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You are here: Home / NeffMusic News / Neffmusic 10 Year Anniversary-One of My First Lessons!!

Neffmusic 10 Year Anniversary-One of My First Lessons!!

January 4, 2017 by Steve 3 Comments

Ok, so I have to post this……….It’s the  official 10 year anniversary of www.neffmusic.com.    I started the site in the Fall of 2006 but it really got up and running in 2007.  So 2017 is the official 10 year anniversary. Woohoo!!!! (Yes, I’m very proud………..)

I was going through my computer tonight deleting random files that were taking up space (my computer is almost at it’s memory limit) not even aware of the anniversary thing (yes, I know, so insensitive……..) when I found this random wav file labeled “file0176.wav”. I had no idea what it was but being a wav file, I must have recorded it way back in 2005-2007 time frame with my handheld recorder as that created wav files. It turns out that I think this is one of the first if not the first lesson I ever created.  (I can’t remember exactly but this is close……)

NeffLessonBeige1

First Neffmusic Logo

When I tell the history of neffmusic.com,  I always talk about making a sound clip for people on SOTW (Sax on the Web) who were curious about how a Barone NY mouthpiece I had sounded.  Here is the sound clip Barone NY 8 tenor mouthpiece (the date on the review says 2009 but that is because I revamped the site in 2009 it was actually made in the 2005-2006 time frame).

After I made the sound clip, I received some emails asking different questions about my improvisation and I decided to make some short 5 minute audio lessons to answer people’s questions instead of writing a bunch of emails.  I think this was one of those first lessons.

I mention my book in the clip so this must have been around the fall of 2006 as that is when I released my “Best II-V-I Patterns” book.  I probably received an email asking me to play some of the patterns and how I play “outside” on these types of lines……”   I am just imagining here as I have no memory of making this clip at all but I imagine that is why I would make it……….

I got a kick out of this.  Not sure who else will find it interesting but now that I have made 600+ lessons over the last 10 years, finding one of the first lessons is kind of nostalgic…………

Feel free to comment but please don’t judge me too harshly on the lesson as  I was new at this “recording lessons” thing and wasn’t too sure who I was talking to or why……….

https://cdn.neffmusic.com/2017/First%20Neffmusic%20Lesson.mp3

One of My First Neffmusic Lessons

Filed Under: NeffMusic News Tagged With: II-V-I, jazz language, jazz lessons, Neffmusic, steve neff

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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarNiklas Uhrberg says

    January 7, 2017 at 4:12 am

    Hi Steve!
    Congratulations on the anniversary!
    I must say that your site with the many lessons is a very inspiring place. I haven’t come by any other site as comprehensive. I wish you all the best and btw I’m working on the material in the lessons I’ve taken so far:=)

    Reply
  2. AvatarEric Davis says

    January 7, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    Hi Steve, I’ve been putting off purchasing lessons from your site for years after being dissatisfied with past online lessons from other sites. I finally made several purchases and have made major strides in my playing thanks to you. I am blossoming as a player in 2017 thanks to the material you have produced. Happy 10th Anniversary

    Reply
  3. AvatarNelson lewis says

    May 13, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    Very cool!! So glad you started your sight and do Skype lessons. Congratulations on ten years and I look foward to practicing over your stuff for the next ten!! It’s great to have someone to push me to work hard on this stuff. Thanks again

    Nelson

    Reply

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I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil

Steve,  Just want to say thanks for all you are doing for all of us. I’ve learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

If you can give some tips on One Note Samba, Ceora, and Wave… that would be cool.  I really like learning how you apply your concepts to actual songs!

Have a great year,

Kevin Ledbetter

I've learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony

Mr. Neff,  I want to thank you for sharing your God-given talents through your on-line lessons.  My husband, Michael, is blind, but he is a great sax player and he has been enjoying your lessons for quite some time now.  It’s not unusual for me to hear “Hey, babe, listen to THIS!” – and he will cut loose on his sax, just thrilled at what he learned during his session with you.  His excitement warms my heart!  You have no idea how much you have poured into my husband.  You have opened musical … Read more

Carole B
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

I want to thank you for your “Ultimate II-V-I Primer”  which has sent me off on a much better path to improvisation.  The primer and the four bound books I have will keep me busy for a long time.  I like your lessons for two reasons.  The lessons work and THEY ARE FUN.  Thanks again.

Robert

Robert
Thank you for the wealth of helpful lessons you’ve provided over the years.  I truly feel as though it has improved my playing more than the 4 years I spent at Berklee… and that’s not a slight on the school as I loved my experience there.
John
John

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

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin
Just to say thanks for your advice and lessons.  I’ve just read your amazing story.  I really appreciate what you do in regards to teaching.  I have bought a couple of your lessons and frankly they’re undersold.   I’ve learned much more with these two lessons than with 2 years of sax teachers.   Thanks so much………..
Mike
It is so refreshing to have a great player, who can provide lessons and examples in a manner which is understandable to most any enthusiastic saxophonist who is ready to improve. not just the, do this, do that, memorize this, memorize that… while all that is absolutely necessary, you go on to give reasons and examples to explain and validate why you have to do all of these things, the benefits, if you will… that is the key for me, you tell, explain, demonstrate, explain some more, you give perso… Read more
Cedric
First, I’m really excited about your materials! This site is a vast resource for any aspiring (and maybe already inspired) jazz musicians. I’m not a sax player, I play mandolin and fiddle, but have been learning jazz and playing weekly with a quintet for the past 6 months and have been struggling with all of the issues you get into in your lessons. I bought several books and lessons and plan to continue with some others as soon as I organize my practice routine. Thanks again for a great site … Read more
Tony Galfano
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith

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
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc
I can’t say enough about my membership at Neff Music. Steve has taken the mystery out of playing the saxophone well and improvising both jazz and rock music. Like most struggling players I have a load of all sorts of books on my shelf just gathering dust. Books that I didn’t understand or know how to put to use…or just have the time to go threw them. Steve’s lessons really simplify things and he puts it in a way that I can understand. They inspire me to keep pushing and having him as my guide or… Read more
Ken
I have found your videos and publications inspiring and your contribution to the world of saxophone playing is immense. Paul
Paul
I would like to say that in the last year my sax playing has progressed loads from your lessons. I have had a sax for about 20 years and dabbled with lessons from a few teachers and have learnt very little from them. As you have said in your lessons many teachers tell you to use the blues scale and leave it there, not even showing you the resolution points!!. I am now believing I can in time become a good improviser.
Thanks again,
Shane
Shane
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 want to say something about Steve Neff’s series of lessons, Beginner Jazz Improvisation. For a couple of years I tried many beginner lessons and my problem was that there was a gap between lessons that were fairly simple and ones that I was not quite ready for and my progress stalled out. That problem was solved with the series Beginner Jazz Improvisation. He guides you step by step along the way and builds a foundation for learning jazz and blues. He leaves no question about what to practice … Read more
Pete

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
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre

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