Chords for How to improvise on saxophone in 3 minutes
Tempo:
64 bpm
Chords used:
Am
A
Ab
F
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hey, you ready to get started improvising super fast on saxophone?
Check out my three minute guide to [Bb] improvising.
.
.
[Eb] .
G'day, Nigel here from Sax School.
Well, in this video I'm going to try and show you how to
improvise [Bm] in just three minutes flat.
Now, I'm not talking about trying to make you sound like
Michael Brecker.
What I'm talking about here is giving you a tactic that you can use to [Am] start
improvising straight away, because improvising is all about building your confidence, getting
some [C] foundational skills, and then building from that.
Are you ready?
Start the clock.
Okay, so the biggest trick with learning to improvise is really knowing what notes to use.
So let's start with keeping it really, really simple.
So let's imagine on the tenor [Ab] saxophone
you're playing a piece of music and the chord is a G chord for the saxophone.
Then here's [E] three
notes that you can use that will definitely work dead easy.
The first note you're going to use is
the naming note of the chord.
So if it's a G chord, guess what?
The first note you're going to
use is a G.
[N] The next note you're going to use is the seventh note of the chord.
Now to find this
is dead easy.
You go down two half steps or two semitones.
Two half steps or two semitones?
How
do you do that?
Well, it's dead easy.
All you got to do is go down G to F sharp.
That's one
semitone or half step.
F sharp to F natural.
That's two.
So your next note is going to be normal F.
Okay, for your third note, what we're going to do is we're going to go up to the third note in the
chord.
And to do this we go up four semitones.
Hang on, did you say four semitones?
Yeah, you got four
half steps.
So basically we're going from G [D] to G sharp to A to B flat to B.
So our third note we're
going to use is a B natural.
Let me show you how it works.
Now imagine we've got a blues riff.
This is what it'd sound [F] like.
All right, let's mix it up.
What about if you got it over a funk or a pop tune?
[G] Now can you see how it still works?
It doesn't matter what setting it is.
In fact, it'd work
over a swing style or a klezmer style, anything really.
Now the magic sauce about improvising is
not really the notes.
That's what everybody thinks.
It's actually about the rhythm.
So provided you're
using good notes for improvising, all you got to do is use simple clear rhythm.
So when I'm
improvising and when you're improvising, think about using a simple rhythm where you're sticking
to the beat or you're using simple subdivisions of notes.
Remember a solo played with clear rhythm is
always going to sound better than a really complicated one.
Okay, so what about if I've got
more chords?
So if you've got more chords, it's dead easy.
All you got to [D] do is go through exactly the
same process for your other chords.
In this example, I've got a swing tune and I've got two chords.
My first chord's a G chord, my second chord's a C chord.
So remember the three notes for the C chord.
The first note is the naming note of the chord, which is the C.
Then we go down two semitones, C to B
natural [Ab] to B flat.
And to get our third note, [E] we go up four semitones or four half steps, C to C sharp, to D,
to E flat, to E natural.
This is what it sounds [F] like.
[F] [Bb]
[F] Okay, so there you go.
If you've [Ab] got a major chord, those are three notes you can use.
It will always work.
Now remember, this is just a great technique to get you started [Eb] improvising.
It's all about
building up your confidence and making you feel good about improvising.
And from there, we can
build it up as far as we go.
And there you go in three minutes flat.
Now of course, there's loads
more to learn about improvising, but you know what?
Take this one simple tactic as a starting point
and start to build your skills with a really good solid foundation and you'll be improvising [Ab] like
Michael Brecker [A] in no time at all.
Hope you enjoyed this tip.
Keep practicing hard.
I'll see you next time.
Hey, hey, hey, don't go anywhere.
There's loads of other stuff on my YouTube [E] channel here.
Lessons,
[Am] videos of me playing, some crazy multi-track saxophone videos [A] too.
So please subscribe to the
channel and check out the other videos.
I know that can [Am] help you.
Click the subscribe button now
and check out my new videos.
Hey, and [A] if you're really ready to move your skills forward, then
check out my full range of [Am] step-by-step video lessons inside sax school at mcgillmusic.com.
[A] Inside the members area there, we've got over 500 step-by-step video lessons [Am] to help you with jazz,
improvising, learning great pop tunes, skills [A] like overtones and altissimo, and even getting started
right from the very beginning [Am] of learning taxidermy.
Thousands of players are using that every single [A] day
and that can help you too.
