How Joe Henderson Taught Improvisation
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- How Joe Henderson Taught Improvisation
Dig one of the best to ever do it drop some serious knowledge on how to actually internalize music. I took all the segments he talked about education from the following interview done at the University of North Texas:
• Joe Henderson mastercl...
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I took lessons from Joe in San Francisco, he played on an old beat up piano that was almost a half step flat so my mouthpiece was falling off, the lessons would last for 4-6 hours, he would sometimes leave the house and run errands or go buy food while I was there alone. It was a big house in a wealthy neighborhood (Forest Hills) that he had bought from Carlos Santana. Upstairs he had a lot of plants that at that time were illegal. He played a Selmer Mark Vl that had been stolen and later returned to him because one of his students had bought it and Joe traded the horn he had at that time for it back. He played a Selmer rubber D mouthpiece and soft reeds. His favorite player was Stan Getz.
This is amazing info! Thanks for sharing this!!
Are you sure he played soft reeds because everywhere I have read about Joe it almost always said he played on really hard reeds. If not then it's really interesting
@ yes I’m sure, he had a soft (low volume) sound, he stuck the mike in his bell to get more volume.
If I recall correctly, you stated on SaxontheWeb that he would play a few bars of a solo for you to learn, then next week add a few bars, and so on. And this was all done from memory-he would construct it on the spot piece by piece, and there’s no evidence he ever wrote any of it down. Is that right?
@ that is correct.
Joe’s speaking voice is like his playing. Mesmerizing
I had never heard his voice live, intelligence and kindness, a true giant
He's correct about memorizing tunes. One time the light went out on my music stand during the gig. I couldn't see anything on the page in the dark club. I lost that gig which was a real bummer. Now I memorize absolutely everything.
For me, the really big break-through came when I put away my slow downer and my record player and only transcribed what I had retained after listening to a tune for a week or so at least. So I could sing it from Memory.
I also went back to basics after reading "Pops" and "Swing to Bop". Both Louis Armstrong and Red Rodney began their education in a Drum and Bugle Corps. Louis had to play all the Bugle calls from Reville to Taps, and these Bugles calls are not only Iconic but, in some cases, Ancient, and embedded in our Collective Unconsciousness in a very emotional way. I mean they have a lot of Emotional Empact to people of a certain generation.
So, I started learning all these Bugle Calls and I would transpose them to the relative minor. As a result, by what I call the power of Association, all these other tunes would come flooding into my awareness that were based on the Bugle Call (4 Notes, Right?): "the Yanks are Coming", "There's no Business like Show Business", even Modern Tunes like "No Problem" and Variant tunes based on the melody of "I Got Rhythm" (4 Notes, Right?). Starting with a 16 or 24 bar Bugle Call really expanded my memory, and since it perfectly outlines the Major and Minor Triad, the in-between notes sort of fall into place. So, the takeaway from my own experience is: Start where you are, with whatever is already in your head. Buile on the Vocabulary you already have, whether it's a Jazz Tune, a Gospel tune, Pop tune, what ever, and see how it is outlined on your instrument. Then Check your "Mail Box" and see what other tunes you Associate with that.
Even if it's "Wheels on the Bus" or "Farmer in the Dale".
I love the term 'Start where you are' - great background this is super cool to hear !
Dude - you should make a video about this technique. It sounds really interesting 👍🎺
One of the great musical moments of my long life occurred the night I saw Joe Henderson play at Mershon Auditorium on the campus of Ohio State University. The concert opened with Joe coming out, alone, and starting to play. If memory serves, he just started improvising for about 15 minutes, and I swear, he elevated everyone in the place about 15 feet in the air. It was the most amazing musical performance I have ever witnessed. What a guy. And of course, Joe came from right up the road, in Lima.
Amazing! I wish I would've gotten to hear that. As a pianist and multi instrumentalist I think he had the capability to play in a way that few saxophonists can... What a cool experience, thankyou for sharing.
I took one lesson with Joe when I was out on the road on the west coast back in 1985 . It was like other people have said here. It lasted about 3 hours and was all done by ear. He taught me the first 16 bar chorus of Coltrane's alternate take of Countdown. He would sometimes leave me hanging out by myself while he made some calls but he was listening to me practice the Coltrane solo from upstairs. He gave me some great insights in those 3 hours. A great experience. On that same road trip I met Lockjaw Davis and sat and talked about sax with him for about a hour. Another great experience. He gave me some excellent practical advice and we discussed the recordings he did with Johnny Griffin.
