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The Portland Collection Contra Dance Music Real Books

July 18, 2007 by Steve Leave a Comment

About a year ago a soundman and good friend of mine ,Dave Fagan, played a CD through the sound system that immediately caught my attention. It sounded great and I asked him what it was. He said it was “Contra Dance Music” I had never heard of it before. After talking more about it, he […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Clyde Curley, contra dance, jigs, Pacific Northwest, portland collection, Real Books, reels, Susan Songer

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Testimonials

Steve really changed my way of practicing: I got a whole lot of new ideas for my playing the tenor.  His lessons are really helpful, give a lot stuff to practice and give clear answers to complicated stuff.  Steve has a lot of humor and I wish I had laughed so much in my former days with the horn.  All topics, from Blues to Approach note are dealt with clearness that wet ones appetite to play and practice that great ideas.
Uwe
By the way, BIG COMPLIMENTS to you, Steve! Not only are you a great player, you are also a great teacher! I, too, am a woodwinds player/teacher. I have new inspiration to play and teach because of you. The concepts and “thinking” is similar to what I already learned in College, but hearing you explain and PLAY the concepts REALLY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE! Also, your written patterns are more interesting than other books I have seen! Keep up the good work. I will be recommending your sit… Read more
I will be recommending your site to others!
Thank you for the wealth of helpful lessons you’ve provided over the years.  I truly feel as though it has improved my playing more than the 4 years I spent at Berklee… and that’s not a slight on the school as I loved my experience there.
John
John
Hi Steve, I can’t express just how much I appreciate your teaching. My playing has improved so much over the past year since I have been studying and practicing with your lessons. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, these lessons are proof! Thanks, Michael Byington
Michael Byington
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon

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

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
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
For anyone living in remote areas away from live jazz sax teachers, Neff is the way to go. In fact this is a great resource for anyone seriously interested in mastering the sax. I’ve never been disappointed in a lesson.
Oliver
I can’t say enough about my membership at Neff Music. Steve has taken the mystery out of playing the saxophone well and improvising both jazz and rock music. Like most struggling players I have a load of all sorts of books on my shelf just gathering dust. Books that I didn’t understand or know how to put to use…or just have the time to go threw them. Steve’s lessons really simplify things and he puts it in a way that I can understand. They inspire me to keep pushing and having him as my guide or… Read more
Ken
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 like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen
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
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
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
Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre
Absolutely the best learning experience in my 40 years of playing.These books are awesome!!
Alfred LaBella

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony
Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
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

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

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