Here’s another great David Mann transcription from a Bb Blues that was sent to me from Igor Tomanoski. This is a solo that Dave played on the tune Sun Down. I made a few minor additions and changes to the transcription of some notes and rhythms I heard. This solo is another great example of […]
Jazz Improvisation
Neffmusic Lessons: Where do I start?
Now that the Neffmusic site has over 500 lessons to choose from, the two questions I get asked the most every week are: “Where should I start?” and “What should I do next?” (Also, “What mouthpiece should I buy?” but that is a different subject than we are dealing with today). To answer these questions, I […]
Liam Byrne Tenor Saxophone Blues Solo Transcription
Here’s a nice swingin’ blues solo transcription I started working on a few days ago. This is from a young tenor sax player, Liam Byrne. The group is called BBQ and stands for Brownfield/Byrne Quintet. Here’s a short Bio about Liam Byrne from his website: ‘…Saxophonist Liam Byrne, from North Wales (UK), studied at Leeds College […]
The Real Latin Book Review
Anyone who has been following my blog for awhile knows that I can be a bit of a nut when it comes to Real Books. I love getting new tunes that I have never played and trying them out on gigs. Sometimes when I do a duo gig for a cocktail hour the piano player […]
2013 Thelonious Monk Jazz Saxophone Competition
I wanted to share this video that is on Youtube of the 2013 Thelonious Monk Saxophone competition. I first heard of the Thelonious Monk competition in the early 90’s. I believe the competition started out in the late 80’s as a piano competition and then started including other instruments in the early 90’s. 1991 was […]
Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing
I just finished a brand new Neffmusic book that I am very excited about. The description is below: An inside approach to outside playing using pentatonics, chromaticism, 3-tonic systems and intervallic patterns to produce modern lines in the style of Michael Brecker and Bob Berg. Devastating Minor Lines contains 100 16th note lines written out […]
Dexter Gordon “More than You Know” Documentary
Here’s a great video documentary on the life and playing of the great tenor saxophone player Dexter Gordon. It is called “More than You Know”. I’ve watched it a number of times and absolutely love it. Check out the blues “Blues Walk” that starts playing around 1:13! Dexter kills this blues. His lines and quotes […]
Become a Neffmusic Member and Save!
I have had a number of people who have wanted to become members of my site but who don’t want to sign up through paypal. I have decided to set up this page for them so that they can purchase a 3,6 or 12 month membership just by using a credit card. Once I receive […]
Great Hal Galper Masterclass Videos
Here are some great clips from youtube of a Hal Galper masterclass. Hal Galper is a great piano player who has has played with many of the jazz legends. I came to know him from some Phil Woods albums I had growing up. These are great to watch a number of times. Hal is such […]
Practicing away from your instrument! Part 1
I had a lesson the other day with a student and I realized that he was really having a hard time coming up with melodic ideas and phrases. I asked him “Do you ever sing?” “No!” “How about humming?” “No!” “How about in the shower?” “No!” This really got me thinking about things […]
Approach Note Books and Lessons
“Approach Note Velocity” by Steve Neff Approach Note Velocity is a book that I created for myself so that I could master all the different approach notes in every key. I have divided the book up into sections by key and have written out the exercises so that you can practice them and read them […]
Getting the Most from Neffmusic Online Lesson
To get most out of my NeffMusic Online Lessons I would suggest a few simple ideas. 1. Focus on one topic like Blues scales, Approach Notes, Pentatonics……..etc. In my mind it’s always better to focus on one topic at a time and master it. Working on bits and pieces of 10 different lessons and not […]
Kenny Werner Masterclass
This is a great masterclass by Kenny Werner. I’ve been a fan of Kenny Werner since I read his book “Effortless Mastery” a number of years ago. I love his mindset of letting go of the fear and distraction that can attack us when we perform. So often when I was younger, I would be […]
Practicing Jazz Saxophone With Focus
One of my biggest weaknesses when I was a kid was practicing without a specific focus. I wanted to do it all, play everything, be the best. I wanted results now. I would spend endless hours in the practice room practicing everything. The problem was, I wasn’t focused. I didn’t set goals. Instead of getting […]
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