You my friend are a very lucky person to have met both those titans in the same trip! How cool and they are 2 of my favorites! One of my frustrations with teaching is that a lot of teachers will just dump information onto students and not actually allow them time to process the information. From what you're describing, he was actually requiring you to process everything he was giving you which is what a good teacher should do. If you're not playing or internalizing very much in your lessons, you have to ask yourself what you're learning. Teaching the alternate take on 'Countdown' is HEAVY! So cool... thanks for sharing!
@@SaxophoneSteveKortyka Joe told me he made all his students learn those 16 baras by ear. He also gave me some great advice about not relying on tonguing too much to achieve the feel. He said it was more in how you manipulate the aax. Tonguing can get close to the feeling but will never actually be it.
Lockjaw was hanging out at our gig in Las Vegas. I was playing with the Tommy Dorsey ghost band led by Buddy Morrow ( a great trombonist , real old school )
We ( the sax section ) said hello to him but later he noticed me kind of watching him and motioned me over. He was with 2 women who were having their own conversation and ignoring him. I knew a lot about his recordings with Griffin and that really broke the ice. He was super friendly and we spoke for close to an hour. I asked for some advice and he told me a 3 part answer that was clearly something he had thought about before.
1. "The reed is the sound" and is the most important component. A great horn is nothing with a bad reed.
He told me he might go through 2 or 3 boxes to find a reed because "when people come to see me they expect to see Lockjaw"
2. "the mouthpiece is the quality"
3." The horn is the variance of tone"
He didn't elaborate on these points , only the importance of the reed.
He also told me he had cancer and he actually died the next year in 1986.
He told me he had Ben Webster's horn.
Also you are right about processing info. Joe really made me work while I was there and I certainly didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him, but he was very non-judgmental in tone and manner , just matter of fact. Like as if to say this is hard work but we do it. Then he drove me back to the train station, he had picked me up earlier.
Thank you for this. This is something everyone needs to hear. Music has always been taught this way.
What a great video. I too got stuck in chord/scale analysis paralysis, also trying learn 1001 licks from artists and my impro playing went nowhere. What I ended up doing was transcribing 5 solos myself of my favorite standards, just through the heads once. For the first 2 I wrote them out, but next 3 I didnt. I have no doubt now internalised them, as I can actually sing them away from my instrument. I must confess I am still yet to have been able to incorporate these solos into my own playing without sounding clunky, but hopefully that will come with time. I am starting to transpose them now into other keys.
One a side note, I auditioned for Cirque Du Soleil in LA, a few years ago as keys/guitarist with the MD of one of the shows. In addition to the pieces you had to prepare and learn to play for them, the other major part of the audition was exactly what Joe Henderson has his students do. You were played a 2 or 4 bar phrase or figure from one of their shows a few times. Then they played the track containing that phrase, and then track would play but without that phrase and you had to replicate it as best as you can. At tempo!!! And some of them were quite tricky. Then they did the same thing but with chords. And then the MD says in my ear "oh the trapeze guy missed the mark, repeat that last section 4 more times!!" It was so stressful! I didnt get the gig with them, but it made me realise where I needed to be as a musician at that level!
Whoa - cool story and thanks for sharing that experience! There is definitely so many real world applications to this process. It makes perfect sense why he shared this info and made it central to his teaching!
Thanks for bringing this masterclass up again. Really cool that you gave the example as well!
Smart, easy going and down to earth is a great combo.
I took lessons from Joe in S.F. around 1982 for a little over a year and a 1/2, lessons were around 2 to 3 hours long. $25
I had to memorize an etude based on the song Count Down,(Trane)
There was so much chromatic structure in the lines he taught from the piano that
I still use a lot of chromatic ideas to this day. Plus a lot of memories just hangin with Joe.
A true prince.
Bill Murphy do you live in Buffalo?
Thanks for sharing this - that's so cool.... Listening to him just speak his mind is certainly a gift. I would love to hear more stories if you gottem :)
Great composer, arranger, soloist & human being!
