Goal: Play the lick in all minor keys. Due October 21th (and you get a candy bar if you do well)
New: If you need it, here's the link to the JJazzLab backing track. You should already have it downloaded. Music theory note: this is the circle of fourths for minor keys.
When you practice, I want the focus to be on playing 'real' music by ear. To get us started I'd like to present "The Lick". This lick is so common it's become an inside joke among musicians, but it's a simple phrase that I hope you enjoy in spite of (or maybe because of) its meme status. Learn and memorize "The Lick".
Videos: The Lick, The Lick II, and The Lick III
These videos are compilations of the same lick. I just wanted to give you a ton of examples!
2)
Lastly, all these licks and playing by ear things will NOT be written down. Since you don't read sheet music when improvising, it makes more sense to practice playing by ear since that's the skill you need. We can always record a lick and label it if you wanted a catalog to not forget them.
My Funny Valentine:   Sheet Music   -   Video
With great effort I've arranged "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" in the original key. This will let you play with better background music.
Sheet Music - Backing track - Full song with vocals
Try playing along with the original song first, matching Amy Winehouse. Then play along with one of the karaoke backings (pick your favorite).
Sheet Music - With Amy Winehouse - Karaoke 1 - Karaoke 2
Same idea as before, just with different notes this time!
A Minor Blues Call and Response 6 -Notes: A, C, E, G, high A
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A Minor Blues Call and Response 3 -Notes are A, C, E, high A
A Minor Blues Call and Response 4 -Notes are A, C, E, high A
A Minor Blues Call and Response 5 -Notes are A, C, E, high A
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A Minor Blues Call and Response 2 -Notes are A, C, E, high A (a bit more challenging! Good luck)
A Minor Blues Call and Response 1 -Notes are A, E, high A
Two bars, 90 bpm, F C F:
F Major Blues Call and Response 7
F Major Blues Call and Response 8
Two bars, 120 bpm:
F Major Blues Call and Response 6
Two bars, 90 bpm:
F Major Blues Call and Response 5
F, C, higher F, but fast:
F Major Blues Call and Response 4
F, C, higher F, but a little faster:
F Major Blues Call and Response 3
Normal speed:
Let's get you properly introduced to the instruments!
Watch this introduction to common jazz instruments. You should try to remember all of the ones he mentions.
As a supplement, watch this introduction to various instruments from concert band. It goes into more detail about the sound and origin of woodwinds + brass. You do not need to study / memorize instruments that are not mentioned in the jazz video (oboe, bassoon, etc).
As a supplement to the supplement, for some reason they only showed an alto saxophone in video 2, so here's a dedicated video about all the common saxophones. In a jazz group, alto tenor and bari are the most common, and sometimes a soprano is thrown in there. Personally, I've never played with a bass saxophonist but maybe you will one day!
These short introductions alone likely won't be enough for you to pick out individual instruments from an ensemble, but with practice you'll get better at isolating parts. Hopefully you get the chance to play in an ensemble because then you'll really be able to hear everyone 😉
Listen to the "Kind of Blue" album by Coltrane. Once again, listen for these three things:
Which instrument has the melody? (The 'main' part)
What are the drums doing?
What musicality & articulations do you notice? (Use of dynamics, vibrato, gliss, grace notes, turns, staccato notes, accents, etc. anything beyond 'right notes right rhythms')
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Old stuff:
Please watch this video of a guided listening of Blue Train. He'll talk about note choice, form, and other things you don't necessarily need to understand yet. Just watch and try to get a vibe about what he's saying.
Then give Coltrane's album a listen here.
I want you to listen carefully for three things:
Taking lessons regularly is important and certainly helps you develop musical skills. But equally (if not more) important is playing with others and learning how to work with an ensemble. You're at the level where you're ready to play with a casual group. So let's try to find one!
Periodically I search for groups that may be a good fit for you. Here's what I've found so far:
Chelmsford Community Jazz Band (Pronounced 'Kelms-ferd')
50ish minute drive north of you, rehearses Wednesday nights, runs September to June
Jazz in the Mountains
This is the Vermont summer jazz camp. It's higher level and a bit pricy. I think it's worthwhile to keep tabs on it and maybe after you've developed further try it out. At this time, something more casual will be better.
List of Adult Jazz Camps
Just a list of some adult jazz camps in the country (and Canada). I like the idea of a jazz camp but not the price haha.
Other Ideas
I'll paw through the internet and see if I can find some local musicians / groups that may be open to playing with others. I encourage you to look in your free time too! There's no deadline / rush for this. All we need is one good group. We could also try making our own group if nothing else sticks (I ran my own sax ensemble for 3 years and I have music contacts hehe).
Here's the F Major Blues Scale:
F G Ab A C D F
Try jamming with the following backing tracks!