That's over at mcgillmusic.com. You can get a 30 [Am]-day trial
to try it out yourself and see if it's right for you.
Hope to see you inside sax [A] school.
Check out my three minute guide to [Bb] improvising.
.
.
[Eb] .
G'day, Nigel here from Sax School.
Well, in this video I'm going to try and show you how to
improvise [Bm] in just three minutes flat.
Now, I'm not talking about trying to make you sound like
Michael Brecker.
What I'm talking about here is giving you a tactic that you can use to [Am] start
improvising straight away, because improvising is all about building your confidence, getting
some [C] foundational skills, and then building from that.
Are you ready?
Start the clock.
Okay, so the biggest trick with learning to improvise is really knowing what notes to use.
So let's start with keeping it really, really simple.
So let's imagine on the tenor [Ab] saxophone
you're playing a piece of music and the chord is a G chord for the saxophone.
Then here's [E] three
notes that you can use that will definitely work dead easy.
The first note you're going to use is
the naming note of the chord.
So if it's a G chord, guess what?
The first note you're going to
use is a G.
[N] The next note you're going to use is the seventh note of the chord.
Now to find this
is dead easy.
You go down two half steps or two semitones.
Two half steps or two semitones?
How
do you do that?
Well, it's dead easy.
All you got to do is go down G to F sharp.
That's one
semitone or half step.
F sharp to F natural.
That's two.
So your next note is going to be normal F.
Okay, for your third note, what we're going to do is we're going to go up to the third note in the
chord.
And to do this we go up four semitones.
Hang on, did you say four semitones?
Yeah, you got four
half steps.
So basically we're going from G [D] to G sharp to A to B flat to B.
So our third note we're
going to use is a B natural.
Let me show you how it works.
Now imagine we've got a blues riff.
This is what it'd sound [F] like.
All right, let's mix it up.
What about if you got it over a funk or a pop tune?
[G] Now can you see how it still works?
It doesn't matter what setting it is.
In fact, it'd work
over a swing style or a klezmer style, anything really.
Now the magic sauce about improvising is
not really the notes.
That's what everybody thinks.
It's actually about the rhythm.
So provided you're
using good notes for improvising, all you got to do is use simple clear rhythm.
So when I'm
improvising and when you're improvising, think about using a simple rhythm where you're sticking
to the beat or you're using simple subdivisions of notes.
Remember a solo played with clear rhythm is
always going to sound better than a really complicated one.
Okay, so what about if I've got
more chords?
So if you've got more chords, it's dead easy.
All you got to [D] do is go through exactly the
same process for your other chords.
In this example, I've got a swing tune and I've got two chords.
My first chord's a G chord, my second chord's a C chord.
So remember the three notes for the C chord.
The first note is the naming note of the chord, which is the C.
Then we go down two semitones, C to B
natural [Ab] to B flat.
And to get our third note, [E] we go up four semitones or four half steps, C to C sharp, to D,
to E flat, to E natural.
This is what it sounds [F] like.
[F] [Bb]
[F] Okay, so there you go.
If you've [Ab] got a major chord, those are three notes you can use.
It will always work.
Now remember, this is just a great technique to get you started [Eb] improvising.
It's all about
building up your confidence and making you feel good about improvising.
And from there, we can
build it up as far as we go.
And there you go in three minutes flat.
Now of course, there's loads
more to learn about improvising, but you know what?
Take this one simple tactic as a starting point
and start to build your skills with a really good solid foundation and you'll be improvising [Ab] like
Michael Brecker [A] in no time at all.
Hope you enjoyed this tip.
Keep practicing hard.
I'll see you next time.
Hey, hey, hey, don't go anywhere.
There's loads of other stuff on my YouTube [E] channel here.
Lessons,
[Am] videos of me playing, some crazy multi-track saxophone videos [A] too.
So please subscribe to the
channel and check out the other videos.
I know that can [Am] help you.
Click the subscribe button now
and check out my new videos.
Hey, and [A] if you're really ready to move your skills forward, then
check out my full range of [Am] step-by-step video lessons inside sax school at mcgillmusic.com.
[A] Inside the members area there, we've got over 500 step-by-step video lessons [Am] to help you with jazz,
improvising, learning great pop tunes, skills [A] like overtones and altissimo, and even getting started
right from the very beginning [Am] of learning taxidermy.
Thousands of players are using that every single [A] day
and that can help you too.
That's over at mcgillmusic.com. You can get a 30 [Am]-day trial
to try it out yourself and see if it's right for you.
Hope to see you inside sax [A] school.