💯
I have gigged all over the world for 50 years on piano. Most all my RUclips stuff is boogie woogie, but I improvise on thousands of standards too. My playing is pretty inside because when I was coming up it was all Erroll Garner, Peterson, Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, y'know stuff like my dad used to play constantly on records when I was a small child. When I was young, the John Mehegan method was pretty much the only thing out there, although I think Jerry Coker's book came out when I was in high school. I tried to study Mehegan and learn about modes and stuff like that but it was all over my head. Here's how I learned to improvise lines over standard chord progressions: I would insert tasty sounding fills between the melody notes of say, Indiana or Sheik of Araby or something. I would make up these fills by using broken chords, nothing fancy, no big substitutions, y'know just dominant 7ths and broken 9ths, that sort of thing. I also began to develop a vocabulary of tasty two or three or four measure riffs and licks, some of which I tried to copy from Oscar Peterson or Peter Nero, and some of them just made up by me. I listened to a lot of Big Band back then and you can get some good ideas by listening to those arrangements, not copying them exactly, but emulating them in a way. I was learning Chicago blues at the same time in my teens, so I had the ability to work a blues lick in at the end of a phrase. I realized, that was Richard Groove Holmes was doing, so I emulated that. If I got stuck in a passage I would go chromatic scale until I got to a spot where I had something in my vocabulary to put in there, over a familiar chord. I emulated horn players a lot, especially my favorite sax players, Sam Butera, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Stanley Turrentine, guys like that. I'd pretend my right hand was playing a sax line on piano. I still do that. I was learning stride and ragtime, so my thinking was very square, and triady. That's okay. My fakebooks were all, F, D7, G7, C7....etc. The Real Book hadn't come out yet, with it's fancy jazz chords in there. So I changed things up a bit, I made my sevenths into 9ths, I'd but it a 13th for a V chord, but soloing over the top of that stuff, I was playing stuff like Harry James might play or Lionel Hampton or Teddy Wilson. Over time I learned some more fancy schmancy jazzier, more modern sounds, but I've never say, learned a Bill Evans transcription. Still, I can solo for five or ten minutes on just about any standard you throw at me, chorus after interesting chorus. I've listened to alot of Parker and Bud Powell, so I kinda have a feel for phrasing in odd ways, with strange starts and stops they did. I think there's no substitute for listening, listening, listening to records, and eventually, if you put enough good stuff in, it will come out in your playing. And it will be your own. That's the important thing. You won't sound like all the conservatory cats, who studied the same jazz method.
Thanks for sharing this! Amazing background you have... I'll check out your playing!
This is great and thanks for sharing the Joe Henderson materials from UNT. Love the idea of the 4 bars at a time. I find that the students have the hardest time going from the I7 to the IV7 chord, and so I always choose blues that have the quick change.....
Thank you for sharing! Thank you for crediting your source, my Alma Mater. You’re doing good work as a curious teacher and player.
Thanks very much! - my pleasure!
I love this masterclass from Joe and thank you for this lesson and going in depth about it. I’ve realized how much easier writing and arranging have become for me JUST from listening and transcribing groups from records.
Thankyou - YES! It's so good and he is so well spoken. I'm so glad this exists 🙏
This is great! YT already has a "playback speed" function where I can slow it down in increments of 25%, so accessible solos played by you are a great place to start transcribing and playing by ear. More please!
I'll do my best! These take time to make but it is manageable. Stay tuned 😎
from Page One and Inner Urge to Plays Jobim and everything in between. The one and only Master!!🙏🔥💫🌟
Love Joe H.
Warne Marsh is another legend who taught and of whom remarkable tutorial footage is available online.
Thanks for sharing this phenomenal yet fundamental lesson (big fan of Joe's here, such a privilege to hear him speak--only ever heard him play, until now.) It is all about 'the ear'. As amateurs (speaking for myself), we do not give enough importance to listening carefully, hearing intently, then reproducing that content accurately. I plan to do at least a few minutes of this true, tried & tested method each day. Then take the next piece of advice seriously: transpose content to other keys! 🙂
Having so much material available pretty much at "our fingertips", on line or in print presents what is clearly a double-edged sword.Tons of knowledge are available,but it can also become overwhelming,and create a dependency on only those sources.Joe points these things out with the clarity of his playing.