60 BPM - 90ish BPM - 120 BPM - 140 BPM - 180 BPM
Newer: Try mixing up your rhythms and using more triplets! A healthy mix of sustained, long notes and rests is good too. Try to lock in on musical 'sentences' and get them in your ear so you can repeat them. Or at least mostly repeat them haha.
New: Try following the AA'B form we discussed in the last presentation. Also try using the 4 bar melodies I wrote. They should help you 'feel' the duration of phrases better. Also try writing / memorizing your own melodies! Improvisation is just music composition in real time
BONUS Try to search the internet for other blues backing tracks in Concert Eb (remember Tenor is a Bb instrument so our F is actually Concert Eb). YouTube has a ton of tracks. Or if a tenor piece is in F (one flat in the key signature) you can jam on the backing track for it. The more you noodle the more you'll learn! Have fun 😊
Your assignment: find an example of 12 bar blues that uses the AAB form. At our next lesson, be ready to share what piece you found.
To help you understand what I'm looking for here are two examples:
Dust My Broom - Cross Road Blues
The 12 Bar Blues and AAB form have been written about extensively online. Here's a couple sources you should read to deeper your understanding:
PBS: Understanding the12-Bar Blues
Be ready to present at our next lesson! You will present the slides, God Bless the Child, and Lady Sings the Blues. You may choose whatever order you'd like to do those items.
As you research Billie Holiday, try to add notes to the document found on the Project Hub. Thanks!
She has a website dedicated to her: Billie Holiday Site
Interestingly, she collaborated with Lester Young who is a notable saxophone player. If you focus on their collaboration that would be a nice narrow scope topic with plenty of music to draw from. (But feel free to do something else) I love the idea of learning about Billie Holiday, so much great jazz to play with!
New Music: "Easy Living" Sheet Music - Backing Audio (fixed) - Video
God Bless The Child Sheet Music - Backing Audio(fixed) - Demo with sax - Improv Breakdown (Chord analysis and suggested notes) - Video
Lady Sings the Blues Sheet Music - Backing Audio - Demo with robot saxophone (fixed)
My arrangement of God Bless The Child can be changed however we like. This is just the first draft. For now, just noodle and experiment on the improv and we can work on note choices in detail later.
Lady Sings the Blues was arranged to sound similar to the version on Spotify. We can add an improv section if you'd like.
Review Note Values
Check out this summary of note names and values. I will be regularly quizzing you on these.
You can review all the music theory concepts here.
Write Rhythms
Do #5 and #6
Write Rhythms 6
Write Rhythms 5
Write Rhythms 4
Write Rhythms 3
Write Rhythms 2
Write Rhythms 1
Playing By Ear ABRSM #1
These samples use the A minor pentatonic scale.
Sample 1 - Sample 2 - Sample 3
If you can't print out this page, please digitally write on a screenshot / PDF file or jot the counts down on a piece of paper. I don't really care how you get it done, just make it work please~
Assignment:
Part 2: Training Your Ear, Half Steps and Whole Steps
(bonus points if you hear my phone go off in the beginning lol)
Sing the intervals. Using a piano (such as https://virtualpiano.net/) or a tuning note, practice singing half steps and whole steps. There are several benefits to singing:
You have to listen extra hard
You learn the physical sensations of each interval which helps in telling them apart
You can sing any time, no instrument needed!
As you sing, remember the tuning concepts we discussed at last lesson. No wave = in tune. Little waves = slightly out of tune. Many waves = very out of tune. It takes some time to get proficient at singing in tune, so be patient with yourself!
Background:
Having a good ear is critical for all musicians - Jazz, Classical, Saxophonist, or otherwise. We will start training your ear with the smallest intervals first, half steps and whole steps. These are the most common intervals and we'll move towards the less common intervals as you progress. A half step interval is simply between two adjacent pitches with nothing in between. For example, C natural to C sharp. Sometimes a half step occurs between two natural notes. Ex: E natural and F natural, B natural and C natural. A whole step interval has exactly one pitch in between. For example, C natural to D natural (C# is in the middle). Or E natural to F# (F natural is in the middle).
Part 1: Training Your Ear, Half Steps and Whole Steps
Apparently the half step and whole step intervals are on the tricky side when trying to distinguish them. Wider intervals are more obvious to tell apart. So we may have started with too high a difficulty (my bad I didn't realize!). If this doesn't work we may try other intervals and circle back.
Roadmap:
Initial training with half steps / whole steps
More training with half steps and whole steps. Identify ascending / descending patterns. New patterns to learn on the saxophone to develop the mind/ear - body connection
Begin to analyze and build major scales, playing them on saxophone of course
Work on major scales in detail and apply different articulations to them
Then we can branch off in two directions - study other types of scales or train your ear for different intervals based on major scale degree. I'm leaning towards the ear training on scale degree first since you can immediately start using that for improv and make your own patterns without learning new scales (a true learn by ear rather than using theory). This would be invaluable to jam sessions and riffing