Tag Archives: Practice techniques

My Summer Playlists

I realise that getting your practice in during the summer can be tough, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do some useful music related activities if you’re at the beach right now!

I’ve put together some playlists on Apple Music & Spotify to share with you over the holidays. One of them is a playlist of all the transcription projects that you can find on the Cambridge Saxophone website, the other is a mammoth Blue Note playlist with over 3 days worth of albums!

If you have other playlists then this app (Songshift) can help you transfer playlists between different streaming services!

Apple Music Playlists
(click on the link to open in iTunes, you can get 3 months free)

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/cambridge-saxophone-transcription-projects/idpl.u-7Dm0yFW4o2Ng

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/blue-note/idpl.84a62de323464fc3a8ee59a7f66f669e

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/best-of-prestige-records/idpl.9b77a66e2ffe4d2686e7f85d6f2bf56b

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/coltrane-standards-book/idpl.u-mPD8tzGveBo

Spotify (you can listen to Spotify for free, but with adverts)

I hope you will enjoy these playlists! Music streaming is an incredible resource for any music student and I urge you to take advantage of these whilst you’re away.

What is a Lydian Dominant Scale?

There are lots of Jazz Scales that have great names and the Lydian Dominant is one of them.

But what is a Lydian Dominant and how do you practice it?

Watch this video to find out how I work out on my Lydian Dominant Scales and what they have in common with a Melodic Minor and Altered Scale.

Making Time To Practice

I often have students tell me that they didn’t have enough ‘time’ to practice this week.

It’s really a poor excuse as time is the one thing we all get equally – both me, you and Mark Zuckerburg have the same 24 hours in the day!

The key is not ‘finding time’ but ‘making time’  – in this Vlog I’ll tell you how to do it.

Chris Potter Masterclass

I’m a big fan of Chris Potter, like many contemporary saxophonists I can be inspired and intimidated by his incredible musicianship, technique and command of the saxophone.

I really enjoyed watching this masterclass from a Jamey Aebersold Summer School, (that’s Jamey of the 1, 2, 3, 4 on piano at the start.)

I’ve been to a number of classes that Chris has given and I’ve been VERY fortunate to share a few beers with Chris at Ronnie Scott’s and backstage at various different gigs over the years, (check out my review of this gig with Chris, Joshua Redman, Mark Turner and Chris Cheek.)

Some things I wanted to draw your attention to from this Masterclass,

  • Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve
  • A good tone and good time will see you through most situations.
  • Music, especially jazz is self-expression.
  • Be able to melody VERY WELL!
  • Whatever you can find that makes it fun, do it and keep on doing it

IT IS SAID TO BE ‘PLAYING MUSIC’ SO LET’S PLAY!

The big ‘take home’ for me out of this was recording myself when I practice.  I’ve advocated this for a while with students, but I’ve been a little reluctant to do it myself.  However, last night I setup a folder and tried to put into practice some of the ideas that Chris talks about.

What do you think about Chris Potter’s playing and what he says in this class?