Aaron's last post caused quite a stir all over the blogosphere. Readers and bloggers either loved it or they wanted to wring his young neck. The role of the musician in our society has become so domesticated over the past 30 or so years. I believe this has to do with the modern trend of conservatory jazz education. Now, Jazz is just another degree that one can get...with a monetary return that is similar to a degree in Norse Folktales (with a minor in Finnish arts and crafts).What happen... Read Full Story
Nat Kline wrote some very helpful exercises to practice fourths after he saw Dan Gaynor's Fourths Exercise. Nat designed a template that covers the entire range of the saxophone (or flute depending on where you start). He calls it a 'template' because he meant for the player to play through it while adding different key signatures each time. If you're ever tried to practice fourths you'll know that it is sometimes confusing when you come to the bottom or top of your range, because it can be h... Read Full Story
One of my former students recently discovered the wealth of Jazz mp3s that are now available on blogs for free. He was quite surprised and realized that he really didn't need to spend all of the thousands of dollars that he was spending on buying CDs. Of course the legality of these blogs are suspect, but for those of you who live in a South African township and can barely afford to buy food (let alone buy tracks from iTunes) while you toil away practicing be be the next Hugh Masacela- THIS S... Read Full Story
(From Rico's Facebook with Rico artist Tim Price) In this lesson, I’ve taken an in-depth approach to give you all some information, new ideas, ear training, and fresh approaches to this form.http://www.saxontheweb.net/Price/Blues1.htmlPick out a few licks that you like and that lay well for you that you can hear. Now, think of how your favorite player such as Sonny Rollins might play this lick articulation-wise or how Lester Young might play one of these licks very legato and behind the beat,... Read Full Story
I ran across and interesting site called Musician Wages.com. It's all about the business side of making music, from ideas for hustling new gigs to motivating musicians as a bandleader. It's worth checking out.Musician Wages.com
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Here's an article written by Aaron Johnson, one of the most talented students I've had in the past few years. Aaron recently moved from Portland, Oregon to NYC to study as a Jazz performance major at the Manhattan School of Music. Here I am, at a world-renowned conservatory in the greatest city in the world. I am sitting in a class with 15 or so other musicians, bright young artists from all over the world. I can't help but wonder, "Who here will actually end up with a career?” It doesn't se... Read Full Story
A while back I wrote about my buddy Tom Garcia's neck modification. Right about the time I wrote about this Tom left town to spend the summer in New Orleans and touring Europe, so he wasn't able to make neck mods for anyone. Tom wanted me to let my readers know that he's back home and ready to bust out some of his special neck mods. He charges $100, but if you don't like how the modification sounds he'll give you back $50 (since each neck ring is custom fit).Tom says:I did one on this guy's h... Read Full Story
Regular reader David Wells, a smoking tenor player who teaches at the University of Maine at Augusta, sent me some overtone exercises that Dave Dempsey adapted from Joe Allard's overtone routine. You can hear Michael Brecker demonstrating some of these exercises in the Berklee master class that I posted a while back. These exercises really force you to play with no pressure, and make you deal with forward/back jaw position ("covered" and "uncovered" as Allard called it). I believe that ov... Read Full Story
