Great stuff. While I have a degree in clarinet performance, I've never studied jazz. I've played in jazz groups and it was always a hit or miss with solos. I'm finally starting jazz studies this January at the young age of 55.
Thank you Wally! Realizing that the all important ii-V-I can be played over diatonically helps me be more relaxed in improvising over the changes & not so concerned about the mental process of thinking about the actual chord tones, but rather just playing what sounds or feels good.
So much beauty to be found in simple diatonic lines! I like to start there, then see HOW the chromatic alterations add flavor! Have a great rest of the weekend, Rob!
I was waiting to hear you say"Now go practice."What am I supposed to do?I suppose I could tell myself to "go practice."I was just about to do just that,after I listened to yo our educational,and informative lesson.
I think the analysing does make sense when you want to transpose it. I hate when someone say "now learn it in all 12 keys" but transposing it to a few is a great exercise. Knowing a little bit of the theory facilitates e.g. identifying a chord shape in the melody or understanding to which note a shape leads. Transposing is useful because that way I add the ii-v-i phrases you cited to my language repertoire from which I can recall more flexibly - when soloing in different keys - the more keys I've practiced them in.
These tutorials are fantastic! You are an outstanding teacher...Thank you so much for these. Music is language. We learn to speak before we learn to read, write, diagram sentences, etc. I truly enjoy every one of these videos...
Exceptionally well done, truly appreciate you quoting the greats to get the point across. I played thru it serval time trying to mirror tone inflection and articulation. Worth the challenge and makes me want to practice more often!
I've been practising the Beebop phrases from a couple of videos ago on tenor and alto. This method totally works; you are right, I can feel the notes working under my fingers to the extent that I don't need to concentrate on them. My brain now handles articulation and phrasing. Thank you for all these amazing lessons, Dr Wally. At last, a teacher who understands the importance of not just studying but fully enjoying music. Your realism about people's everyday lives is also refreshing.
Dr Wally, your post made me weep. I am MMus in classical piano and I know all the theory and more, yet my sax(and jazz piano) didn't progress. I only progressed when I stopped learning theory and analysing things. Then, as I started hearing, the theory was already there for me to know what I am doing. Teachers teach it wrong and I got sucked into it despite being a teacher myself!. Now I am just playing by ear, like I used to before they dragged me into the music school and ruined my life by academia. Love Uranus!
Well this just made my morning, thanks! Classical training is almost an impediment to learning jazz. I speak from LOTS of personal experience. Glad you're headed in the right direction!
Doctor Wallace, found a TH-camr who rates the Dr. Who theme songs. Told him he missed the Sononauts version. He watched, then immediately put it on the top tier. I was a big fan of Dr. Who #4. You and the band need more videos.
I love your take on this Doc. A baby doesn’t learn to talk by learning the grammar first. The child learns by listening, mimicking and later re-creating based on what they learned through observation. In the human sphere, the music long existed before humans developed the aptitude to understand how to notate and analyse it. It’s a very ignorant statement when I hear people say “if you can’t read music, you are an illiterate musician.” I need not say more, you already pointed out the Beatles and more. Thanks for your amazing lessons Doc.
Kadrian, you just put it much more eloquently than I could have. You're absolutely right! The sounds, the experience, the community: that's MUSIC. That's the art form! I don't give a crap what an academic says about phrasing. Just let me hear Miles or Parker play it! All the answers are in the records!
I'm going through the process a second time. Lifelong guitarist, came up in the heyday of chord scale theory. Through sheer bullheadedness I finally found my way. So I decided to start all over again (at retirement age) and learn jazz on another instrument - that Crown Prince of instruments (cause we all know what the King of all instruments is) the saxophone. This using my hard-earned bits of wisdom. My decades of learning, or attempting to learn, taught me: what Doc Wally says. Keep good time, brothers and sisters. Learn the melody and play it with emotion. Understand the chords, but do not be bound by them. Listen to the masters. Play along with them. Don't worry about transcribing everything. Just mimic bits and pieces. Above all, keep good time.
This is the first of your videos i've watched and now I've learned the hard way not to drink my coffee while watching unless I want it to burst out my nose ("thanks Glen, the stove gave it away 😂😂"). Your playing is amazing obviously but WOW you are able to teach so amazingly well!! I've got to share this channel to all my music friends. Thank you for your hard work and amazing content!
Thanks Dr. Wally, this is an awesome video in more ways than one for me. Explaining the ii-V7-I in a simple diatonic manner was great but the best advice you gave was that one does not have to take every pattern through all 12 keys. It is very time consuming and by the time you learn one pattern and tackle another in most cases I have to go back and relearn the first again. Thanks again for the inspiration and I look forward to your next inspirational message.
