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You are here: Home / Jazz Education / Getting the Most from Neffmusic Online Lesson

Getting the Most from Neffmusic Online Lesson

February 27, 2009 by Steve 1 Comment

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.

2. Set up a concrete plan of action.  Many people think that jazz improvisation is done by  undisciplined, free spirited people who just kind of wing it up on stage. This is not true. Most of the  best jazz players I have played with have also been the most organized, disciplined and focused people I know. Listen to the advice that I give on practicing the material and write down a plan. Don’t just wing it or let your feelings guide you. Be specific! If you have a vague plan, you probably won’t get concrete specific results in your improvisation.  Write down a specific plan and course of action to master the material in the lessons. Review your plan weekly and assess your progress. Think about ways that you can improve the plan. Because these lessons are online you have to be the one who takes the information and then comes up with your own lesson plan.

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.

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

Filed Under: Jazz Education, NeffMusic News Tagged With: Jazz Improvisation, online lessons, steve neff, video lessons

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

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Comments

  1. AvatarVincent says

    May 10, 2015 at 2:22 pm

    Thank you for this information for my practice, especially setting up a plan. Very much needed in my playing

    Reply

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I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.   I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more  bite sized way.
Milton
Hi Steve, I can’t express just how much I appreciate your teaching. My playing has improved so much over the past year since I have been studying and practicing with your lessons. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, these lessons are proof! Thanks, Michael Byington
Michael Byington
I am a music book junkie and I have to say that your books are the most clear, user friendly, and helpful books I own.  They are my absolute favorites and I only wish I had them years ago.  I wouldn’t change a thing about the experience I had in acquiring my degree at Berklee, but my playing has perhaps grown more in the time I’ve spent buried in your books and lessons.  Keep up the great work!!! Thanks, John
John

Steve, just a note to say thanks.

I’ve been playing a long time, but your material, laid out in such a thoughtful way, helps me to understand concepts in a new and deeper way.

You are a true gift to the jazz community.

60 lessons and going strong,

Kevin Ledbetter

Kevin Ledbetter
Hey Steve! I hope you and your family are well.  I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the resources you have made available to the saxophone community. I have been using your material for many years and I always come back to it… in fact I just took a break from practicing to write this…( reviewing “CreatingModern II-V-I Lines with simple pentatonics”.) I am, and continue to be, one of your raving fans! Blessings to you and your family this holiday season! Wishing… Read more
Gerry Aylward
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon

Hi Steve,

First, I want to thank you for all of your great lessons. They are like a “For Dummies” version of all the books on my shelf. The lessons break things down into manageable pieces, and give me the confidence that I’m practicing the right pieces. I’m starting to make progress.   Thank You,   Kim

Kim
Just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for being you, your playing, your website and your desire to help others. I’m a professional musician in the US Army and I’ve visited your website almost every day since discovering it a couple of months ago. Your lessons are profound and easy to use. I’ve purchased most of your PDF books and now am starting to delve more into the video and audio lessons.  Thank you for being a great resource!
James
I’ve been having ‘ online’  lessons with Steve for a few months now. Being a teacher myself I had had some reservations with the idea at first and the practicalities of it .  Let me just say that my playing has taken a huge leaps forward while studying with Steve and continues to do so.Steve studied with some renowned player/teachers such as Bergonzi and Garzone– this in itself is invaluable but Steve teaches from his own books, which cover a a vast amount of  jazz language. Steve h… Read more
David
Hey Steve, My name is Jason Freese and I play keyboards and sax in the band Green Day.  I grew up taking sax lessons from Eric Marienthal when I was a kid and got out of it for a long time. I ran into you on youtube while searching for sax stuff. I bought a whole bunch of your lessons and have been loving it! Thanks! Here is my wikipedia so you can see the albums I’ve played on….Thanks again. It’s sparked my interest in practicing again.   Jason
Jason Freese (sax player for Green Day)

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