night train

[jake]

I don’t know if I agree with that comment JB. I guess we would have to ask how far along the learner is when comparing the learners, and the amount of time they put in daily. This video is of Kevin playing Night Train when he got his new tenor (Hope you don’t mind me posting here Kevin). Maybe I’m partial to the deepness of the tenor. Music is so personal to all of us. In my ears this tune screams tenor or as I play sometimes, the Bari sax! Just my ears. Great job on this tune Kevin. Thanks for reminding me of it JB, made me go back to the archives of the now dead BLOG!! Great place to go for some good info and a look back at development for sure though!!

[Anonymous]

Kevin’s a great player! The young person playing sounds great!

The proof that i enjoy someone’s playing is down to the fact – if i go back and listen to them several times (like this girls playing) then theres something great about them! If someones playing doesn’t inspire me to listen to them again – sorry theres nothing anyone can say that will change my views !

2 years ago i went to a wedding and the bride’s brother sang at the reception along with some other guys! After the reception i said to him “you sound great – theres something there that touched me” – everyone else pooh poohed my comments.

2 years later – he now an up coming opera singer at university, next he’ll be going to study in NY!

In a lot of cases,i can usually tell by the way someone speaks if they can sing well or not!

Kevin sounds great! but i don’t like his recording! Sorry Kevin – to me it sounds like the sax is just blasting away in front of the mike! Would you stand with your ear in front of a singers mouth?

Sometimes too close up kills the performance – thats my humble oppinion!

i have the same problems with my recordings – i’ve only got an i-touch to record with & i have to have it right next to the sax!

So my recordings sound crap (my playing probably does as well to everyone)- thats one of the reasons i’ve stopped uploading

[jake]

I think it comes down to style. The 2 different recordings fall into a different genre of music. Someone that likes more of a classical sound would def like the first video more. I don’t think Kevin was just blasting into the mic, its the style and rock and roll, which is the genre I prefer, which gives it that sound. Both videos are great examples of playing. The sound a person leans toward is going to base their own opinion on which sound is more pleasing to the listeners ears for sure. And I agree with you James, music has to speak to you or else why would would go back and re-listen to it!
For me personally, I would listen to Kevin’s version over and over, but that’s my personal take on music.

[Anonymous]

Interesting points Jake – thanks for sharing, some people write me off as an idiot, and ignore my comments – but by interaction i learn more about myself.

I like a wide range of music i’m not stuck in classical, rock, jazz, blues etc…

If someones song ticks a lot of boxes like the girls upload does and also ticks a lot of the bigger boxe like her upload does – that does it for me.

how long someone practices a day, or how long they have been playing doesn’t tick any boxes for me – if you lean towards a specific genre, then you are biased.

Theres nothing set in stone that makes one version better, thats why everyone tends to look at youtube and check out the number of hits they get – if you millions of likes then you must be hot

[William Cingolani]

Horn sounds great Kevin. Nice buzz. You really rock.

[Dazza]

Nice rendition Kevin. I haven’t heard you play that one before. For me I listened to it several times but couldn’t listen to the first video for more than a minute. Just the wrong tone for my ears! What did you use to build your solo. C Blues scale? I am struggling with bars 25 to 28 though. How did you approach learning them? BTW – what is you make of sax. I like the tone the silver projects. Very nice Bb!

[Kevin]

Guys, thanks for the 3 of 4 thumbs up! My video is “trending”…
Can’t believe it was 1-1/2 years since I first uploaded this to the Blog. It was my first go at using the “growl”, and it was a bit overdone(agreeing in part with JB). I remember thinking how some of my previous uploads and those of other newbie’s came across as “timid”, so I gave it an assertive go, and enjoyed attempting this song.
Dazza, this tenor sax is a Gary Sugal I bought used, and am happy with it I think. It’s the only tenor I have had in my hands. The MP is a plastic(maybe HR) $24 David Hite that I refaced to larger tip opening. It is OK, but don’t feel my “inspiring” MP has been found for my tenor yet. Used #2 Alexander reed (I like these reeds) at that time.
For the solo, I listened to a King Cutis YouTube video, and he did a very simple melody line for that bridge using blues scale notes that I listened to and got the jest of after a few passes, then just did a scale back up to the starting verse notes.
So thanks Jake, I’ve been wanting to participate with an upload, but my current repertoire isn’t polished enough yet.

