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You are here: Home / Jazz Lessons / Modern Improv / Playing Outside-Shifting Pentatonics Lesson
Playing Outside-Shifting Pentatonics Lesson

Playing Outside-Shifting Pentatonics Lesson

Rated 4.50 out of 5 based on 2 customer ratings
(2 customer reviews)

$9.99

SKU: 098 Category: Modern Improv Tags: jazz improv, pentatonics, playing outside the changes, video lesson
  • Description
  • Reviews (2)
  • Lesson Sample

Description

In this lesson I introduce a method I use with students to shift in and out of a tonality by shifting to a different pentatonic in the 4th measure of a phrase. I talk about 2 pentatonics I use often to take a line “outside” a minor tonality as well as two pentatonics I use for “inside” playing to give you more options. I talk in depth about how to practice the material as well as demonstrating everything to a play along on my tenor sax. To get the most out of this lesson I suggest you study the other pentatonic lessons first as I will be dealing with the scales I taught in those lessons.  (Video)

 

2 reviews for Playing Outside-Shifting Pentatonics Lesson

  1. Avatar
    Rated 5 out of 5

    Nigel – February 6, 2011

    This lesson is worth its weight in gold! I had already been using shifted pentatonics for a few years. However, 20 minutes of this lesson has really blown the lid off the whole idea for me and moved me so much further forward than my previous years of experimenting. Steve makes the color, tension and excitement of playing outside immediately accessible, by taking relatively simple ideas and demonstrating how to implement them with rhythm, style and conviction in a way that rubs straight off on to the listener. What I particularly like is that the lesson has changed both the way I think, and how I hear a number of notes within a given key. The result of the lesson is not that I am trying to remember a particular pentatonic scale, but that my mental map of how sounds fit together has radically changed, so when I’m improvising now I’m hearing new notes and placing them effectively in to solo lines, whereas before, I would have been avoiding them or simply deaf to their possibilities. Steve is doing much more than teaching a few tricks to make you sound good, he takes time to explain the ideas and encourages you to use them to find your own voice.

  2. Avatar
    Rated 4 out of 5

    Blease (verified owner) – August 14, 2015

    The lesson is good especially for this money – fits the LESSON DESCRIPTION (but nothing more), I add this comment because I’ve bought this lesson because of Nigel’s Review which is much much over-exaggerated.. The content of this lesson don’t dig up nothing new what you can find for free on the topic of modern impro with outside playing on youtube… Anyway Neff keep it up 🙂 I give You 4/5 stars

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Lesson Sample

https://public.neffmusic.com/Playing%20Outside-Shifting%20Pentatonics%20clip.mp4

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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)

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

Love your lessons!  I have been using your lesson packages for many months now, and am learning a lot.  It is so perfect for me with a very busy adult schedule and difficulty in taking jazz/improv music lessons from reputable instructors who live and hour or more away from me.

Lenore
Hi Steve, I live in a gorgeous but rural area of Oregon-no music store within 80 miles. Your lessons are my lifeline!  Truly the best there are anywhere online. Love your playing. Love your teaching.  Thanks again. Ed
Ed Woodmansee

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
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’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick

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

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