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You are here: Home / Jazz Lessons / Playing Outside-4 Tonic Dominant b9 Pentatonics-Lesson 1
Playing Outside-4 Tonic Dominant b9 Pentatonics-Lesson 1

Playing Outside-4 Tonic Dominant b9 Pentatonics-Lesson 1

Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating
(1 customer review)

$9.99

Categories: Jazz Lessons, Modern Improv Tags: 4 tonic, jazz improvisation, pentatonics, saxophone, video lesson
  • Description
  • Reviews (1)
  • Lesson Sample

Description

Playing Outside-4 Tonic Dominant b9 Pentatonics-Lesson 1 is the first lesson in a new lesson series based on the concept of using a dominant b9 pentatonic scale in 4 different keys over a minor tonality to create hip modern lines.

These great sounding pentatonic lines are all taken out of the diminished scale and give you some great approaches to creating lines that sound “outside”. I include a PDF with the Dominant b9 Pentatonics written out in the 4 keys we will be working on in this lesson. I also have written these lines out in 8 different pentatonic patterns for you to practice.

In this 36 minute video lesson, I take you through the steps in learning these 4 pentatonic scales and then show you how to best practice them to the play along. I demonstrate them for you to the playalong with the soprano saxophone. This is a great lesson to give you a unique way to create lines over a minor groove or minor ii-V-i progression. It’s also a great lesson to give you more insight and use of the diminished scale while soloing. (36 Minute Video Lesson, PDF of patterns in Bb, Eb and C, Playalong in C Minor Concert)

1 review for Playing Outside-4 Tonic Dominant b9 Pentatonics-Lesson 1

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    Rated 5 out of 5

    Stuart (verified owner) – June 16, 2026

    Wow! I bought this lesson some time ago, and after finally writing it all down, I just now started to get it! This is so cool! The “dom b9” pentatonic is sweet! I mean, dissonance never sounded so good! I just spent a couple of hours playing it and its 3 sisters over minor ii-Vs – and I just love it. It’s easy to remember the pentatonic, and having 4 of them to choose from keeps it from sounding too rote (even though that’s exactly what it is). It’s funny, at the beginning of the lesson, you warn us that it the subject is convoluted, but it’s actually beautiful, in a Douglas Hofstadter kind of way. [btw: in his book Around The Horn, Walt Weiskopf uses this pentatonic as his “arpeggio” for the fifth mode of the harmonic minor.] Now if I could just master Bergonzi’s patterns…

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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
I’ve been downloading your lessons for 4 months now (20 lesson) and I have noticed tremendous growth in my playing thus far! I’m so happy that I stumbled upon your site!
Bob
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
I’m an experienced player in the pop/soul/funk areas of music and, previously, classical.  Over the decades I’ve been playing, I’ve always felt that I could do what I needed in those styles of music.  However, recently I began to feel limited by my use of the same old licks. When I discovered Steve Neff’s website, and heard the audio examples based on the exercises in his books, I realized they were what I needed.  I purchased all of them and have been working on them since.  It’s very hard work… Read more
Paul
I want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric

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
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
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

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 a brief note to compliment you on your teaching skills and in particular for the honesty of your lessons.  I am a returning alto sax player in my 50’s and I was looking for a no nonsense, straight to the point kind of guidance. I had intended to email you with a few questions regarding the use of the bis key but then I noticed that there was a lesson on that specific topic and after viewing it,  all my questions were answered. I once took a group lesson with a well known professional sax … Read more
Patrick

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