Joe's lines grabbed me more than any other sax players. It may have been his articulation.
I agree - his phrases are so precise - truly a unique voice!
I believe more than note choices, it’s learning rhythmic phrases. It takes less time to learn what notes to play once you’ve got solid phrases down. I bet that’s a big part of Joe was teaching his students by thinking 4 bars at a time. Thanks for letting us know about his lecture from the ‘80s and your spin on it. Teaching improv is challenging. It’s so much more than notes, scales, arpeggios, etc.
Absolutely - when transcribing theres so much of phrasing that does (or doesn't!) get internalized. It really depends on how hip the phrases are. JH was one of the best 'phrasers' on the planet 😎
@ I dig!
I love that idea of playing something then letting the person figure it out....as long it's in within grasp of that individual person. I think it's rare for find a teacher who meets the student where they are.
100%
Got to play with him while in college in the 90s. He was a frequent guest artist at CSUH. Such a nice guy, real quiet, and when he wasn't soloing he was noodling off to the side something equally as amazing as what he would actual solo. And he was playing like the "stock" selmer stuff as well.....just an amazing guy and sound in this era where everyone has some sort of custom this or that they are playing on. Joe just used stock and it just worked perfectly.
Amazing. I think any setup can work if you get comfortable on it. He got as good of a sound as anybody could on that setup. Just awesome. Thanks for sharing your experience, I love knowing that guys like him were not only just talented but they did practice and continually enjoy the act of working things out. Your story confirms this 💯
Crazy how we are rediscovering this wisdom and you’re sharing this otherwise overlooked information. A true testament to the art of being a lifelong student and always being open to learning something you haven’t known before. Thank you
It's definitely a part of the process that gets away from some of us. Thanks for checking it out!
The Great Joe Henderson -while he is absolutely right in that his process absolutely worked for him, some of us wind up beating our heads against a wall when we have teachers that just tell us “go transcribe”.
Having gotten into my 30s and now come back to the saxophone (which I put down at 18/freshman year of college due to frustration), the amount of resources a available which explain how certain styles of vocabulary are built and that offer exercises to help me internalize these mechanisms, it is easier to transcribe and hear what people are doing on my favorite recordings.
Some of us aren’t blessed with the ability to just figure out a full speed high tempo recording off the bat without some additional theory and training first.
Thanks for sharing your perspective - I don't think anywhere in here he is saying to figure out a full speed high tempo recording. What he is illustrating in this video is that no information will be internalized better than being able to hear it and know what it is. As you dig deeper into the music I think you will find this to be the case.
While I agree that transcription books and written exercises can be helpful (and Joe Henderson does too!) they can also be hurtful. You might know of somebody who buys every pdf out there but doesn't internalize any of the information. Is this really better than taking a month to transcribe a simple solo by ear and then learning that solo in all 12 keys? Regardless of the skill level people are at, this is a possible situation and he mentions in the interview that he provides different listening examples for different levels of students. I'm curious how far you made it into the video lol....
Lastly I will say that if you have a teacher that simply says 'go transcribe', they are not a good teacher. Transcribing is much deeper than 'just doing it' and a good teacher will guide you toward things that will be good for you and interesting to you at the same time. I hope this helps and glad to hear that you decided to get back to the sax. Its freakin awesome!
@@SaxophoneSteveKortyka thanks for the the thoughtful reply. Practicing is what keeps me grounded and I’ve made a lot more progress in the last three years that I did in the first six.
I definitely agree with you that simply reading phrases off the page wont do it on its own. The academic explanation of whats going on in line construction, along practicing of exercises/patterns/vocabulary in all 12 keys (transposing on one’s own) has helped inform my ears.
I do need to transcribe more, however I have noticed from what little I’ve done this second go around that it’s been much easier to pick up things after spending time on line construction/voice leading academics/exercises (and playing with other people frequently). I feel all that and transcribing inform each other.