Exactly, Lester! I used to take this approach, and had like 3 ii/V licks that were always the same and I hated it. Life's too short for the robot jazz approach :) Happy practicing my friend!
Interestingly enough, looking back at ALL the amazing musicians I've studied with and currently study with... any discussion of theory is always incredibly fundamental and basic. The emphasis is always on HEARING and PLAYING music. Practicing a tune by singing the root motion. Singing the thirds. Grunting through the rhythms of a solo. Hearing articulation as I copy it from the record and SINGING it, rhythm first, before I put it on my instrument. Seems like the only place I really encounter advanced theory is... on the forums and comment sections that frequent the internet. Why is that.... ;)
@@drwallysax You are welcome. Yes Norfolk. I was an OJT desperately trying to get out of combat arm units and got a whiff of army band life it was awesome. unfortunately i had to stay in my current mos at the time but got to do the band thing for 5 years. Awesome break from regular army units.
Fantastic addition to my growing "Dr.Wally call and response exercises library"! And thanks the slower speed I know how Dr.Wally voice sounded they day he mistakenly drank from the whisky flask instead of his coffee bottle.
I feel I finally found the promised land. I always said I play with the Sax since I didn't go to any school of music and l didn't learn any real music theory. Learned by getting into the Junior High band (Rubank methods) which I continued through High school and later made the college band which paid my way through engineering school. Had fun throughout but always felt intimidated by all these greats teaching technique and getting in the weeds of scales and music degree jargon (foreign language) taking away the fun and making me feel like I will never get it. I always thought improvisation was just that, not stopping to analyze the scale technicalities. Always improvised by ear while keeping an eye on the key. Never felt like a pro even though I founded a Latin Music band played all the clubs in downtown St. Louis when we wanted to, and made a lot more than union musicians on my terms. I still feel I am an amateur but feel relieved that I can get back on the horn and enjoy it without having to get a masters degree in harmony or music. Thanks Dr. Wally for freeing me.
Ha, loved the Tenor Madness quote over the ii V I! I never realized that would work, but it sounds great! These videos have been super helpful to me; I’m mainly a classical saxophonist but your videos are helping cement some of the ideas I learn about in my jazz lessons!
I was a classical saxophonist exclusively for most of my career! I developed this approach to teaching jazz because as a classical player, I never connected with most of the jazz pedagogy! Glad it's helping!
Wow!! Than You so much for this video. I purchased books on the ll l V and still remind clueless in how to..... you made it so simple to learn it. All I have to do is put it into practice witch I'm sure is more challenging than it sounds put i feel less stress about it
Super helpful. I didn’t realize there was a “tenor workshop” part later on, I was transposing the alto workshop on the fly . Haha. Was good practice. Thanks Dr Wally
Hahaha! Rocket to Uranus. 'Be the first traveller to the winking star'. That is pretty funny Dr Wally. There were guffaws all around. I have completely forgotten what this lesson is about.
@@drwallysax totally, I'm already quite knowledgeable in jazz theory as I've been playing jazz guitar for more than 25 years but I'm starting on the saxophone and like you said it's far more important to learn the language than the theory of it. Theory helps to reproduce and keep track of something that has been already created, learning the language helps with everything else, creation, improvisation, interpretation, feel, rythmic placement, dynamics etc... Music is an oral tradition before everything else.
@@drwallysax I do and I can only imagine most other buddy saxophonists do! Music theory is generally intimidating and takes the fun out of fundamentals! Other improv lessons via the Internets talk about using the root chord's diminished 4th mixolydian triad... So yeah yours is more fun and realistic!
Yeah, I just learned to play Long and winding road for fun and practise (by ear). If Paul had been thinking about music theory, would he even have put the juicy minor 7th Bb (on alto) in there among A and B? Music theory can give you ideas, but it can also limit your imagination. Ear and feeling are tools that should not be underestimated.
Thanks Parker! The generous coffee donations have allowed me to upgrade the Academy video gear! Not only does it look better, you might have noticed I can post more often now! (workflow with modern gear is soooo much easier). Have a great week!
Plagiarism! I wrote "Rocket to Uranus" back in the seventies! 🤣 Honestly fantastic information many thanks, and kicking the academic music 'snobs' into touch. Play and enjoy it, that's music. Thanks Dr Wally, I'm away to practice. 😃
Thanks, Jim! Having completed a doctorate and taking renaissance counterpoint and post tonal serial analysis, I feel like I've earned the right to criticize the approach. My heroes learned by playing with mentors and records. It's way more fun and efficient.
