazing player who is very well known up here and in NY. Even though I studied with him for a few years off and on we never really talked about sax stuff. It was all improvisation. It’s great to hear him on these video’s talking about sax related tips like artriculation and breathing. If you haven’t hear Bergonzi play you need to!