@@calkig Absolutely agree. I think we agree on the same things here and are expressing frustrations of the opposite viewpoints. There is no doubt that your ear has gotten better as a result of the exercises you have been doing. I think the argument that the 'transcription first' folks make is that it is a foolproof way to not forget things if you learn to identify them that way. I can see how especially bebop can be information overload and in order to EVOLVE as a musician, we all have to slow down, write out some new concepts and understand them before we can categorize, then internalize what we are hearing. That's why I love the idea Joe Henderson has here of working with a student on 4 bars at a time and tailoring the material to their skill level. I can't honestly think of a better and faster way to get results than this, and I've been doing this a pretty long time now (over 30 years 🤯)
Yes sir, four bars at a time tailored to the student skill level would be a pretty amazing way to get into transcribing, I agree. It would certainly make it more accessible to someone like myself who does not have great ears.
Great insights on a fascinating recording Steve, thanks for sharing!
My pleasure thanks for checking it out!
Thanks from a grateful guitar player.
Thanks for sharing this, Steve! It's so clear coming from him!
Joe! Yes a simple thing but to hear him affirm it and on top of that make a method out of it... awesome.
fantastic job on this video! Thanks for making it
Thankyou~!
Great Video! Thank you for sharing
Thanks for this! I feel also that jazz method books way overemphasize “chord-scales” as the beginning and the end of learning jazz improvisation and that couldn’t be further from the truth. So many students come to me mostly to unravel how they confused they are about the “right notes” to play at any given time and it’s often because they’ve digested so many pages of method books that they don’t even remember what their favorite record sounds like anymore… then we have to go “wow where are we? How did we get here?” Nice to hear Joe pushing back on these things years ago and even with a good amount of humility and respect for just how hard it is to teach this stuff in general.
wowww love this and so accurate. Students often get so riddled with the 'right' and 'wrong' of things they forget what brought them in the door in the first place. Thanks for sharing this ✅
It’s just great to sing the phrases and memories them before playing them on your instrument. (It’s not so easy).
100%! Singing is definitely a challenge. I have found whistling another great way if you arent comfortable singing or don't have a vocal range close to the instrument you're transcribing.
Great lesson, from both of you! :)) Thanks! 👏
“Come up with a system of incorporating lines into your vocabulary.” Conceptualizing this objective first is vitally important.
Absolutely! A great place to do that would be 'why am I transcribing this and what do I want to get out of it?'
This is the real stuff, thanks for sharing
I am so glad this interview exists. Thankyou Joe Henderson and the UNT!
If I did 10 million phrases and 100 of them sound the same. When you hear jazz in the open, your ears much like your eyes can finally flip the language internally, and translate what your hands already know to help us communicate something as equally palatable. Because that's the goal isn't it. Being able to speak with your instrument. Joe Henderson, what a guy huh!
I finally found a sax teacher in my area (1 hr driver luckily) and I have to remember so many things. You basically have to woodshed right after the lesson to hope you don’t forget anything. He studied with Eddie Harris. The only sheet music I get to have in our lessons is Eddie Harris etudes to study style.
All this to just say that I think you’re on to something 😂
I think if you are inspired to be practicing after lessons this is a very good sign that you have a great teacher. That is probably the best time to internalize 😎 it sounds like you're on to something too!
This was a really great video man!
I've been thinking this way recently in learning/teaching how to walk bass lines too. I think a lot of methods are too "theory forward," connecting chord tones, using arpeggios, etc. But I don't think that gets students actually improvising bass lines better. It's better to memorize a line you really dig, or a line you wouldn't come up with yourself, and take it through some keys and really make it yours.
I hope I'm remembering this correctly, but I think Nadia Boulanger would have all of her composition students not just study scores of the masters but memorize and learn the music on the piano, so they really internalized the music and it became a part of what they wrote.
Thanks cat! Although I can only take credit for about 1% of the good content here haha :)
I heard Quincy say that Nadia Boulanger had him transcribe an arrangement from ear and then rewrite/rearrange/orchestrate it in 12 keys and make it sound good in each different key center. It sounds as a very thorough teacher that it is something she would do 🤯
I love the idea of applying it to bass lines. The theory is great to know and add after you learn to hear something but if its floating around in your head before you hear it, this can be a dangerous place (I have learned haha) to improvise from...
Great video! Thank you.
Related thought: Ran Blake, The Primacy of the Ear...Love Joe, appreciate your love of him, thank you!
So very cool, thank you!
Interestingly, this is very similar to the way that Hindustani classical music is taught. When I was studying Tabla in Pune, and my teacher was teaching a composition, he would speak it to me in parts (tabla has a spoken notation) and then go to the other room while I practiced it (just as joe henderson said).
I swear the great jazz musicians were better thinkers than players. And that's really saying something.
Love it! Nice one
Awesome tutorial!!!
Thank you!
Really good video, great lesson. Thank you! Now if could just remember....
this confirms for me that there's no substitute for listening to recordings and playing along. then get to the point where you're singing what you hearing in your head. when you are playing a rough facsimile of what hearing you are close to being ear trained. i actually think lessons of this sort and building an etude vocabulary isn't a direct line to completely free improvisation.
I would disagree that this is a step to getting to free improvisation and therefore part of the direct line to get there. The more things you learn to hear/play, the more you will be able to say. One does have to practice speaking after learning all this information which may be what you're referring to :)
Thank you 🌟🌹🔥🌹🌟
'Incomparable'! X
Great vid ! Thanks for posting.
I learned jazz mostly the same way: listening, transcribing, memorizing, incorporation in your own thinking. I always feel sad when I see how students today waste years learning modes and still cannot improvise properly afterwards.
I don't think they wasted years learning modes, they wasted years learning modes too far outside of healthy Jazz context. One can learn learn Jazz by using Written music, but it shouldn't be done through written music alone. Using both ears and ears is more important.
A good dialogue to be had here. The great Joe Lovano once said, 'time spent practicing is not wasted time'. Everything you commit to has a positive effect, I think its when we spend time practicing something but aren't sure why we are doing that thing that causes problems. The modes are good to know, but why? :)
The underrated brilliant Mr. Henderson showed such maturity/spontaneity/rhythmic phrasing, etc. in his original solo on Recordame it was unbelievable, and If I could change one thing in jazz history, I often think it would be too have “blue bossa” Joe replacing all Stan Getz’ tired squeaky solos starting with Girl from Ipanema!
You are entitled to your opinion but I think you are missing the point that the bossa recordings of Stan Getz were all meant to be main stream music. That's why he is playing what you call "tired" solos, so that they are easily digestible for the masses (who eventually loved them). This probably wouldn't have worked with more intricate solos ala Joe. That's just my humble opinion
@@sorenfuhrer401 You mean, jazz was for the "highly brained individuals like you', but bossa needed to be dumbed down for simple and uneducated people who are not as elevated as you are? For a "music with such an elitist and dehumanising attitude", it is then best that jazz is erased from the history of music, and it is exactly what is happening to it.
@@zvonimirtosic6171 I don't understand Jazz
@@sorenfuhrer401 Then you are an deluded fool who is writing preposterous nonsense.
@@sorenfuhrer401 Then you are a deluded fool who is writing preposterous nonsense.
You Got Me with this format!>☺
...really😘
5:30 I’ve played with a saxophonist who was taking lessons from Joe in SF for a while and it’s so funny he described this exact thing. Joe would give him something to work on then he’d be upstairs doing whatever (taking phone calls or something) until he could hear downstairs that the student was ready.
ha! so cool... A genius and very efficient way to teach it would seem :)
Awesome video!
Thanks cat!
I hung out with Joe Henderson. He was talking about how he had his students remove the lacquer from their horns. I guess he thought it made the horn sound different?
Interesting! I think it definitely could have an effect - a dangerous thing to try to do yourself though.
In my next life,I'm going to find Joe and insist on studying with him.
“0 is just as important as 1, nothing is just as important as playing a note, 10 wouldn’t exist without 0.”
Victor Wooten.
great video
Love the video Steve. Thanks, but one more thing. Isn't it dangerous to lean your bass clarinet up against the wall like that?
Not as dangerous as it looks. Any time I do something like that I give it a 'knock' test. Its actually against the wall pretty snugly and it would take a decent bump for it to fall over. I appreciate the comment though, you're right to be worried about this!
"Incomparable" is the word you are looking for.
👍
Is this full masterclass anywhere
Thanks for checking it out! The link is the first one in the description of the video 👆
Hey Steve! Thanks for sharing, I think this is a very grounded and realistic appproach to improvisation. He is basically saying that hearing things and relating to theory is the #1 important thing in his approach. Try to be as close to the sound as you can. Very interesting. I tried the chorus you proposed. First 4 bars went easy but I realised I had some trouble on the 4 chord. You put a lot of different sounds in there, and it took me around 1h to get it all down all by hear in the end. Definitely shows one his weak points. Thanks
the Sidewinder is a great LP
Primo !
