Here is a great interview of the tenor sax player and teacher George Garzone by Jay Metcalf of BetterSax that I just stumbled upon on Youtube today. I studied with George Garzone for a short time at Berklee College of Music in the late 80’s (I wish I could have studied more with him but […]
Jazz Education
Free Video Lesson on The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer-Major Keys by Steve Neff
I decided to offer a free video lesson on my book The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer-Major Keys (Digital PDF Book) for everyone. I have sold many of these books and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most they can out of them. Â You can consider this an “overview” lesson on the […]
The Secret Super Power of a Slow Learner-Derek Brown-Beatbox Sax
Derek Brown has a Youtube channel called “Beatbox Sax”.  While most of us mere mortals are just trying to figure out how to play the sax the normal way (or should I say the way that is most “common”), Derek is one of those rare individuals that is breaking new ground with the saxophone.  Check out the two […]
The Deep Wisdom of Victor Wooten
I discovered this gold nugget of a video this morning while drinking my morning coffee and perusing around Youtube to see what was new today. Victor Wooten is an amazing bass player and musician and in this video he teaches some core truths about music in an amazing way! Check it out! (I have started […]
A Key to Jazz Improvisation Success: Boredom and Repetition
Here’s a great article that a fan of my site emailed to me a few months ago. Although the article is dealing with the martial arts, the principles written about in this essay can just as easily be applied to music and jazz improvisation. When the writer writes about “kata” imagine that he is referring […]
FREE 12 Major Scales Practice Sheet
Here’s a free sheet I give to all my students to learn their 12 major scales and major triads. When I teach my students the major scales, I teach them to memorize all the scales on this sheet exactly as written. They should be able to play each scale on the sheet immediately when asked […]
Free Demo Lesson on Altered Pentatonic Variations
I decided to offer another free video lesson based off my book Mastering Altered Pentatonics for everyone. This is a short demo lesson based off of my full length lesson “Creating Modern Lines with Altered Pentatonic Variations-Lesson 1“. The full lesson includes a 38 minute video lesson and the 36 page PDF of the altered […]
Michael Brecker International Saxophone Competition
I was recently informed about this new competition by Brian Plautz and Susan Brecker and thought I would pass on the information here on the site. If you are an aspiring saxophonist between the ages of 16-30, are a citizen of the world (no extraterrestrials) and can burn it up on the saxophone, then this […]
Free Chord Tone Cheat Sheet
Here’s a great tool that I made for my students years ago that I totally forgot about. It’s called the Chord Tone Cheat Sheet. I had a Skype student the other day that said he was looking for something like this on the internet but couldn’t find anything. As he was speaking, I had this […]
The Michael Brecker Archive at William Paterson University
Dr. David Demsey at William Paterson University contacted me a few years ago to tell me about the “Living Jazz Archives” that the University was building and how they were adding a Michael Brecker Archive to the already existing archives that they already had.  The Living Jazz Archives are: A TEACHING TOOL for William Paterson University […]
Free Video Lesson on Mastering Altered Pentatonics by Steve Neff
I decided to offer a free video lesson on my book Mastering Altered Pentatonics for everyone. I have sold many of these books and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most they can out of them.  You can consider this an “overview” lesson on the various pentatonics covered in the book although […]
Great Rick Beato Interview with Chris Potter
I just came across this great interview that Rick Beato did with Chris Potter on Sounding Off a few days ago. Chris Potter is one of the most amazing sax players on the scene today. I love how down to earth, humble and real he is when answering questions. Great stuff!  Enjoy! Great Rick Beato […]
FREE 12 Major Blues Scale Sheet
Here’s a free sheet I give to all my students after they learn their major scales. It’s just a sheet with all the 12 Major Blues Scales on it. If you take a look at the sheet you might notice that the scales are the same as the scales on my free 12 blues scales sheet […]
100 Must Know Jazz Tunes Consensus List
I was going through my computer deleting random “bad” photos I have been collecting for years when I found this gem among the photos.  I must have downloaded it while on my phone from Facebook or some other source because I have no recollection of downloading it at all.  I was about to delete it when I […]
My “Secret” List of the Funkiest Minor Tunes to Practice to……..
Today, I’m going to share my “secret” list of funk tunes that I have been practicing to for a few years now. Â These are tunes that I bought on iTunes because I was sick of the generic Jamey Aebersold tracks that we all practice to. Â I spent many hours one week going through iTunes […]
Amazing Jazz Saxophone Masterclass by Dave Liebman
This is a Dave Liebman masterclass from 2/7/15 in Nashville at the studio of Jeff Coffin. Â I’m watching it right now as I post this but am so amazed at how deep and insightful this is that I feel I have to post it immediately. Â I’m at the 60Â minute mark and have to […]
Joe Graziosi’s Soul Station in all 12 Keys Project
Every once in a while I happen upon something extraordinary that bewilderingly gets little to no attention from the jazz saxophone world.  A number of months ago, Joe Graziosi started a thread on SOTW (Sax on the Web) letting people know about a new project that he had been working on over the last three years […]
Chris Potter Masterclass 12-04-2015 Akron, Ohio
Here’s another great Chris Potter masterclass from 12-4-15 in Akron, Ohio that someone posted on Youtube.  This is just an audio of the masterclass.  Chris Potter’s opening solo on Cherokee is amazing as usual.  I can’t get enough of these solos and masterclasses!  Check it out!
The Dick Oatts Solo Collection Review
Today I am reviewing an awesome new transcription book of solos by alto saxophonist Dick Oatts. Â Dan Bayliss wrote the transcriptions and did the work of putting this ebook together. Â It includes 9 solos from 3 albums and is 68 pages long. The CD’s the solos are from are Dick Oatts “Standard Issue Volume […]
2015 Aebersold Jazz Workshop with Chris Potter
Here’s another great workshop with Chris Potter that I came across just now on Facebook. Chris Potter is one of the top tenor saxophone players in the world.  There is a great duo performance in the beginning of “Out of Nowhere” . Chris then answers questions from the students and faculty afterwards. Great stuff.   Check it out!
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