[Kevin]

Dazza, I had to go dig up my music notation for this, and found my notes for the measures 25 thru the solo. If you(or anyone) would like me to send a pdf copy to you just provide an email address. I am sinclairdesigns in the forum contacts.
Regarding bars 25 thru 28. My notes are what King Curtis used in his video, and it is a little easier to play for me. That was also the hardest thing for me to learn for this piece. But Johnnies instruction to begin slow and slowly increase the BPM was what I followed and within 1-2 weeks (practicing each day) I could play it at the backing tape tempo. Just be sure to nail the passage error free at the beginning speed, and each successive increase, otherwise you just keep playing your glitches at the speed your trying to get up to.
The first video of the gal performing this song on her alto- she does a very nice clean run for this passage. I do like to re-listen to her playing because it is inspiring to see an aspiring musician showcase their development from their hard work. She has good tone, plays in tune, had minimal errors(she selected something she could play well, and prepared it accordingly), and also had the courage and assertiveness to “perform”.
For me this song does favor the tenor and some amount of edgy Rock-n-Roll embellishments and Johnnie’s backing track does it justice for sure. The piano accompaniment was of course the norm for a recital performance and arguably played well, but that “boogey-woogey” arrangement is not appealing to my tastes…

[Anonymous]

what i find amusing – before all this kicked off, no one bothered to ask me if i considered Kevin’s performance to be that of a learner!

Right from the begining i never considered Kevin to be a learner from listening to all his uploads, in my oppinion he’s never sounded like a learner!

so comparing him to a learner like the girl on youtube isn’t fair on the girl’s performance!

[jake]

That’s why I said we need to define what stage the learner is in. How long has she been playing? 1 year, 2 years? Her video was really good. I do consider Kevin a learner. This take I believe was his first go at a tune on the tenor sax. He himself said that and was experimenting with different things to try as he was changing up from his alto and was purposely trying to make it gritty.
One of the main purposes of posting our videos here is not to showcase what we can do! We are posting them so johnny and other members can watch, listen and give honest feedback and critique to help us all improve our playing abilities and techniques. We should all be able to learn from each other. I know when johnny gives pointers to other members videos, I can related them to my own and take what he is saying and apply them to my own learning. No one should be discouraged to post videos because they “sound crappy”. Recording is a whole other subject and that is not the point of posting videos here, the point is to help us improve.
In my opinion I don’t want a pat on the back and praise for every video. I want honest criticism that will ultimately help me improve if I apply what is being said. This works, I look at my past videos and can see improvement through advice given via this site. Sometimes feelings may get hurt if the critique isn’t sugar coated but I would rather have honest feedback.
I’m not sure of the mean age of the members, but it seems most of us are adult learners and have varying amounts of time to practice. I know I am busy working full time, raising a family, and so forth that I can’t give as much time as someone who is not as busy. I need this critique to be able to learn and effectively manage my time with practices as time is valuable to me.
I didn’t mean to come off as brash on the comparison of the 2 videos. I think 2 topics evolved from this discussion. 1, these are both videos from learners and 2, they are totally different in the form of music style. They are both great videos, I can’t say 1 is better than the other. I think they are both equally good but I would rather listen to Kevin’s based on my music tastes.
It would be interesting to know how long the girl has been playing. It its been a year, then wow, either I suck and am really slow at this or she has hours a day to practice. If its been 3 or 4 years, its a little more to be expected to be good. Before comparing and making a true assessment on basing a video on purely a learner, we need all the facts. Just my 2 cents.
So JB, post some videos, I know you have a teacher but posting will give help to you and other like myself. 🙂

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