Description
The II-V-I pattern is the most common pattern in jazz music. The more adept you are at playing this pattern in all the keys the better your facility in the jazz language. In the past 20 years I have been keeping a notebook of these patterns. I’ve tried to limit the ones in this 122 page book to the hippest ones and to strain out the ones that are more popular or overused. In my opinion these are the best II-V-I licks that I’ve come across in the past 20-25 years. There are 120 licks in this 122 page pdf file. Each lick is transposed into all 12 keys in treble clef using Finale and is easy to read.Trust me when I say that these things will keep you busy for a long time but once mastered your playing will improve incredibly. The cost for these patterns is $11.99. You can print this file and get to work immediately. Have fun. I hope you dig these as much as I have over the years. Thanks, Steve
Alan (verified owner) –
Steve- Thanks for the book of patterns, I’ve been having a blast with it. It’s alot of fun finding ways to change the patterns up, using different endings on the I chord or different beginnings on the II-V that will lead to the I chord in the book. Great book, I will be ordering the minor version soon. Thanks again- Alan Michael.
Rory (verified owner) –
Like many learning horn players, I have a whole bookshelf full of practice materials that I have acquired over the years. Steve Neff’s two collections of II-V-I patterns (Major and Minor) are among the most useful and versatile of all the books I have bought. And, in terms of the sheer amount of good solid practice time I get from them, they are easily the best value for the money. The patterns themselves are fantastic—very musical and very much part of the jazz/blues idiom—and I have found that having each pattern written out in all keys has really helped me to become more fluent in the “hard” keys. As well as learning a key part of the jazz language, I feel like I’m gaining a lot more real playing velocity from these patterns than I would be from scales alone: it’s a great feeling to learn one of the patterns and then to work it up to speed. The other thing I love about the format of these books is that I can print a small number of studies and keep them in my gig bag. Some stuff you buy and it goes right to the shelf: I’ll be using these patterns for a long, long time.
Rory Leitch
Mike (verified owner) –
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!
Paul (verified owner) –
I have purchased both the ii-V-I books as well as the Approach Velocity books. After playing for over 40 years I am thoroughly impressed with how these books are opening up my mind to new ideas. They have been a fantastic addition to my working library and are among my favorite shedding tools, right at the top of the list.
Andrew (verified owner) –
Like most people I have numerous pattern books, most of which are largely useless, as the patterns are often so abstruse that one is never going to be able to use them in a natural-sounding way. The great advantage of Steve Neff’s material is that a lot of it is immediately useful, being based on the jazz vocabulary of the great players. Even the more difficult material makes sense because it is offered as part of a method of developing improvisation based on clear principles. I find I use all Steve’s books in two ways. 1) I pick up the material that feels fundamental and work on parts of it at length, which makes it easier to play in the trickier keys in an interesting way. 2) I just play through lots of the material before doing a gig, without repeating it. Because the material is musical this is a great way of getting one’s fingers to articulate something new when one gets to the gig.
Professor Andrew Bowie
Tom (verified owner) –
I have been using Steve’s II-V-I patterns, Approach Note Velocity, and
Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale books and can honestly say that my
playing has grown more than any other methods I have studied. Steve’s
practical approach really allows someone at any level to apply directly
to their improvising. As a working musician I really do appreciate
methods such as Steve’s that make the best use of my practice time…..
these really work!
Tom Schneider – R&B/Funk/Jazz saxophone during the night, Electrical
Engineer during the day.
proff m (verified owner) –
As a teacher at a college I have worked with many beginning improvisers. I have always asked students to transcribe and use the transcriptions as a database for the language of an improviser. I have found that students sometimes have difficulty in identifying useable jazz material from transcriptions. What your book on ii/V’s has done is to help my students hear the language in an isolated state in order to find the same language in their transcriptions.
Sam Carlson (verified owner) –
Great stuff, I have Steve’s Major and Minor Pattern books and WOW the quantity of material is astounding, I am still hammering away at that material.
Ted (verified owner) –
These books go beyond simple scale knowledge and practice to creating interesting, dynamic and inspiring lines for the improviser. A lot of us know that having all of the scales and even the theory of their application to underlying harmonic settings is often not necessarily translated directly to flowing interesting melodic lines. These books actually contain compelling ways and mechanisms for the improviser to connect scale and chord tones with grace and varying degrees of color and tension as applied to both static harmony and II-V-I progressions in both minor and major keys.
Randall S. Closson (verified owner) –
I have been working regularly with both Steve’s II-V-I patterns (major and minor) and his Approach Note Velocity books. Instead of going from front to back on these, I concentrated on the keys that I use the most and gradually started delving in to the other keys. After ove 40 years of playing, I have never worked through anything that has opened me up to new ideas and gotten me out of a playing “rut” faster than these books. I am hearing new things in my playing and so are others and I am constantly getting more comfortable playing in any key. I am by no means finished working with these books and consider them a “lifetime” project. Who says you can’t teach an “old dog” new tricks? I just wish I had access to something like this about 35 years ago. Steve can expect that I will be adding his Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale book to my arsenal very soon.
