Fingering Chart
When there is more than one choice for a fingering, the one on the left is the primary fingering for that note. The others are prioritized as to usage.
Fingering Chart
Page 2
When there is more than one choice for a fingering, the one on the left is the primary fingering for that note. The others are prioritized as to usage.
Beginning & Intermediate Lessons Page | |||
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If you would like to march to a different drummer, (and you should) then be sure to check out the new metronome program I found. This is a very cool little program! Set it for speeds up to 240 beats per minute, and choose up to eight different sounds. Click here for a quick download. (327kb) If you need WinZip, go here. For an online metronome, go here. Intermediate Lessons | ||||
Here are the H. Klose 25 (minus 1) Daily Exercises for Saxophone. They are intended for intermediate to advanced players. These should be practiced on a regular basis for technique improvement. Try to maintain a regular tempo and keep your fingers close to the keys throughout these exercises. | ||||
| Klose #1 | Klose #6 | Klose #11 | Klose #16 | Klose #21 |
| Klose #2 | Klose #7 | Klose #12 | Klose #17 | Klose #22 |
| Klose #3 | Klose #8 | Klose #13 | Klose #18 | Klose #23 |
| Klose #4 | Klose #9 | Klose #14 | Klose #19 | Klose #24 |
| Klose #5 | Klose #10 | Klose #15 | Klose #20 | |
Well, where do I begin? How about the beginning. First of all, there are only twelve notes in the entire world. That is assuming you're not from India, where they have twenty four. The "musical alphabet" as I call it, is A through G, just like the regular alphabet, except when you get to G you go back to A. There is no H. All the flats and sharps are in between. As you go up in pitch, you are going forwards in the alphabet. As you go down in pitch, you are going backwards in the alphabet. Have you ever heard the phrase " Every Good Boy Does Fine?" Maybe, maybe not. Beginning music readers use this as a tool to remember the names of the notes that appear on the lines of the staff with the treble clef. The first letter of each word spells E - G - B - D - F. The notes in the spaces spell something you look at every day: F - A - C - E. If you put them all together, it looks like this: The smallest increment in Western music is the half step. It is the distance between one note and an adjacent note, either up or down. To flat a note means to lower it by a half step. To sharp a note means to raise it a half step. The keyboard below shows the location of all twelve notes. The white notes are the key of C, no flats or sharps. The flats and sharps are the black notes. That brings us to the subject of intervals. Here are the general names for intervals in a major scale. I have these listed using letter names and numbers. The scale steps are frequently referred to as numbers 1 through 7. They are usually Roman numerals. Using numbers is more convenient because it is the same no matter what key you happen to be in. Here they are in the key of C: Using Letter Names Using Roman Numerals C to D - Major Second - 2 half steps C to E - Major Third - 4 half steps C to F - Perfect Fourth - 5 half steps C to G - Perfect Fifth - 7 half steps C to A - Major Sixth - 9 half steps C to B - Major Seventh - 11 half steps C to C - Octave - 12 half steps I - II Major Second I - III Major Third I - IV Perfect Fourth I - V Perfect Fifth I - VI Major Sixth I - VII Major Seventh I - I Octave Here are the names of intervals for the chromatic scale: C to Dflat - Minor Second - 1 half step C to D - Major Second - 2 half steps C to Eflat - Minor Third - 3 half steps C to E - Major Third - 4 half steps C to F - Perfect Fourth - 5 half steps C to F# - Augmented Fourth - 6 half steps C to G - Perfect Fifth - 7 half steps C to Aflat - Minor Sixth - 8 half steps C to A - Major Sixth - 9 half steps C to Bflat - Minor Seventh - 10 half steps C to B - Major Seventh - 11 half steps C to C - Octave - 12 half steps Enharmonic Equivalents This is another way of saying that each note has two names. For example, the note Eflat can also be called D#. The interval between C and Eflat can be called either a minor third or an augmented second. It is considered more correct to call it a minor third because the general name is a third. If you flat the interval (make it minor), of the third, then you have a minor third. A C to D# would be more accurately called an augmented second because the general name is a second. There are two basic criteria to consider when learning how to read music. Pitch and rhythm. Pitch is determined by the placement of the note in the staff. Rhythm, or the duration of the note, is determined by the kind of note it is. I will deal with the five most common notes first. They are: whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes. Every note has a corresponding rest with equal value. In common (four-four) time, whole notes and whole rests get four beats. Half notes and half rests get two beats. Quarter notes and quarter rests get one beat. Eighth notes and eighth rests get a half beat (or, two eighths per beat). Sixteenth notes and sixteenth rests get a quarter of a beat (or, four sixteenths per beat). Each measure begins with the downbeat of beat one. Whether a note or a rest, measures always start on the downbeat of one. Be sure to give the full value of each note. If a whole note starts on one and gets four beats, you must end the note on beat one of the next measure to give it the full four beats. It starts on one, not zero. When playing successive notes, you must start each note on the down beat. There should be a slight pause taken at the end of the previous note so that you start the following note right on the downbeat. One common misunderstanding when learning to read music is to interpret eighth notes and sixteenth notes as meaning "fast." Unless a fast tempo marking is given, this is not the case. You should understand that eighth notes mean that you should divide the beat into two equal halves, one on the downbeat, one on the upbeat. Sixteenth notes should be seen as dividing the beat into four equal parts, two on the downbeat, two on the upbeat. This has nothing to do with speed, it has to do with how the beat is divided. Chord Type Scale Type C Major, CMajor7(9,11,13) C Major Scale from C to C C minor,Cminor7(9,11,13) Bflat Major Scale from C to C C Dominant7(9,11,13) F Major Scale from C to C The scales are all from C to C because you must always respect the chord that is sounding at the time. In other words, if you are playing on a C Major chord, then home base, or tonic, is C. This is a very basic chord/scale chart, but I hope to impress upon you that scales are very important. They are