Key:
Am
A
Ab
F
E
Am
A
Ab
Hey, you ready to get started improvising super fast on saxophone?
Check out my three minute guide to [Bb] improvising.
.
. _
_ [Eb] .
G'day, Nigel here from Sax School.
Well, in this video I'm going to try and show you how to
improvise [Bm] in just three minutes flat.
Now, I'm not talking about trying to make you sound like
Michael Brecker.
What I'm talking about here is giving you a tactic that you can use to [Am] start
improvising straight away, because improvising is all about building your confidence, getting
some [C] foundational skills, and then building from that.
Are you ready?
Start the clock.
Okay, so the biggest trick with learning to improvise is really knowing what notes to use.
So let's start with keeping it really, really simple.
So let's imagine on the tenor [Ab] saxophone
you're playing a piece of music and the chord is a G chord for the saxophone.
Then here's [E] three
notes that you can use that will definitely work dead easy.
The first note you're going to use is
the naming note of the chord.
So if it's a G chord, guess what?
The first note you're going to
use is a G.
[N] The next note you're going to use is the seventh note of the chord.
Now to find this
is dead easy.
You go down two half steps or two semitones.
Two half steps or two semitones?
How
do you do that?
Well, it's dead easy.
All you got to do is go down G to F sharp.
That's one
semitone or half step.
F sharp to F natural.
That's two.
So your next note is going to be normal F.
Okay, for your third note, what we're going to do is we're going to go up to the third note in the
chord.
And to do this we go up four semitones.
Hang on, did you say four semitones?
Yeah, you got four
half steps.
So basically we're going from G [D] to G sharp to A to B flat to B.
So our third note we're
going to use is a B natural.
Let me show you how it works.
Now imagine we've got a blues riff.
This is what it'd sound [F] like. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ All right, let's mix it up.
What about if you got it over a funk or a pop tune?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] Now can you see how it still works?
It doesn't matter what setting it is.
In fact, it'd work
over a swing style or a klezmer style, anything really.
Now the magic sauce about improvising is
not really the notes.
That's what everybody thinks.
It's actually about the rhythm.
So provided you're
using good notes for improvising, all you got to do is use simple clear rhythm.
So when I'm
improvising and when you're improvising, think about using a simple rhythm where you're sticking
to the beat or you're using simple subdivisions of notes.
Remember a solo played with clear rhythm is
always going to sound better than a really complicated one.
Okay, so what about if I've got
more chords?
So if you've got more chords, it's dead easy.
All you got to [D] do is go through exactly the
same process for your other chords.
In this example, I've got a swing tune and I've got two chords.
My first chord's a G chord, my second chord's a C chord.
So remember the three notes for the C chord.
The first note is the naming note of the chord, which is the C.
Then we go down two semitones, C to B
natural [Ab] to B flat.
And to get our third note, [E] we go up four semitones or four half steps, C to C sharp, to D,
to E flat, to E natural.
This is what it sounds [F] like.
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ [Bb] _
_ _ [F] Okay, so there you go.
If you've [Ab] got a major chord, those are three notes you can use.
It will always work.
Now remember, this is just a great technique to get you started [Eb] improvising.
It's all about
building up your confidence and making you feel good about improvising.
And from there, we can
build it up as far as we go.
And there you go in three minutes flat.
Now of course, there's loads
more to learn about improvising, but you know what?
Take this one simple tactic as a starting point
and start to build your skills with a really good solid foundation and you'll be improvising [Ab] like
Michael Brecker [A] in no time at all.
Hope you enjoyed this tip.
Keep practicing hard.
I'll see you next time.
Hey, hey, hey, don't go anywhere.
There's loads of other stuff on my YouTube [E] channel here.
Lessons,
[Am] videos of me playing, some crazy multi-track saxophone videos [A] too.
So please subscribe to the
channel and check out the other videos.
I know that can [Am] help you.
Click the subscribe button now
and check out my new videos.
Hey, and [A] if you're really ready to move your skills forward, then
check out my full range of [Am] step-by-step video lessons inside sax school at mcgillmusic.com.
[A] Inside the members area there, we've got over 500 step-by-step video lessons [Am] to help you with jazz,
improvising, learning great pop tunes, skills [A] like overtones and altissimo, and even getting started
right from the very beginning [Am] of learning taxidermy.
Thousands of players are using that every single [A] day
and that can help you too.
That's over at mcgillmusic.com. You can get a 30 [Am]-day trial
to try it out yourself and see if it's right for you.
