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May 26, 2013 at 2:19 pm #10977
ha ha, some Good suggestions here… Let me see what I can do!
thanks
JohnnyMay 26, 2013 at 2:40 pm #10978Thanks man. Learning music doesn’t get any better/easier than this….
Would also love to see you put together some lessons on playing by ear if you think that is even possible to teach or at least help get a student’s mind and way of thinking about music going in the right direction.
Sometime I think I should have learned by ear before learning to read. I’m trying to escape from the slavery of sheet music dependency.
May 26, 2013 at 6:36 pm #10979Was just about to ask the same thing…Also I love Jump/Swing stuff as well with apparently a 2/5 progression as well as the 5/4. My question is which way is the minor scale usually constructed? Melodic? Natural? I’ve been taking transcripts of songs I like and writing down there scale degree for each note as it relates to the respective chord to see patterns. Thanks for all of the help man it’s much appreciated!
Southside
May 26, 2013 at 6:40 pm #10980Specifically the minor chord in a 2/5 progression…How is that usually constructed? Also I found an article online that was really useful for me as a beginner concerning how to approach chord changes using the smallest step between chord tones specifically the 3rd and b7th (related to the major scale – as long as it is a Dom chord progression…Sorry if I’m rambling – learning a lot right now – I hope!
May 26, 2013 at 11:34 pm #10981Quote:Quote from Southside on May 26, 2013, 18:40
Specifically the minor chord in a 2/5 progression…How is that usually constructed? Also I found an article online that was really useful for me as a beginner concerning how to approach chord changes using the smallest step between chord tones specifically the 3rd and b7th (related to the major scale – as long as it is a Dom chord progression…Sorry if I’m rambling – learning a lot right now – I hope!Please post the URL to the online article you referenced above or send it in a message. Thanks…
May 27, 2013 at 5:14 am #10982May 27, 2013 at 8:31 am #10983Regarding playing by ear as opposed to reading sheet music…
In a perfect world one would be able to do both.
But even if you can’t figure out entire chord progressions you can pick a sax solo you like and learn it by picking up the notes one by one. Start with an easy solo so this process is do-able. If you know the key and the subsequent chord this makes the process easier because you already know which notes the solo will have…it’s just a matter of figuring out the order!
This is the point with the book/course I wrote called How To Play Killer Blues Sax solos… by learning these few very basic blues scales we can solo over any rock-blues-based music and sound good.Playing by ear is important and helpful but by understanding at least some basic theory will go a long way in helping you being able to learn by ear.
May 27, 2013 at 9:27 am #10984Improvising can be as simple as using a 5 note pentatonic scale over the entire 12 bar blues progression or it can involve multiple key centers as some jazz tunes have.
Obviously here we talk about the basics. As I read the questions here I wonder if you guys have checked my basic bliues improve video lessons…I think there are at least a couple of them showing how you can improvise over an entire 12 bar blues progression using only 3 notes then 4 then 5. This is as basic as I can get to show how to go about doing it. Check that out in the lessons under “Improvisation”
Take this pentatonic scale (penta is greek for 5) and play it over and over for hour and hours over this 12 bar blues. You only need one scale to sound good over a 12 bar blues… that’s only 5 notes guys.
That is step one.
Of course you can and will expand this to more scales… in blues this will mean the 4 and the 5. But start by only using the 1 for a while.
This is why I wrote the book/course How To Play Killer Blues and Rockin’ Sax Solos With 7 Notes Or Less. I could have called it with 5 notes or less! Seriously, it just involves learning a few very simple and basic scales, and if you’re wondering what these are, start with the lessons I mention above….baby steps.
May 27, 2013 at 9:45 am #10985The article you mentioned is well laid out and informative but you don’t need to get confused with mixolydian modes just yet.
Think about and do this:
Write out the C major scale.
Write out the F major scale.
Write out the G major scale.
Write out the C pentatonic major scale. (CDEFG) You can figure this out in any key by using the numbers 1,2,3,4,5.You will now notice that the notes of the C pentatonic scale are also included in all three of the other scales. This means that technically you can use these 5 notes over all three of these scales or chords because they are related to all three and no matter which notes you use, none will sound bad. This is the concept behind the basic improve videos I did so start there.
I will do a song/video in the next week or 2 which will be a real basic blues tune and will include this type of solo and I will explain the basic theory behind it as well as the scale(s) used and write out the entire solo so you can see the notes and how they relatye etc.
rock on guys
JohnnyMay 27, 2013 at 10:37 am #10987No one can ever say that Johnny isn’t responsive to his students and customers.
I agree that the best of both worlds is knowing both ear and reading. My personal goal…
Thinking that it may have been easier to start with ear then the reading. Maybe starting with ear and basic theory of intervals then reading.
Now I find it difficult to give up the reading crutch, but it’s coming along…..
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