at the root of improvisation. My old teacher, Danny Patiris said to me once, "If you can't play a major scale, then what can you play?" He was right. The II-7 - V7 - I Progression Let's get right to the heart of the matter, shall we? If you take the most common chord progression in the world, the II-7 - V7 - I, and analyze it, you come away with an understanding that will make things a little more clear. First, a little explanation of chords. A chord is two or more notes (usually at least three) played simultaneously, or as an arpeggio, which is a chord, played one note at a time. Using only the notes in the major scale of the key you are in, if you stack up four notes in thirds on top of each scale step, you will get the 7th chords found in that key. See example below. This will give you some very important information that will be the same in all major keys. See Theory 4 for more information about chords. This is a II-7 V7 I in the key of C: The II-7 chord is a minor chord. In the key of C, that would be a Dmin7 chord. D - F - A - C. That chord takes a C major scale from D to D. This is the Dorian mode. The V7 chord is a dominant chord. In the key of C, that would be a G7 chord. G - B - D - F. That chord takes the C major scale from G to G. This is the mixolydian mode. The I chord would be a major chord. In the key of C, that would be a C Major 7 chord. C - E - G - B. That chord takes the C major scale from C to C. So, as you can see, these three chords take the same scale, the only thing that changes is the chord that is sounding. You must always play on the chord that is being played. You would be well advised to practice this progression in all keys. This, again, is a very brief explanation of harmony. These are the basics that all improvisers should know. Here is a cool bebop pattern over II-7 V7 progressions. Chords and Chord Symbols A brief explanation of the most common chord types and their symbols. (key of C): MINOR SEVENTH CHORD (Chord symbol: Cm7 or C-7) DOMINANT SEVENTH CHORD (Chord symbol: C7) DIMINISHED SEVEN CHORD (Chord symbol: C°7) HALF-DIMINISHED CHORD (Chord symbol: Cm7b5) Modes and Scales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modes are easiest to understand if you relate them to major scales. So, first, this on major scales. There is a formula for constructing a major scale from any note. If W stands for a whole step and H stands for a half step then that formula is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. If you apply that formula starting on any note, you will construct a major scale. Major scales all have the same sound. If you sing Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do, you are singing a major scale. They sound the same because they all have the same formula of whole steps and half steps. The mode based on tonic to tonic (I to I) is the Ionian mode or major scale. So, if you change the arrangement of these half steps and whole steps, you get a different "sound" or "mode." If you were to play the scale From II - II in any major scale, you get the Dorian mode. The names of these modes comes from ancient Greek civilizations who first sought to organize notes in this manner. I will list these here in the key of C. I will also list them by Roman numerals. You would be well advised to start thinking in terms of Roman numerals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
C - C, or I - I is the Ionian Mode Click here for midi file D - D, or II - II is the Dorian Mode Click here for midi file E - E, or III - III is the Phrygian Mode Click here for midi file F - F, or IV - IV is the Lydian Mode Click here for midi file G - G, or V - V is the Mixolydian Mode Click here for midi file A - A, or VI - VI is the Aeolian Mode Click here for midi file B - B, or VII - VII is the Locrian Mode .Click here for midi file | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pentatonic scales are some of the most often used scales in improvisation. Whether it's jazz, rock and roll, or country, these scales are used in every style. They function well because they are simple and can fit over different types of chords. There are two types of pentatonic scales, major pentatonic and minor pentatonic. On this page I will show you the easiest way to derive major and minor pentatonic and blues scales from any major scale. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The major pentatonic scale is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1, of the major scale. These would be the notes for "C" major pentatonic: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Every major key has a relative minor key, just like every major scale has it's relative minor. An easy way to think of minor pentatonic scales is to play the same notes as the "C" major pentatonic, only change the tonal center to "A" (the relative minor of "C"). These are the notes for "A" minor pentatonic. The roman numerals are for the key of "A" major. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finally, to derive the blues scale from the "A" minor pentatonic, you would just insert the flat 5 (Eb) into the "A" minor pentatonic scale. These are the notes in the "A" blues scale: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you want to derive the "C" minor pentatonic scale from a "C" major scale, the numbers would be: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Start and end these scales at the red letter and you will be playing the relative minor pentatonic scale. Cool, huh? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
That's it! Just five and six note scales can be a very good addition to your vocabulary. Lots of players have used this approach to a very successful end. Players like David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, Grover Washington Jr., Chris Potter, Jerry Bergonzi and John Coltrane, to name just a few. You can use the C major pentatonic over a C major chord - C6 - Cmaj7 - Cmaj9, or a dominant chord - C7 - C9 - C11 - C13. Use the A minor pentatonic over an A minor chord - Amin - Amin7 - Amin9. Use the A blues scale over an A dominant chord, - A7 - A9 - A11, or Amin chords, Amin, Amin7, Amin9. Of course, you can play the blues scale exclusively over the blues form, if you're in the key of "A", you would use the "A" blues scale. However, unless you can really get down and honk on that blues scale, it would be a good idea to try to use all of these scales in the blues to make your solo more interesting.... at least until the point where you canreally get down and honk! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Play jazz like John Coltrane on your saxophone. Learn how to play the saxophone in this free music lesson from a professional sax player.
There are 15 videos in this series:
