Assignment

SPOOKY SAX SEASON 🎵🎃🎷🎃🎵

Scheduling: Let's agree on the lesson time at least two days beforehand so I can plan accordingly. Once we set a time please do not change it. Support my autism thank you.

Honeysuckle Rose 🌹✨ Posted 9/23/2026

Video: Honeysuckle Rose Sheet Music: Honeysuckle Rose PDF

NEW:

🎯GOAL - Have a rough outline of the presentation and two slides mostly completed. DUE: Next lesson

🐸FROG - Play the paper rhythm game and see if it helps anything click. Can you make rhythms that look like Honeysuckle Rose?

❓FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Why do you grind the runs in Honeysuckle Rose the way you do?
Try brainstorming questions to ask yourself about this. At this time, I'm not interested in answers. In fact, we should be more curious and creative! Answers are banned (for now) only think of questions from various perspectives and don't try to answer anything 😋

👂LISTEN - Honeysuckle Rose is a jazz standard. It has many versions. Listen to this playlist to hear just how different it can sound: Honeysuckle Roses Playlist
Do you hear anything in common? Try looking at the leadsheet too. This is the guideline the pros use to get started with making their version: Honeysuckle Rose Leadsheet

Old mission: Working on rhythm -  Download this and follow along in MuseScore: Beat Detective

Charlie Parker material for future bebop projects: Charlie Parker Omnibook - Charlie Parker Play-along Book 

Speedy Scales 🔥 Posted 9/16/2026

In theory, if you can play a scale really fast you must know it :)

The goal is to play the A minor scale at 120 bpm with sixteenth notes, as I've written here:
Goal: A Minor Scale Drill - Full Speed

But jumping right into top speed is difficult and we want the scale to sound clean. So you can start with a slow variation then add speed. Also, use a metronome!
A Minor Scale Drill Slower - A Minor Scale Drill Faster

Drum Beats Website

NEW: Based on the recent lesson, maybe different approaches could be more helpful!

1) Instead of playing slow and gradually adding speed, why not try "chaining notes" at full speed? Here's what that drill looks like:

A Minor Scale Drill - Chaining

Spend at least 30 minutes trying the Chaining approach and see if you like it better than the other approach.

2) Instead of the metronome, consider using the Drum Beats Website to make a better sounding beat. Ideally, whether we use a metronome or a drum beat or pokemon noises the pulse should be something you can freely focus on or move to feeling in the background as you play. It should not be distracting, but it should also not be invisible. It should feel like a helpful guide to keep your timing aligned :) So we may need to experiment more on a good tool for this.

BENEFITS

Polish mode: Proficiency in this scale, ability to play quickly & cleanly, music theory - understanding what "A Minor" is

Noodle mode: Memorizing the scale means not having to use sheet music :) You can whip out the scale at any jam!

Thinking of Saxophone Modes Posted 8/20/2026

Nothing to practice in this section - just some information for you to read and absorb :)

Two modes / mindsets of saxophone playing appear to happen. There's "polish mode" where an emphasis is placed on quality. Think of preparing pieces for the ABRSM mock exam, practicing a piece to record it, doing a project, etc.

The other mode is "noodle mode" where an emphasis is placed on fun and variety. Think of jamming with Justine and Brian, doing saxophone karaoke, or noodling at the end of lesson.

On future assignments, it may be helpful to state the benefits to both modes. Really, any practice is going to help both modes in some way. But having a written explanation of benefits clarifies the value of the assignment. This can be nice psychologically as a motivator. Also it can support organizing the work towards a particular goal.

All of this to say, the next assignments will have a little section explaining the benefits. There's no change to the actual assignments / our process. It's just a way to improve the assignments without more work from either of us haha.

 Old assignments can be found in Resources -> Archives.
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