I play sax and flute, but I find it easier to transcribe a tune by using a keyboard.
1:29 The Midwest is responsible for American horn sounds!! Ohio is the Midwest, Conn (Elkhart,Indiana) created free band programs throughout the Midwest. And UofM was the first collegiate sax program followed by Wayne State. These are all reasons for part of the “Motown” sound. Also, Cleveland Institute/Oberlin/Chicago Symphony and too much other stuff to mention
Thanks for the video
Yes indeed!
Where is the link to the master class.
ruclips.net/video/Dx9ZIwspjDU/видео.html
Thanks @davidcox8961
Joe is the 🐐
Just discovered your channel - awesome stuff, man. Just wondering, which tenor players are your favorites or greatest influences (other than Joe Henderson)? Cheers!
Thanks so much!
Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Lockjaw Davis, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Phill Woods, Stan Getz, Cannonball, Sanborn, Brecker, Seamus Blake and Chris Potter are all people I've transcribed more than one solo of.
I listen to a lot of modern players too but take lines here and there and am at a point now where I just want to be able to be comfortable 'speaking the language' which is why I found this so fascinating. Who are your favorites?
@@SaxophoneSteveKortyka Awesome... All those are great. In terms of old masters, my favorites are Hawk, Prez, Bird, Dex, Ben Webster... also Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter (I was raised on alto)... plus Zoot Sims, Sonny Stitt, Rollins, Joe Henderson, Coltrane, Charlie Rouse... then Seamus Blake, Joshua Redman... so many more...
I'm a sax player and most players I know learn primarily from imitation, aka transcribing which isn't really the right word because you don't necessarily write down any notes, especially after you've been doing it a while. But I personally didn't learn that way and I'm glad I didn't, because a lot of those guys just sound like bad Trane and Bird copies, and no one really enjoys listening to their "note diarrhea" either. The entire point of achieving virtuoso chops is to have better tools to express your art, NOT show off your tools. I learned by simply looking at changes and learning to play the chord tones and lead to them. The more scales and patterns I internalized, the more I could express what was in my soul. I've never had a lot of use for transcribing, other than finding short licks and patterns to 12-key. The reason is, and I'm sure many will scoff, is that I really don't like listening to most jazz from that era. I can't stand bebop. I like the more minimalistic style that Miles achieved, but ultimately he couldn't reign it in and it again became an unlistenable, speed and ego mess of a genre. I admire their virtuosity, but I don't want to sound like they did. They killed jazz in my opinion and it's not coming back without a full overhaul.
So Jazz is dead, Imitating isn't transcribing, people who transcribe Trane sound bad, Virtuoso chops are bad and somehow you learned to improvise from just looking at changes and not listening to any of the music because you hate all of it. Well James, I hope to hear you play someday. I'm officially intrigued.
I see you're still using the Artist Edition Saxophone. I'm really considering buying one this week.
Yes indeed! Hit me up for a discount code if you do end up getting one :)
I sure will. I currently play the YAS 62 but I see that you and Patrick Bartley have switched over from it to John's saxophones, so they must be great saxophones. I'm thinking about getting the one with the silver neck and bell like Godwin Louis has. Thank you for all the great videos that your putting out.
I need that discount code Sir. Lol. I certainly will appreciate it. I would like to order one by the beginning of next week. Thank you
how do you get a tone like that ?? sounds so vintage like straight from a sonny stitt re ording
Selmer mark vi with selmer soloist short shank D mouthpiece
Just play real fast and everyone will think you are good. Always play a bunch of diminished licks. Learn every diminished scale and play whole tone too.
A known secret of all the masters :)
That jazz lab neck strap isn’t for all out jamming, is it☮️🎵🎶🎵🎷
I disagree - on this one the arms lock so its great for moving in all different directions 😎
Im gonna get one on those Artist Edition Saxophones. That video of you playing the YTS62 with the BSS Neck vs the Artist Edition did me in. Lol. Could I please get that secret discount code that you have.