I still like to map out the main guide tones of where the solo is going and than fill in the fills that I want, so that I can go from simple melody like the first lick to more complex. Thanks for the licks as they are great to practice - even in all keys so that I don't have to look at the music but must play it by ear, which is the whole point.
I find that if you play great lines- you intuitively start to hear, feel, and predict the guide tones. And you're working on sound and technique at the same time. All the answers I need are in the lines of Desmond and Getz.
Fantastic. You remind me of the Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society who made his students rip up the awful poetry analysis essay then stand on their desks to see the world in a new way. Oh captain, my captain Dr Wally.
Gary that made my morning, thank you my friend. That's a high compliment, and hopefully means I'm having some success getting students to enjoy the process of playing jazz. Having completed a Doctorate in music, I've seen first hand how much garbage is created to justify the Universities music program's own existence. (I mean, I taught college and was part of the problem as well). But now I just want you guys to have fun and play!
Holy Smokes! Where's your tie? Have you been making your coffee Irish Dr. Wallace(and on the Lord's day)? Fantastic video! Also, "the winking star"..... so much for breakfast 😂 Thank you for the effort you put into these videos👍
Hello Wally! I’ve enjoyed this series a LOT! Thanks for making things so clear and easy to understand. For us, adult students with limited time, it’s so useful not to lose time trying to figure out what to practice and how. Looking forward next week’s announcement… life changing announcement… mmm… are you leaving jazz for hockey? Did you bought a coffee field in Colombia and you’re moving there? 🤔
Just great your offered strategy. First music and melody the theory. To follow your examples goes perfect, because i was told they are 2-5-1. But if i listen to music and a passage or phrase please me, how do i find out if it is 2-5-1 as well?
Your vids are great. Informative, educational etc. But as a student sax player coming from a classical violin background, some of what you say hurts my brain a little. However, I do agree. One doesn't have to understand the theoretic concepts to be able to just play it. And that's where I want to be. I want to go to there.
I'm a classical saxophonist who learned (and always learning) jazz. At first I tried to theory my way into the genre. Diddn't work for me ;) We can talk about the leading tone, or play a few lines by Stan Getz and FEEL what it does! Happy practicing my friend!
Hi Dr. Wally Wallace. I love your videos. I really do but this week's lesson was not to my liking because though I understand what a 2-5-1 progression is, I don't think that if I did not know, I'd appreciate this approach to learning it. I had to learn about modes and understand what chord tones are first and play each throughout the progression before understanding what it is and how it is applied. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I really don't fully get it because I don't identify it by hearing it. I have to see the sheet music with the chords outlined to notice it. The fact is, for me, all it is a musical device that helps me develop a melodic line in a given key center. I also appreciate the resolution to the root and that the device is in fourths. Had I not understood this music theory, I would not even practice licks and other vocabulary. I could listen to an entire song and not identify a single 2-5-1 progression unless I first spent time learning to play it and improvising on it. So, I would not know where a 2-5-1 is, even if it jumped up and bit me on the lip, while listening. The only time I can identify a 2-5-1 by ear is if the chord tones are austensibly played in ascending or descending order. So, regrettably, your lesson, though appreciated, did not serve to enlighten my aural perception. Perhaps you could present on this topic again to provide more clarity to folks like me.
Understandable. My way of teaching isn't for everyone! I'm at peace with that. Plenty of other TH-camrs teach the outline the chord patterns - if that works for you go for it! It's great there's so much info out there, you can choose what connects with you! Happy practicing!
Thanks for another inspiring video for your music teacher friend in Sweden. On a serious note, cheers for making me forever use "easy peasy, ham and cheesy" from now on! What was I thinking with lemon squeezy? 🍋 🤣🎷Christina
@@drwallysax it varies a lot here (sun and showers) and we get the most beautiful evening skies as the number of daylight hours continue to grow. Up north (where I will be in July) the sun doesn't really set at all during the summer and, by coincidence, I had a sax solo in the last concert before Covid shutdown on "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" by Quincy Jones which may have been inspired by a Nordic midsummer 🤔. (The natives party big time at Midsummer by hopping around like frogs around a huge pole covered in daisies while singing after copious amounts of beverages. This is true. I can only watch from a distance, mildly traumatised by events...) Anyhoo, now we're rehearsing again in small groups (tonight hoorah!) and playing extensive British repertoire. Holst hoorah! So myself and an English cornet player (we Brits are everywhere!) are playing proudly in the Stockholm Wind Orchestra. :) Hope you're not sweating it too much in the heat and keeping it cool on sax. You're definitely allowed to go no- tie and looking sharp nonetheless. ;) Christina
In college all we did was analyze jazz theory and after the class I also didn’t understand and appreciate the music any better and worst felt unmotivated to play it anymore
I used to look forward to the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Now I look forward to Dr. Wally’s Sunday lessons.
