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Jason Lowe has set the ball rolling! Can anyone out there help???

• (Jason Lowe: 26/11/99)

"How do you approach playing over changes? I can cope with blues using blues scales. I can handle sparse 2-5-1's (not too many notes to choose from).....but when the chords change every measure or less - Aaaargh.... where am I?
Is is just a question of automatically knowing all the appropriate scales for each chord or are there any helpful tips out there? I suspect it's down to years of practice and experience but I'm an impatient type.
I must admit I usually resort to playing by ear, that way at least some of the notes don't sound out of place.
That reminds me - must go and practice!"
 
• (Jon Lightbourne: 9/12/99)

Hi Jason.
Well to begin with, If you have been playing since last summer and you are already coping with the blues then it looks to me as if you are making very good progress indeed. If you are not already using them then I would strongly recommend the
Abersold series.There are something like 60 books in the series, simple blues right up to really difficult stuff, a lot
of pro's use them as well. Each book comes with a CD or tape and usually covers all keys and a specific area, most music
shops stock them. A word of advice, if you have the choice between CD and tape then go for CD, most tape players run
a little fast or slow so tuning can be a problem. I dont think there is any advice I could offer you that isn't covered far better
and more expertly by this series of books. It doesnt sound though as if there is much standing in your way, you are
obviously making great progress so a while spent with the Abersolds should set you on your way.

A few other thoughts - Record yourself, especially playing with the Abersolds, spend time listening to your own good points
and weak points. Try and hear what you want to play in your head just ahead when you play it. Also pay attention to rythmm,
its amazing what some really great players can get your ears to accept by great placement it might be interesting
for you to learn a little about BeBop, as this style relies heavily on the fact that the ear will accept certain notes according
to whether they are placed on a strong or weak rythmmic accent - "A Simple And Direct Guide To Jazz Improvisation -
Robert Rawlins" is a very good place to start, even if you dont want to concentrate on this style its worth learning a little about
how it works.

There are probably different views on this but I think a reasonable answer is that if you spend time with books like the Abersold,
take your time and learn with the "support" of the book, learning chords etc then you will find that over time some of it rubs off on you and becomes part of your subconcious knowledge. Most of the Jazz greats studied very hard indeed, that doesn't mean that they were always thinking of theory and chords when they played, the point is that they had absorbed the knowledge so that it became internalised, they no longer say "I played this note because..theory...theory" they just knew they wanted that particular note.

 A good analogy is learning a language, at first you need books and a teacher, eventually one day someone asks you a question and before you have had time to think of words and grammar you have already replied and surprised yourself that you no longer need the phrase book in your hand - but to get there you needed the phrase book in the first place.

Keep on with the good work - cheers Jon
 
• (Jason Lowe: 26/12/99)

Jon,
Thanks for the comments, very helpful. I am now using a couple of the Abersolds, my problems start with frequent chord changes,
so I'm concentrating on playing along to those with less frequent ones first and gradually building up to them! I think I now realise
a bit more about  the internalising you mentioned - I was playing along the other night when out popped an interesting little phrase
which sort of followed along from something similar I had thought - and it carried through to a new chord. I often find that I can
play more 'fluently' if I don't get hung up on the theory of what I'm playing.
Anyway, thanks again for the response, I'm definitely going to follow your suggestion to record my playing - also the Bebop: I was
never really into it before but the more I play the more I find I'm getting interested in other forms of Jazz and similar music.I've
been asked to join a fairly local big band  and even though I don't usually listen to that kind of music I intend to join for the
experience.
Cheers,  Jason
 
• (Jarred Barbour: 5/2/2000)

"Anyone have a Selmer mark VI they wanna get rid of (alto). Thanks."
(Eds comment: 'get rid of' could be just a turn of phrase[!?] - maybe he might even consider paying you for one if you can have it!)

• Ian Hopkins: 4/2/2000)

I have, after 20 years debate have taken the huge step of trying to learn the alto sax. I am 42 and wish I had don this when I first had
the urge.
My question is this.  The books I have all say and I quote say the word tee when changing from one note to the next (tonguing) this
feels so unnatural.  Could you try and explain this in more detail?  I know it is to start and end a  note more crisply but I cannot see
that it could be done fast enough to play up and down the scale with any real speed or is this part of the learning.
Thank you for your time
 
• Lori Ogilvie (29/8/01)

I have this really bad reaction to the reed on my bottom lip and when I eventually get it back to normal, it flares up again when I play!  Any advice?  And also how can I tongue the sax without it sounding like I am spitting down the damn thing????

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