Hey! Sorry for the delay on this message! if you use the code 'SaxSteve' at the checkout you should get a discount on your order if you choose an artist edition tenor. Let me know if it doesnt work out for any reason and we'll get it sorted out. Feel free to send me an email at stevekortyka@gmail.com
Where can we buy your tossle cap?!
haha :) My mother in law gave this one to me as a gift but I think maybe I should make one!
@@SaxophoneSteveKortyka make them and sell them. SK merch
@@duanemary I'll look into it although this might be the saxquest logo lol...
Wow! joes voice sounds a lot like Ron Carter.
Birds of a feather haha :)
It took a long time to learn to play with written notes. It will take an equally long time to play without them.
one step at a time :) For what it's worth, I was the same way. The thing to remember is that each piece of the puzzle you get better at unlocks the next step in your development. Go with where you are and make a list of the things you REALLY want to learn and you will get there.
Noiiice
I don't think Joe was really talking about truly learning by 'rote'. Rote learning implies simply memorising information in order to repeat it. This is the first stage of learning. But to say that the aural tradition of jazz is learning by 'rote' is somewhat misleading. The last thing you want to be doing is learning purely by rote, ie: simply repeating what you hear. You want to be able to repeat what you hear and understand its composition. If you don't have an analytical method to understand how a phrase is put together you can never really progress.
Very true! I transcribed a decent amount of solos early on and didn't connect the chord changes with what I was playing. This was primarily because I didn't have a teacher telling me how to make those connections, and there were elements of having things under my fingers but not knowing how to use them that were SUPER frustrating. I'm sorry if that was what it seemed this video was about - definitely not the intention here.
Joe destroyed the Red Clay album, his voice sounded like Obama, even the pauses 😆
I had bad ears I guess. Transcribing Charlie Parker wasn’t possible for me in the beginning. The first solo I learned was a Lou Donaldson solo on everything I play gonna be funky. Extremely simple blues solo.
Charlie Parker is a tough one to start with! I would say that your ears are probably just fine :) You were wise to go with something you could hear - Lou Donaldson was very influenced by Bird - I have no doubt that with a few more transcriptions you could start to get Bird's language down!
@1:08 "sings Farmer John". That's 'frere jacques', (or 'Brother John'). Who invited a farmer?
You are right that was my mistake... we will un-invite the farmer haha
@@SaxophoneSteveKortyka 😆apologies for the somewhat irrelevant correction, I actually wrote a variation on that tune when my kids were small, so it struck a chord, literally! Thanks for the interesting and useful content - appreciated and admired.
What about THIS Brother John
ruclips.net/video/mxwqoytlZCs/видео.htmlsi=8Xnf3XAxNI9NY33F
@@t33nyplaysp0p sounds like a completely different tune and lyrics, although they are from New Orleans, so there's a possible French connection. Dormez-vous Fi Na Ney Shimme-sha-wabble?
Hello, be careful to really allow downloading on Safari inside the URL bar so that you download automatically the file.thank you for this very good content.
Hi Ramonn - it should be a direct download as a .zip file including the transpositions and a backing track to your computer unless your browser is blocking it.
I will look for your email and send it to you directly - sorry about this!
I'm not seeing your email on the site - send me an email at stevekortyka@gmail.com and I will reply with the download. Thanks!
@ hi, very sorry I will remove the message. I got it now. I will like and subscribe all so. Don’t do anything it’s OK. I got it. I apologize, my bad.
I will put a nice message also instead for this good content.
@@raymonnn All good! If you are having a problem there is a chance others are too. Thanks for letting me know!
7:55
8:06
Transcribe 10 milion notes, got it....
simple stuff 😅
Possibly the least important aspect of this video, but the caption at one pound said “wrote” in place of the proper “rote” which is learning by repetition.
👍
Books to make money but doesn’t make sax players 😮🎵🎶🎵🎷
Patients don’t usually change their medications. Doctors change medications.
You mightve watched the wrong video...
Zero information from Joe of any harmonic or melodic use. Simply 'memorise concepts.' No shit. Pure waffle.
You are living up to your handle with this Whack comment, @whackman47. The harmonic / melodic information is in what he would give his students to transcribe 📝
Viral beast. Algorithm did it right this time. Happy shedding in 2025 everyone! :)