Awwwww, not as sophisticated, but louder? Thanks my friend, much appreciated.
Word
Great stuff. While I have a degree in clarinet performance, I've never studied jazz. I've played in jazz groups and it was always a hit or miss with solos. I'm finally starting jazz studies this January at the young age of 55.
The lyrics of your classic song "Rocket to Uranus" has earned you a "like", and my undying admiration.
Thank you Wally! Realizing that the all important ii-V-I can be played over diatonically helps me be more relaxed in improvising over the changes & not so concerned about the mental process of thinking about the actual chord tones, but rather just playing what sounds or feels good.
So much beauty to be found in simple diatonic lines! I like to start there, then see HOW the chromatic alterations add flavor! Have a great rest of the weekend, Rob!
@Sal Mullgrav We're gonna change that, Sal.
@Sal Mullgrav Whatcha' studying?
@Sal Mullgrav Very cool!
Dr. Dave the psychologist here. Really like your approach. Easy to follow. Accurate too
I completely forgot!! I was so busy ranting against the academic cult of music theory I forgot to say: GO PRACTICE!
Seriously, go practice...
I'll play my sax as soon as I get home.
@@iiWNMii You get your horn out now mister!!!!
I was about to post that you forgot to tell us to practice, but you beat me to it! Not fair!
Well you DID say "get to work"....
I was waiting to hear you say"Now go practice."What am I supposed to do?I suppose I could tell myself to "go practice."I was just about to do just that,after I listened to yo our educational,and informative lesson.
Finally, some clear examples of excellent licks on 2 5 1 for sax players. Keep up your FANTASTIC work Doc!
Thank you Nick, happy practicing my friend!
I think the analysing does make sense when you want to transpose it. I hate when someone say "now learn it in all 12 keys" but transposing it to a few is a great exercise. Knowing a little bit of the theory facilitates e.g. identifying a chord shape in the melody or understanding to which note a shape leads. Transposing is useful because that way I add the ii-v-i phrases you cited to my language repertoire from which I can recall more flexibly - when soloing in different keys - the more keys I've practiced them in.
< That Rocket´s destination just cracked me up. Now I can´t stop laughing.... now I know where to go when a ii-V-I shows up ! >
Play a melody because it sounds good? Without analyzing the step-wise motion, the chord tones, or approach notes? Dr. Wally, you're my hero!
Thank you Jeff! Having some distance from academia, I've completely re-thought the way I teach music.
@@drwallysax someday I hope to have the chance to be your student. I think we'd have a good time.
These tutorials are fantastic! You are an outstanding teacher...Thank you so much for these. Music is language. We learn to speak before we learn to read, write, diagram sentences, etc. I truly enjoy every one of these videos...
yeah he's good isn't he.
Exceptionally well done, truly appreciate you quoting the greats to get the point across. I played thru it serval time trying to mirror tone inflection and articulation. Worth the challenge and makes me want to practice more often!
I’ve been listening to Rocket... for weeks now. The singer does a beautiful job and when she winks it’s just hilarious.
Anne Claire is amazing. Happy weekend, Kris!
Best jazz lesson approach I ever seen on TH-cam. Great job.
Thanks Ted, much appreciate my friend!
I've been practising the Beebop phrases from a couple of videos ago on tenor and alto. This method totally works; you are right, I can feel the notes working under my fingers to the extent that I don't need to concentrate on them. My brain now handles articulation and phrasing.
Thank you for all these amazing lessons, Dr Wally. At last, a teacher who understands the importance of not just studying but fully enjoying music. Your realism about people's everyday lives is also refreshing.
You are my people, Francis. This is exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing. Thanks my friend.
The rocket to Uranus part followed by the song killed me 🤣🤣🤣 pure poetry
Dr Wally, your post made me weep. I am MMus in classical piano and I know all the theory and more, yet my sax(and jazz piano) didn't progress. I only progressed when I stopped learning theory and analysing things. Then, as I started hearing, the theory was already there for me to know what I am doing. Teachers teach it wrong and I got sucked into it despite being a teacher myself!. Now I am just playing by ear, like I used to before they dragged me into the music school and ruined my life by academia. Love Uranus!
Well this just made my morning, thanks! Classical training is almost an impediment to learning jazz. I speak from LOTS of personal experience. Glad you're headed in the right direction!
Thanks Dr Wally, my old YAS 25 came up sparkling when I hit that like button! This is a great lesson!
Elite level Giant Steps joke at the end too 😂
I do the ii-V-I on my guitar, sometimes the ii-V- ii-V- ii-V--I . I understand and like your call and response ideas. Great useful idea. Thank You Dr.
Most welcome!
Doctor Wallace, found a TH-camr who rates the Dr. Who theme songs. Told him he missed the Sononauts version. He watched, then immediately put it on the top tier. I was a big fan of Dr. Who #4. You and the band need more videos.
Dr. Wally Wallace back at it once again!
Mr. Bari! Every week my friend, glad to see you here :)
@@drwallysaxGlad to see you posting!
I love how that high A on the desmond lick is played
I love your take on this Doc. A baby doesn’t learn to talk by learning the grammar first. The child learns by listening, mimicking and later re-creating based on what they learned through observation. In the human sphere, the music long existed before humans developed the aptitude to understand how to notate and analyse it. It’s a very ignorant statement when I hear people say “if you can’t read music, you are an illiterate musician.” I need not say more, you already pointed out the Beatles and more. Thanks for your amazing lessons Doc.
Kadrian, you just put it much more eloquently than I could have. You're absolutely right! The sounds, the experience, the community: that's MUSIC. That's the art form! I don't give a crap what an academic says about phrasing. Just let me hear Miles or Parker play it! All the answers are in the records!
@@drwallysax 😊😀😀😀😀🙏
My English is a little rusty so I was like, "wait, where is this rocket going to?" Thanks for the class you've got a follower!
Dr Wally….. simply excellent. I am following your lessons. I am a fan of yours.
Well thanks so very much! Happy practicing!
I'm going through the process a second time. Lifelong guitarist, came up in the heyday of chord scale theory. Through sheer bullheadedness I finally found my way. So I decided to start all over again (at retirement age) and learn jazz on another instrument - that Crown Prince of instruments (cause we all know what the King of all instruments is) the saxophone. This using my hard-earned bits of wisdom. My decades of learning, or attempting to learn, taught me: what Doc Wally says. Keep good time, brothers and sisters. Learn the melody and play it with emotion. Understand the chords, but do not be bound by them. Listen to the masters. Play along with them. Don't worry about transcribing everything. Just mimic bits and pieces. Above all, keep good time.
Here's the best example of not being bound by the chords that I can think of -
th-cam.com/video/0-vlX8uRLMQ/w-d-xo.html
Oooooh yes! It's ALL about melody. It's the melody!!!
This is the first of your videos i've watched and now I've learned the hard way not to drink my coffee while watching unless I want it to burst out my nose ("thanks Glen, the stove gave it away 😂😂"). Your playing is amazing obviously but WOW you are able to teach so amazingly well!! I've got to share this channel to all my music friends. Thank you for your hard work and amazing content!
Thanks Dr. Wally, this is an awesome video in more ways than one for me. Explaining the ii-V7-I in a simple diatonic manner was great but the best advice you gave was that one does not have to take every pattern through all 12 keys. It is very time consuming and by the time you learn one pattern and tackle another in most cases I have to go back and relearn the first again. Thanks again for the inspiration and I look forward to your next inspirational message.
Exactly, Lester! I used to take this approach, and had like 3 ii/V licks that were always the same and I hated it. Life's too short for the robot jazz approach :)
Happy practicing my friend!
11:49 enjoy the process. Well said
your explanation made me cleared of my curiosities over decade! thank you
Interestingly enough, looking back at ALL the amazing musicians I've studied with and currently study with... any discussion of theory is always incredibly fundamental and basic. The emphasis is always on HEARING and PLAYING music. Practicing a tune by singing the root motion. Singing the thirds. Grunting through the rhythms of a solo. Hearing articulation as I copy it from the record and SINGING it, rhythm first, before I put it on my instrument. Seems like the only place I really encounter advanced theory is... on the forums and comment sections that frequent the internet. Why is that.... ;)
Great video, people at a certain school in NY pay dearly for this advice.
Thanks, Tony. I want my students to have a bit of theory, and a WHOLE LOTTA fun.
Hands down the best improvising companion to cook with. Waiting for the next recipe sir.
I'm a miserable cook, but glad the improvisation is helpful! More burnt cookies to come!
Great Video! Nice to see and hear you play some Tenor....
Thanks! I'm going to do my best to include tenor examples and play alongs as often as possible (with alto as well, of course)
Pretty cool that "Because" ends on a diminished chord.
AWESOME...AWESOME...AWESOME LESSON!!! OMG....Dr. Wally REALLY does have a song called Rocket To Uranus...!!
"Be the First Traveler to the Winking Star..." I wrote those lyrics 😂
Wish you had been my instructor at the school of music.
Norfolk? I went there! And thanks for the kind words! Huah!
@@drwallysax You are welcome. Yes Norfolk. I was an OJT desperately trying to get out of combat arm units and got a whiff of army band life it was awesome. unfortunately i had to stay in my current mos at the time but got to do the band thing for 5 years. Awesome break from regular army units.
I love Sundays!
Me too, Kris, me too!
Fantastic addition to my growing "Dr.Wally call and response exercises library"! And thanks the slower speed I know how Dr.Wally voice sounded they day he mistakenly drank from the whisky flask instead of his coffee bottle.
Ha! My mentor sent me clip from one of my videos slowed down, yup, I sound intoxicated. Happy practicing Javier!
I haven't commented for 4 Months: I was Practising, thx Dr. Wally-your the Man
Yes! Go practice more!
Straight ahead good fun. Thank you for reminding one on that. Good commentary
Will certainly use this for my practice, thanks a bunch!
I feel I finally found the promised land. I always said I play with the Sax since I didn't go to any school of music and l didn't learn any real music theory. Learned by getting into the Junior High band (Rubank methods) which I continued through High school and later made the college band which paid my way through engineering school. Had fun throughout but always felt intimidated by all these greats teaching technique and getting in the weeds of scales and music degree jargon (foreign language) taking away the fun and making me feel like I will never get it. I always thought improvisation was just that, not stopping to analyze the scale technicalities. Always improvised by ear while keeping an eye on the key. Never felt like a pro even though I founded a Latin Music band played all the clubs in downtown St. Louis when we wanted to, and made a lot more than union musicians on my terms.
I still feel I am an amateur but feel relieved that I can get back on the horn and enjoy it without having to get a masters degree in harmony or music. Thanks Dr. Wally for freeing me.
Ha, loved the Tenor Madness quote over the ii V I! I never realized that would work, but it sounds great! These videos have been super helpful to me; I’m mainly a classical saxophonist but your videos are helping cement some of the ideas I learn about in my jazz lessons!
I was a classical saxophonist exclusively for most of my career! I developed this approach to teaching jazz because as a classical player, I never connected with most of the jazz pedagogy! Glad it's helping!
this is one of the greatest exercises I ever did, soooo helpful in many ways! and with the google loop extension it is even better for practicing!
That makes me incredibly happy, Bernhard! Have a great weekend my friend!
Rocket to Uranus! Nearly fell off my music stool from laughing so much. Oh, great lesson too.
A great lesson, learn from the Masters, and Dr. Wally.
...AND Dr. Wally ;)
I just want you guys to have fun playing and learn to improvise the way my heroes did: aural tradition.
Wow!! Than You so much for this video. I purchased books on the ll l V and still remind clueless in how to..... you made it so simple to learn it. All I have to do is put it into practice witch I'm sure is more challenging than it sounds put i feel less stress about it
Dr. Wally keeps on bringing the goods!
Have a great weekend my friend!
wow~~i will remember this!!! that's amazing!! I've been touched by you !!! ^^ have a lovely day !
This makes me so happy! Happy practicing :)
@@drwallysax yep!!^^hope you too
The first traveller to the winking star!! 😂😂
Super helpful. I didn’t realize there was a “tenor workshop” part later on, I was transposing the alto workshop on the fly . Haha. Was good practice. Thanks Dr Wally
Kudos for doing the hard work! Happy practicing Eric!
Hahaha! Rocket to Uranus. 'Be the first traveller to the winking star'. That is pretty funny Dr Wally. There were guffaws all around. I have completely forgotten what this lesson is about.
Great explanation and lesson. 🎷😎
Thanks, Keefie! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
This is another great video thank you for demystifying jazz and saxophone!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Most welcome, Alexis! I hope you find it helpful?
@@drwallysax totally, I'm already quite knowledgeable in jazz theory as I've been playing jazz guitar for more than 25 years but I'm starting on the saxophone and like you said it's far more important to learn the language than the theory of it. Theory helps to reproduce and keep track of something that has been already created, learning the language helps with everything else, creation, improvisation, interpretation, feel, rythmic placement, dynamics etc... Music is an oral tradition before everything else.
Great lesson
Fantastic explanation of ii-V-I!
As always, another great video.
Thanks David! It's how my goofy brain works, hopefully someone finds it helpful!
@@drwallysax I do and I can only imagine most other buddy saxophonists do! Music theory is generally intimidating and takes the fun out of fundamentals! Other improv lessons via the Internets talk about using the root chord's diminished 4th mixolydian triad... So yeah yours is more fun and realistic!
Love your approach. Will follow..
A very good approach and a positive way to learn. Thank you sir !
Most welcome, happy practicing Samersaxman!
Thanks greetings from Costa Rica
Most welcome my friend. Greetings from sunny North Carolina!
Really enjoyed this one, excellent practice session after feeling a little uninspired lately. Thanks Dr Wallace
Let's get you re-inspired David! Go practice!
Yeah, I just learned to play Long and winding road for fun and practise (by ear). If Paul had been thinking about music theory, would he even have put the juicy minor 7th Bb (on alto) in there among A and B? Music theory can give you ideas, but it can also limit your imagination. Ear and feeling are tools that should not be underestimated.
Very much agree, Esa!
Please more !
the camera shot looks great in this vid!! Also, the content as always
Thanks Parker! The generous coffee donations have allowed me to upgrade the Academy video gear! Not only does it look better, you might have noticed I can post more often now! (workflow with modern gear is soooo much easier). Have a great week!
Plagiarism! I wrote "Rocket to Uranus" back in the seventies! 🤣
Honestly fantastic information many thanks, and kicking the academic music 'snobs' into touch.
Play and enjoy it, that's music. Thanks Dr Wally, I'm away to practice. 😃
Thanks, Jim! Having completed a doctorate and taking renaissance counterpoint and post tonal serial analysis, I feel like I've earned the right to criticize the approach. My heroes learned by playing with mentors and records. It's way more fun and efficient.
I still like to map out the main guide tones of where the solo is going and than fill in the fills that I want, so that I can go from simple melody like the first lick to more complex.
Thanks for the licks as they are great to practice - even in all keys so that I don't have to look at the music but must play it by ear, which is the whole point.
I find that if you play great lines- you intuitively start to hear, feel, and predict the guide tones. And you're working on sound and technique at the same time. All the answers I need are in the lines of Desmond and Getz.
Fantastic. You remind me of the Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society who made his students rip up the awful poetry analysis essay then stand on their desks to see the world in a new way. Oh captain, my captain Dr Wally.
Gary that made my morning, thank you my friend. That's a high compliment, and hopefully means I'm having some success getting students to enjoy the process of playing jazz. Having completed a Doctorate in music, I've seen first hand how much garbage is created to justify the Universities music program's own existence. (I mean, I taught college and was part of the problem as well). But now I just want you guys to have fun and play!
Tonic ... to the soul. Thanks!
That makes me happy, thanks H B!
Thank you so soooo much!!! you are amazing
Awwww, thanks! Happy practicing and have a great week!
Loving all the great lessons.
Thanks Alan, much appreciated!
Holy Smokes! Where's your tie? Have you been making your coffee Irish Dr. Wallace(and on the Lord's day)?
Fantastic video!
Also, "the winking star"..... so much for breakfast 😂
Thank you for the effort you put into these videos👍
My tie was upstairs, only had 16oz of coffee in me. We had to roll film....
I wonder how she can sing that with a straight face...
A truly superb lesson - thank you so much
Most welcome, Stephen. Have a great week and happy practicing!
What an amazing channel. You're truly an inspiration Dr. Wally!
That is very kind, thanks Kalihman! hope it helps!
Really great tutorial - thanks!
Thanks so much, Stephen, really appreciate it!
This guy is awesome!
Love your videos
Thank you so much, Bonny! Happy practicing my friend!
The Paul Desmond line is from Black Orpheus, at the start of his solo? I happen to know that solo off by heart.
Good ear, Gerry! Isn't it beautiful!
Wow shows my ear has come on a long way..! Yes it sure is!
Hello Wally! I’ve enjoyed this series a LOT! Thanks for making things so clear and easy to understand. For us, adult students with limited time, it’s so useful not to lose time trying to figure out what to practice and how. Looking forward next week’s announcement… life changing announcement… mmm… are you leaving jazz for hockey? Did you bought a coffee field in Colombia and you’re moving there? 🤔
Hockey!!! No way eh?! I've left my academic job. Spent the last year building my dream. I'm excited.
It's very good content! And also, these are very useful patterns for all saxophonists.
Thank you very much for your working 🎷🙏
Most welcome Oleg! Have a great week!
Rocket to Uranus sounds so good
Thanks so much! I wrote it on a coffee break, was proud of it. Thanks!
