• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Website of Steve Neff

  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • RAVES
  • CONTACT

Search Neffmusic

You are here: Home / Jazz Books (PDF Downloads) / Mastering Altered Pentatonics (Digital PDF Book)
“3 Against 4 Hemiola Lesson” has been added to your cart. View cart
Sale!
Mastering Altered Pentatonics (Digital PDF Book)

Mastering Altered Pentatonics (Digital PDF Book)

Rated 4.67 out of 5 based on 3 customer ratings
(3 customer reviews)

$26.98 Original price was: $26.98.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.

Category: Jazz Books (PDF Downloads) Tags: altered pentatonics, jazz improvisation, jazz method, modern improv, steve neff
  • Description
  • Reviews (3)

Description

Limited Time Only

Purchase my “Mastering Altered Pentatonics” digital PDF book and get a free lesson included on Creating Modern Lines with Altered Pentatonic Variations-Lesson 1 (11.99 value for free)

The “Creating Modern Lines from Altered Pentatonic Variations-Lesson goes hand in hand with how best to use my book “Mastering Altered Pentatonics” to create your own amazing modern lines over static funk grooves. The material can be applied to jazz lines just as well. This book and lesson are a “gold mine” of resources to create incredible sounding lines for those who are willing to do the work. This offer does not apply to previous purchases of the book but if you are interested in the extra lesson you can find it here.

Any serious fan of jazz has at one time or another heard a solo where the line being played made them turn towards the soloist with a look of concern. “Where were they going with this line?” “What are they thinking?” “Do they know they are playing the wrong notes?” If you have been in that seat looking at the soloist you know there is a moment where you feel some nervousness and anxiety. “Those notes are not right!” we think. Then the soloist masterfully weaves the crazy line he was just playing into sweet consonance and harmony. Our nervousness and anxiety melts away and we feel at peace with the world. Yet our heart is still pounding with excitement as if we just got off the world’s biggest roller coaster.

The great players of jazz have learned the fine art of weaving in and out of a tonality whenever they please. It has the same affect on us listeners as riding a roller coaster or watching a tightrope walker performing sixty stories above the street. Those who have ears that perceive what is going on recognize the intricate balance of dissonance and consonance being played with by the soloist. Once we recognize it we are enthralled and unable to look away.

Mastering Altered Pentatonics

In “Mastering Altered Pentatonics”, we are taking the most benign of scales, the pentatonic scale, through the ringer. We are working on mastering it using twenty-nine scale patterns that we then alter to create new and fresh sounds that are far from benign. At times, they sound almost dangerous in their tension and dissonance. By practicing these altered pentatonic patterns and weaving in and out of them we are practicing the fine art of balancing our lines between consonance and dissonance while we improvise. The more adept we become at this balancing act the more exciting and entertaining our lines and solos will become. Inside, we will take the pentatonic scale through eleven alterations. Each one having it’s own sound and flavor. Join me in discovering a new way to approach thinking and playing while improvising that will lead you to discover new and fresh sounding lines. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed working on it.

By practicing these altered pentatonic patterns and weaving in and out of them we are practicing the fine art of balancing our lines between consonance and dissonance. The more adept we become at this balancing act the more exciting and entertaining our lines and solos will become.

Inside, we will take the pentatonic scale through eleven alterations. Each one having it’s own sound and flavor. The book is 368 pages long and in all 12 keys.  It comes with a 49 minute overview video lesson of the book where I talk about and demonstrate the concepts from the book on the tenor saxophone.

Join me in discovering a new way to approach thinking and playing your lines that will lead you to discover new and fresh sounding lines. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed working on it.    Steve

Sample Pages from Introduction of Book

3 reviews for Mastering Altered Pentatonics (Digital PDF Book)

  1. Avatar
    Rated 5 out of 5

    Michael SantaMaria – May 1, 2019

    Hi Steve,
    Great enjoyable, informative book, can’t put it down. I play with a big band, jazz trio & Trad Jazz New Orleans group. Your book has given me new and different ideas to apply to all. Great job putting all this material together. Thank you again.
    Michael SantaMaria

  2. Avatar
    Rated 4 out of 5

    HENRY Gutierrez – June 16, 2019

    Hi Steve,
    Great enjoyable, informative book, can’t put it down. Your book has given me new and different ideas to apply to all. Great job putting all this material together. Thank you again.

  3. Avatar
    Rated 5 out of 5

    Dino Govoni – January 24, 2023

    Man… digging practicing from this pentatonic book… killer!
    Making my fingers play new ideas!

Add a review Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related products

  • Mastering Major Diatonic Patterns (Digital PDF Book)

    Mastering Major Diatonic Patterns (Digital PDF Book)

    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)

    Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)

    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Approach Note Velocity Volume 2-Minor (Digital PDF Book)

    Approach Note Velocity Volume 2-Minor (Digital PDF Book)

    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)

    Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)

    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
    Add to cart

Primary Sidebar

Cart

Search Products

COMPLETE LESSON INDEX

PRINTED BOOKS


NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
Martin

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
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 have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
I can see from your instructional videos that you are a fantastic teacher – one that can truly relate to all ages – humble yet very positive in approach – never coming across as superior and yet so totally capable of demonstrating the principles and techniques that you seek to impart to the students. I have gained so much confidence in my playing from “pouring over” time and again these invaluable lessons. Invaluable not only in musical content, but also in human interaction content. I am absolu… Read more
Ron

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 like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen
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)
Your major diatonic patterns book is great. I”m studying the first twenty patterns (first twenty pages) each day with different articulation each day and slowly increasing the tempo each week or so.  There is a noticeable improvement in finger coordination across all keys and its amazing how much more secure I feel on the difficult keys when attempting to play pieces with 5+ flats/sharps. I’m able to sort out the fingerings for these pieces now much more quickly than before, often in one or two … Read more
Geoff

Featured Lessons

  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $19.99 Original price was: $19.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
  • The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor $9.99
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 4.91 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson
    Rated 4.75 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Lesson Series Deals-Save Big on Select Lessons

Product Categories

Recent Reviews

  • Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson by Noah
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) by Andy
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Russ
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Timothy

Top Rated Products

  • Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
  • The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1 The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99

Footer

Recent Comments

  • Steve on Revisiting a Lamberson J7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Thor on Revisiting a Lamberson J7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Perry on Will the Real Michael Brecker’s Sax Mouthpiece Please Stand Up?
  • Steve on Will the Real Michael Brecker’s Sax Mouthpiece Please Stand Up?
  • Perry on Will the Real Michael Brecker’s Sax Mouthpiece Please Stand Up?

Top rated products

  • Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
  • Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1 The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Invitation Tune of the Week-Invitation
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99

Product tags

alto sax alto saxophone approach notes audio lesson bebop scale beginner beginner saxophone blues blues licks blues patterns blues scale blues scales diminished scale dominant chords ear training fundamentals II-V-I improvisation jazz improvisation jazz lines jazz patterns jazz sax jazz saxophone jazz standard jazz standards licks Mastering the Blues Scale Michael Brecker modern improv modern improvisation online lesson patterns playing outside practice habits reading music sax basics sax lessons saxophone scales smooth jazz steve neff tenor sax tenor saxophone video lesson video lessons
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • SUPPORT

Neffmusic © 2005–2025