Robert C (verified owner) –
Neff’s II-V7-I Major and Minor PDF Patterns……
I chose the pdf format because I wanted the option of picking my favorite type of spiral binding. I hate those books that just won’t lie good on the stand you know.
Personally, I find the book fascinating! There is so much fresh stuff here. The possibilities are endless. For example, today, I found myself tying together pages 77-95 in the major pattern of Em7-A7-DMaj7. The lines here are fairly similar, so once I started to get the relative note cadences down, I found myself developing my own lines. Let me tell you, they sounded very good too! I have always been blessed with finger speed and technique, but never really get the chance to showcase it due to lack of originality.
It is books like this, that allow guys like me to take that next step from playing around with other peoples lines, to developing my own original “voice”. The way he lays out everything for you to read through and internalize is a real asset to the learning curve. I have never thought of practicing my II-V7-I’s in the ways I do now… definitely one of those “bridge the gap” type books. Neff’s pattern’s has improved my playing! To be honest, I don’t always get that from improve. books. I mean, most are rudimentary exercises, which force you back to learning transcriptions, to get some sense of musicality. Not this one though. The format is there, the cadences are there. You develop your own exercises. Great strategy Neff! It’s a gem!
Great job Steve,
John (verified owner) –
I purchased the Best II-V-I Major and Minor patterns almost a year and a half ago and am still playing them. I practice them at least twice a week. They are exactly what I was looking for in Jazz Etudes. For so many years my legit teachers had etudes for me to practice to get my fingers working. I never quite understood why my jazz teachers never offered anything similar. They were allays so hung up with me hearing it and writing them out myself. What that leaves you with is transcriptions to practice, so all you do is practice someone else’s licks. Steve’s patterns are so much more. He provides the changes so you can do backings and really hear hour the intervals work over the changes. Playing Steve’s patterns really helped me finally understand intervals at the level you need to to progress as a Jazz player. I feel much more comfortable in the keys that we don’t allways play in. My fingers are faster, my ears are better, and my understanding of intervals and the right notes to play over Minor, Dominant, and Major changes are at a new level. A funny story from a local jam I used to go to. I hadn’t been back to it for a few months, all the while practicing Steve’s patterns. Well I went back and had a blast. The guy calls me a few days later that was leading it, he happened to be a sax playing dentist. He asked me what changed, how did I sound so different. I told him all about Steve’s site and told him how great his etudes were. I know this story is hard to believe but I swear it’s true. It’s the Jam Session in Richmond Va at Emilios on Main Street. Every Friday night, get there before the singers take over! Thanks very much Steve!
Neffaholic (verified owner) –
As someone not “innately musical”, I spent years trying to develop a working, coherant jazz vocabulary that was truly applicable to the kind of music I longed to play. Over ten years, I probably acquired 50 different collections of jazz patterns, riffs, and licks. No matter how hard I worked, or how much time I devoted, I just couldn’t seem to “get it together.” I was fortunate enough to be directed to your site from SaxOnTheWeb.Net and decided to try your “Best Major II-V7-I Patterns.” After only two afternoons with it, I knew I was on to something. The ideas were fresh, the format was great, and most importantly: they made sense. They sounded good. Like some other customers, I use pieces of the patterns as jumping-off points for my own ideas, and I also shed on them with a metronome to improve my overall speed and execution. I can honestly say that I haven’t looked at or used another II-V7-I book since I downloaded my first “Neff” book. As an enthusiastic amateur, having the ideas laid out for me in all keys allows me to pick a key that I’m comfortable with, and then work on moving it into other keys. It’s made a tremendous difference and opened up my playing to a point where I’m now confident I have the vocabulary that I’d been looking to acquire. I could have saved myself many years and a lot of money if I’d found the books sooner.
Lester (verified owner) –
I love the book (Major and Minor II-V7-I Patterns) by the way. I’m constently coming up with different ways to practise it. Thanks.
Take care,
Lester
Keith (verified owner) –
It is books like this, that allow guys like me to take that next step from playing around with other peoples lines, to developing my own original “voice”. The way he lays out everything for you to read through and internalize is a real asset to the learning curve. I have never thought of practicing my II-V7-I’s in the ways I do now… definitely one of those “bridge the gap” type books. Neff’s pattern’s has improved my playing! To be honest, I don’t always get that from improve. books. I mean, most are rudimentary exercises, which force you back to learning transcriptions, to get some sense of musicality. Not this one though. The format is there, the cadences are there. You develop your own exercises. Great strategy Steve! It’s a gem!
Portugal Jazz (verified owner) –
The book was very helpful gives me lots of techniques on how to play such instrument … very effective
donnersm (verified owner) –
Nicely done. I allready had a IIVI book but i wasn’t pleased with the licks it teached me. This one will keep me busy for a while…
It is worth every $
Regards,
Mark Donners