An other great and very useful video thanks a lot. Would it be possible to have your backing track alone to repeat this exercise. Thanks
Hi Rispal, you can create the backing track yourself using iReal pro! They have ii/V exercises you can download for free.
Ottimo Maestro... Grande didatta 🎷❤️
Just great your offered strategy. First music and melody the theory. To follow your examples goes perfect, because i was told they are 2-5-1. But if i listen to music and a passage or phrase please me, how do i find out if it is 2-5-1 as well?
Really good stuff, thanks 🙏
Most welcome, happy practicing Katy!
What a great approach! I especially like that Miles lick. What tune is that from?
Rocket to Uranus. Love your humor.
Thanks Victor! Have a great week my friend!
Genio profe gracias😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Your vids are great. Informative, educational etc. But as a student sax player coming from a classical violin background, some of what you say hurts my brain a little. However, I do agree. One doesn't have to understand the theoretic concepts to be able to just play it. And that's where I want to be. I want to go to there.
I'm a classical saxophonist who learned (and always learning) jazz. At first I tried to theory my way into the genre. Diddn't work for me ;)
We can talk about the leading tone, or play a few lines by Stan Getz and FEEL what it does!
Happy practicing my friend!
I like your shirt, its very nice
This is great!
Hi Dr. Wally Wallace. I love your videos. I really do but this week's lesson was not to my liking because though I understand what a 2-5-1 progression is, I don't think that if I did not know, I'd appreciate this approach to learning it.
I had to learn about modes and understand what chord tones are first and play each throughout the progression before understanding what it is and how it is applied.
Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I really don't fully get it because I don't identify it by hearing it. I have to see the sheet music with the chords outlined to notice it.
The fact is, for me, all it is a musical device that helps me develop a melodic line in a given key center. I also appreciate the resolution to the root and that the device is in fourths. Had I not understood this music theory, I would not even practice licks and other vocabulary.
I could listen to an entire song and not identify a single 2-5-1 progression unless I first spent time learning to play it and improvising on it. So, I would not know where a 2-5-1 is, even if it jumped up and bit me on the lip, while listening.
The only time I can identify a 2-5-1 by ear is if the chord tones are austensibly played in ascending or descending order.
So, regrettably, your lesson, though appreciated, did not serve to enlighten my aural perception.
Perhaps you could present on this topic again to provide more clarity to folks like me.
Understandable. My way of teaching isn't for everyone! I'm at peace with that. Plenty of other TH-camrs teach the outline the chord patterns - if that works for you go for it! It's great there's so much info out there, you can choose what connects with you!
Happy practicing!
And... “Go Practice”... 👍👍👍
I was so busy ranting against the culture of academic theory I forgot to give the commandment!!!
Thanks for another inspiring video for your music teacher friend in Sweden. On a serious note, cheers for making me forever use "easy peasy, ham and cheesy" from now on! What was I thinking with lemon squeezy? 🍋 🤣🎷Christina
Hows the weather over there? It's already blazing hot here in North Carolina :(
@@drwallysax it varies a lot here (sun and showers) and we get the most beautiful evening skies as the number of daylight hours continue to grow. Up north (where I will be in July) the sun doesn't really set at all during the summer and, by coincidence, I had a sax solo in the last concert before Covid shutdown on "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" by Quincy Jones which may have been inspired by a Nordic midsummer 🤔. (The natives party big time at Midsummer by hopping around like frogs around a huge pole covered in daisies while singing after copious amounts of beverages. This is true. I can only watch from a distance, mildly traumatised by events...) Anyhoo, now we're rehearsing again in small groups (tonight hoorah!) and playing extensive British repertoire. Holst hoorah! So myself and an English cornet player (we Brits are everywhere!) are playing proudly in the Stockholm Wind Orchestra. :) Hope you're not sweating it too much in the heat and keeping it cool on sax. You're definitely allowed to go no- tie and looking sharp nonetheless. ;) Christina
that Paul Desmond line kills me every time, you just don't need a lot of fancy shit to get the job done.
In college all we did was analyze jazz theory and after the class I also didn’t understand and appreciate the music any better and worst felt unmotivated to play it anymore
I feel ya! Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.
Hello teacher, pls sir,
I'll like it simplified pls.
What do we play over Am7
Then what do we play over Dm
And then what we play over G
Great video. As simple as it seems, sometimes I have trouble hearing ii-V-I's. Btw, girl singer actually has a decent voice.
Super super cool 💚💚💚👍🏻
Thanks!
What mouthpiece and reeds are you using here? Sounds nice/ delicate.