*BRAND NEW NEFFMUSIC BOOK* Super excited to have finally finished this book. I have been working on this over a couple of years and am ecstatic about the content and it’s potential for students of jazz improvisation. Working on this material has radically changed my own playing and given me a new tool to use […]
Jazz Improvisation
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. You can consider this an “overview” lesson on the […]
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 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 […]
NEW Book-Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk Soloing
Great news! I just finished a new book this week that I am very excited about. The new book is called “Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk Soloing” and is similar in concept to my best selling “Devastating Minor Lines” book. Video Demonstration of a few of the Devastating Lines Here is a description: An […]
NEW Book-Mastering the Minor ii-7b5 V7b9 Bebop Scale
“Mastering the Minor ii-7b5 V7b9 Bebop Scale” is a new approach to learning to play great jazz lines over a minor ii-V progression. If you have worked out of my “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale” book, you know that the bebop scale and the “bebop links” that can be added to it can be a […]
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 […]
NEW Book-Mastering Altered Pentatonics
I just released a new book I have been working on for a number of years now. It covers the basic pentatonic scale in all 12 keys with 29 great pentatonic patterns to practice. It also includes 11 altered pentatonics in these patterns that you can use for a more modern “outside” sound to your […]
*NEW* Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 1 & 2 by Steve Neff
I decided to offer another free video lesson on my books “Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 1-Minor and Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 2-Dominant Chords” for everyone. I have sold many of these books over the years and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most out of them that they can. You […]
The Art of Jazz Improvisation-Communication
I was browsing the internet this morning when I happened upon these two amazing videos below. It struck me that as teachers and students, we are so often teaching jazz improvisation in a one dimensional realm. We talk about scales, licks, chords and patterns. We go home and practice by ourselves with our play along tracks […]
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. These are tunes that I bought on iTunes because I was sick of the generic Jamey Aebersold tracks that we all practice to. I spent many hours one week going through iTunes […]
Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale and Language Book 1 & 2
I decided to offer a free video lesson on my book “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale and Language Book 1 & 2” for everyone. I have sold many of these books over the years and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most out of them that they can. You can consider this […]
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. 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. I’m at the 60 minute mark and have to […]
New Release-Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2
I just finished a brand new Neffmusic book that I am very excited about. I’ve been working on this off and on over the last seven years and more intensely over the last eight months. In the years following my release of “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale”, I decided that a “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2” […]
The #1 Thing You Need to Do To Become a Great Improviser
I’m seeing a trend in adult students that I have taught over the last 10 years and wanted to write about it. The #1 thing that most students young and old want to improve is their ability to improvise well. Many times, I ask the students what their practice routine is like and I get answers […]
Why is Learning Jazz Patterns Foreign to Me?
I received this question in an email the other day and I thought it would be good to try to answer it in detail on the blog here so others can benefit from it: Question: Steve, I have always listened to jazz, but I tend to favor simpler, lyrical playing like Houston Person, Gene Ammons, […]
Free Video Lesson on Approach Note Velocity Book
I decided to offer a free video lesson on my book “Approach Note Velocity Volume 1 & 2” for everyone. I have sold many of these books over the years and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most out of them that they can. You can consider this an “overview” lesson on […]
Seamus Blake “Blues Up and Down” Saxophone Solo Transcription
Here’s a great solo transcription from one of my favorite players, Seamus Blake. This is a fast blues called “Blues Up and Down” and is from an obscure CD entitled “Sax Summit”. I say obscure because I am probably one of the biggest fans and followers of jazz saxophone recordings and I had never heard of it before […]
Donny McCaslin Blues Solo in 6ths Tenor Sax Transcription
Here’s another solo transcriptions I started working on yesterday. This is from a clinic recording of Donny McCaslin demonstrating using sixth intervals while improvising over a standard blues on the tenor saxophone. I have no idea what this is from or even where I got it but it must have been on the internet somewhere. I tried […]
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