Time for a new and fresh Beginners & Intermediates (B&I) thread for 2015 (continuing from >the last B&I 2014 page<).
This thread is for all Beginner and Intermediate players who would like to share their progress and recordings. Posting your stuff is great, but commenting and discussing on other members post (in a respectful way) is also fine. Main goal here is to learn and encourage each other, besides having some fun with our common hobby (playing the saxophone). New members: don't be shy: share what you've got and try to participate .
We also have a B&I TOTM (Tune Of The Month) here, where a member calls each month a new tune to work on and post our attempts as soundclip or video. Working on and posting other tunes is of course also possible . At the end of the month the current host appoints a member for hosting next month B&I TOTM.
@Peter, the couple of things that always seem to come across with your playing are your love of a
big tenor sound and how at home you playing sounds.
@Brendan, getting round the big sax with a great sound and ease these days, thanks for the comments.
@Afrobat, 5mths, WOW!!!
@Nick, Sounds like you already own this one. As for growls and ear piercing altissimo, you might have a long wait
@Jimmyh, Charlie wouldn't mind at all.
Jimmylh >>> Nice ! Tried to play Now's the Time today, it's not easy for sure !
I just recorded an improv on "Old Folks".
First of all sorry for the crappy recording. My phone gives everything a harsh sound ! Also, this one is a bit long... I didn't manage to make the song "lift off", so to speak. I love that tune, but I tried to play it for the first time like 10 mn before, so I'm playing it waaaay too safe, playing around with the melody and stuff. Hope it's decent enough.
Ok, so it seems like things are dying down on The Way You Look. Of course if anyone wants to put up a recording I will have a listen, but I thought I would put up my part II.
I originally had a different tune in mind, but I have changed direction since then. The tune is Caravan, written by Duke Ellington and played by just about everyone.
One of my favourite versions of the tune came from Monk, here is a live version that is in that vein:
I have some backing that I will put up a bit later. The tune is in Volume II of the real book, if you don't have that book you should get it.
Ok, so it seems like things are dying down on The Way You Look. Of course if anyone wants to put up a recording I will have a listen, but I thought I would put up my part II.
Hey guys. Long time no post in this thread. My playing efforts have concentrated to guitar over the last couple years. It's always been my natural instrument. But, I still pick up my sax here and there. Got a new video out with both guitar(s) and alto. Please, your thoughts are appreciated.
Sounding great TJ !
I have a critique though ... it sounds like a second half of a tune. (it needs a "head" in jazz talk !!)
Don't mind me, I'm just jealous !!
Thanks Brendan.
It's a new one to me as well.
Dex makes it sound way better than me.
I think he plays it slightly faster also.
Glad the soundcloud link seems to be working, for some reason I can't link to my box.com stuff anymore.
And I'm way to ugly for youtube.
@Claude nice first run through 'Caravan'
@Marcello, I guess it's +3 for a nice listen.
@TJ, sounds like an interesting piece, NO head/melody isn't a problem these days for me. Mike the sax
player on the CD in my sig didn't believe in them.
@B flat, new one on me as well Nick, enjoyed what you did with it. New tunes are always fun.
Thanks Claude and Chris.
I enjoyed both of your Caravan takes also, both had their own unique styles about them.
I did have a quick shot at Caravan, but the resulting take was a shocker so will try again in the future.
It's rare for me to hear myself recorded in a live context. Sharing here my band's take on 'So What'. We took the funk inspiration from the Marcus Miller version, though. I realized that there is this unwanted airy element in my tone, which surfaces when I try to drop the dynamics. Any thought on how to get rid of this? Thanks for listening.
I've been out of the game for a little while, but I'm looking to get a recording posted before the end of May (I think I can handle the Way I Look Tonight).
Quick question, for those of you doing solos/improvisation, how do you know when to come back to the main melody and finish out the song? Is the number of bars for the solos standardized somewhere or are you recognizing the chord structure as a "warning" to get back on track?
I've been out of the game for a little while, but I'm looking to get a recording posted before the end of May (I think I can handle the Way I Look Tonight).
Quick question, for those of you doing solos/improvisation, how do you know when to come back to the main melody and finish out the song? Is the number of bars for the solos standardized somewhere or are you recognizing the chord structure as a "warning" to get back on track?
I am far from being an improvisation expert but the way I do is listening to chord progression... I cannot tell what chord is being played but I can recognize (a bit) where I am in the music enough to avoid getting lost (but it happens sometimes... hehehe)... I wish I could count the bars to play the changes properly but I can't....
the more I listen to the BT the more I get my ears familiarized with it...
hope it helps
Caravan was a bit over my head, but getting in just days before the end of the month, here's my take on "The Way You Look Tonight."
Some thoughts -- for an alto part, it spends a lot of time in the lower register (Caravan, by contrast, doesn't seem to come south of middle C) so I wind up sounding like a tiny tenor (not a bad thing). Did anyone else record an alto attempt?
I'd love to get some of @BFlat's warm, rich sound; or reach a point where I can improvise like @mrpeebee or @Chris_Kn (take 2, particularly the climb around 1:40)
By the time I had one mostly clean take, I was a bit too gunshy to play around with improvising a solo through the middle, so this is a truncated attempt:
Would be fine for me jardeon, but since Claude has to be the 'judge' as organizer of the previous month I propose to wait till the end of this day for his reaction.
If he doesn't come by till then you have the green card to go ahead .
As you can all probably guess from my post count, I'm a bit new around these parts I'm coming back to the sax after a 15 or so year hiatus, so the concept of easily available sheet music, backing tracks, and conversation with fellow players is all amazing to me... the last time I was playing, any of those things required an hour drive in each direction!
The track I had in mind for June is from the 1940 Disney movie, Pinocchio: When You Wish Upon A Star.
If any of you have other backing track options, I'd be happy to add them -- I was having a little difficulty finding good choices that were in the same pitch as the version of the song found in the Real Book 6th Ed.
And for inspiration, a couple of different renditions of the tune.
Here is a quick recording I did through my iPhone. I am a classical trained saxophonist but recently joined a jazz combo where I am playing lead. I'm looking for feedback on my "Jazz" sound. On the recording I am playing a 194? Conn C-melody with original mouthpiece and vandoren JAZZ reed. Why c-melody you ask? I don't have a tenor, don't need to transpose, and like the ease with which it plays.
Pretty hard to comment on tone with a recording done on a cellphone since the sound qyuality isn't so hot. Sounds like you were gettin around the horn pretty well, just need som eimprov.
Interesting choice Jardeon, I wouldn't have thought of that one. I had a quick read-through and made a mess of the bridge, I also think I will try to put together a quicker backing on BIAB when I get a chance. I may regret posting this without having listened back to it, but it may be the only chance I get play it tis month.
Now I don't know if I should be worried or not! LOL But my thought process was "As a 'beginner-again', I'm going to look for something really approachable and slow." And from listening to the entries so far, I'm quite happy with my choice, because for such an elementary song, each of you is bringing a really neat interpretation to it!
@cleger, I really like what you did with the B section, I had to go back and listen again because it felt so like a fully improvised section, despite still fitting what's on the sheet music. I also really liked the little tag at the end of your recording.
@B Flat, How do you manage to sound bright and dark at the same time?! Amazing I definitely enjoyed hearing your solo use the full range of the saxophone, I know with this tune it'd be tempting to stay low all the way through, but you had some great clear, high sections that sounded really cool.
@Chris_Kn, I like how you found ways to punch up the tempo of the piece despite the slow backing track! It doesn't sound to me like you were playing 'impaired' in the slightest.
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