Hope to see you inside sax [A] school. _
Check out my three minute guide to [Bb] improvising.
.
. _
_ [Eb] .
G'day, Nigel here from Sax School.
Well, in this video I'm going to try and show you how to
improvise [Bm] in just three minutes flat.
Now, I'm not talking about trying to make you sound like
Michael Brecker.
What I'm talking about here is giving you a tactic that you can use to [Am] start
improvising straight away, because improvising is all about building your confidence, getting
some [C] foundational skills, and then building from that.
Are you ready?
Start the clock.
Okay, so the biggest trick with learning to improvise is really knowing what notes to use.
So let's start with keeping it really, really simple.
So let's imagine on the tenor [Ab] saxophone
you're playing a piece of music and the chord is a G chord for the saxophone.
Then here's [E] three
notes that you can use that will definitely work dead easy.
The first note you're going to use is
the naming note of the chord.
So if it's a G chord, guess what?
The first note you're going to
use is a G.
[N] The next note you're going to use is the seventh note of the chord.
Now to find this
is dead easy.
You go down two half steps or two semitones.
Two half steps or two semitones?
How
do you do that?
Well, it's dead easy.
All you got to do is go down G to F sharp.
That's one
semitone or half step.
F sharp to F natural.
That's two.
So your next note is going to be normal F.
Okay, for your third note, what we're going to do is we're going to go up to the third note in the
chord.
And to do this we go up four semitones.
Hang on, did you say four semitones?
Yeah, you got four
half steps.
So basically we're going from G [D] to G sharp to A to B flat to B.
So our third note we're
going to use is a B natural.
Let me show you how it works.
Now imagine we've got a blues riff.
This is what it'd sound [F] like. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ All right, let's mix it up.
What about if you got it over a funk or a pop tune?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] Now can you see how it still works?
It doesn't matter what setting it is.
In fact, it'd work
over a swing style or a klezmer style, anything really.
Now the magic sauce about improvising is
not really the notes.
That's what everybody thinks.
It's actually about the rhythm.
So provided you're
using good notes for improvising, all you got to do is use simple clear rhythm.
So when I'm
improvising and when you're improvising, think about using a simple rhythm where you're sticking
to the beat or you're using simple subdivisions of notes.
Remember a solo played with clear rhythm is
always going to sound better than a really complicated one.
Okay, so what about if I've got
more chords?
So if you've got more chords, it's dead easy.
All you got to [D] do is go through exactly the
same process for your other chords.
In this example, I've got a swing tune and I've got two chords.
My first chord's a G chord, my second chord's a C chord.
So remember the three notes for the C chord.
The first note is the naming note of the chord, which is the C.
Then we go down two semitones, C to B
natural [Ab] to B flat.
And to get our third note, [E] we go up four semitones or four half steps, C to C sharp, to D,
to E flat, to E natural.
This is what it sounds [F] like.
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ [Bb] _
_ _ [F] Okay, so there you go.
If you've [Ab] got a major chord, those are three notes you can use.
It will always work.
Now remember, this is just a great technique to get you started [Eb] improvising.
It's all about
building up your confidence and making you feel good about improvising.
And from there, we can
build it up as far as we go.
And there you go in three minutes flat.
Now of course, there's loads
more to learn about improvising, but you know what?
Take this one simple tactic as a starting point
and start to build your skills with a really good solid foundation and you'll be improvising [Ab] like
Michael Brecker [A] in no time at all.
Hope you enjoyed this tip.
Keep practicing hard.
I'll see you next time.
Hey, hey, hey, don't go anywhere.
There's loads of other stuff on my YouTube [E] channel here.
Lessons,
[Am] videos of me playing, some crazy multi-track saxophone videos [A] too.
So please subscribe to the
channel and check out the other videos.
I know that can [Am] help you.
Click the subscribe button now
and check out my new videos.
Hey, and [A] if you're really ready to move your skills forward, then
check out my full range of [Am] step-by-step video lessons inside sax school at mcgillmusic.com.
[A] Inside the members area there, we've got over 500 step-by-step video lessons [Am] to help you with jazz,
improvising, learning great pop tunes, skills [A] like overtones and altissimo, and even getting started
right from the very beginning [Am] of learning taxidermy.
Thousands of players are using that every single [A] day
and that can help you too.
That's over at mcgillmusic.com. You can get a 30 [Am]-day trial
to try it out yourself and see if it's right for you.
Hope to see you inside sax [A] school. _