Borrowing from Michael Brecker. If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe. 5 Sus4 Triads and the Perfect Maj7 licks you can. Michael Brecker Live Recordings. You have to register to download any PDF file. Solo transcriptions. FREE 400-page book. BEBOP EXERCISES © Jason Lyon 2008. The process is the thing, the lick or pattern is merely the raw material. Michael Brecker never stopped practising.
Fingering charts
The Woodwing Fingering Guide
This site has the most exhaustive charts for the regular and altissimo registers.
Level 3 Solutions
Has fingerings for notes up to D8,with many fingerings that are specific for given sax models.
Insubrica Saxophone Society
Offers a chart in PDF with many variations for the alto sax.
WardBaxter
Has a chart that goes up to C6,with many variations for each note.
Solo transcriptions (free)
Charles McNeal
With over 200 professionally-typeset solos in PDF format,this is easily the first place to visit when looking for sax transcriptions. The solos are high quality and the page is updated on a regular basis.
EJMA Woodwind Section
A great source for all saxophonists,with many high quality transcriptions that are often transpose in Eb,Bb,and C (concert key).
Casa Vandez Studio
Since 2005 David Valdez is managing one of the best sites devoted to sax lovers,with dozens of articles,transcriptions,tips,interviews,etc. Best of all,new information is added almost on a daily basis. Don’t miss this one!
Sax-Shed
A little gold-mine,with many pages devoted to practicing and a section containing many transcriptions. Some PDFs only include the initial or central portion of the solo,yet you can get many hard-to-find solos here.
Michael Brecker Live Recordings
A large collection of Michael Brecker’s solos. Louis Gerritz offers his own transcriptions as well as a lot of material provided by other players. Even not counting links to external sites,you can find over 70 original transcribed solos,and new ones are added every now and then.
Bob Berg Transcription Page
Rodolfo Varani did a superb job in transcribing many Bob Berg’s themes and solos.
The Cannonball Adderley Rendez-Vous
As it name suggests,this site –maintained by Giles Miton –is entirely devoted to Cannonball Adderley and showcases his biography,discography,sax setup,etc. There is also a page with solo transcriptions in Eb,Bb,and C,with a RealAudio file of the actual solo.
Steve Khan
Steve is a guitar player who transcribed many interesting solos from important jazz improvisers. The lion’s share is about guitar players,but Steve obviously loves sax players too,and the list includes a few gems. What makes this material precious and unique is that it includes the MP3 file and a thorough analysis of each solo.
Scooby-Sax
Jeff Rzepiela transcribed many sax solos and made them available in Bb,Eb,and C keys. He even provided an analysis and a set of recommended exercises for some of these solos. You need to register to download PDF files.
Transcriptions Pool‘s
A directory of scores and transcribed solos – for all music genders,not just jazz. It allows you to search its collection by style,instrument,or artist. It is also possible to filter by date,therefore it’s easy to quickly find the material added after your last visit.
Scribd
In case you aren’t familiar with it already,Scribd is a repository for shared documents of all sorts. There are many solos that aren’t available anywhere else,the only problem is finding them. For example,try seaching for “solo transcription” and see what you get.
Jazz Bari Sax
The site every baritone sax player should include among its favorites (or maybe use as his home page). As you may expect,it has a page entirely devoted to transcriptions.
JazzItalia
JazzItalia is where many Italian jazz players meet and discuss. Their transcription section is well organized and all solos are accompanied by an MP3 file (often with a slowed down version for study purposes).
Loren Weisbrod
A site with several transcriptions for tenor sax players. Worth a visit.
Harder Bop
Kelly Buchener manages this informative blog. The list of transcribed solos is in the left column.
Practice Portal
James Mahone maintains this superb blog that contains a lot of useful material for music students. There isn’t a specific section for transcriptions,but yuo can easily search for them.
Associative Continuum Jazz et Musiques Improvisées
Many resources for jazz players,even though its transcription section is hardly usable. Some very good solos,though.
Michael Brecker Youtube
Brent Stuntzner
As a guitarist,Brent has transcripted a lot of guitar solos,but it also found the time to work on solos by Charlie Parker,John Coltrane,Johnny Griffin,and Paul Desmond.
South Carolina School of Music
Some assorted solos can be found here,mostly by piano players with some saxophonists.
Jazz-Clarinet
The place to visit –for info and transcriptions –if you play the wooden instrument. You have to register to download any PDF file.
Solo transcriptions ($$$)
www.saxsolos.com
Curtis Swift has transcribed over 2000 solos and sells them at $0.50 per page. For one extra buck you can have the solo in another key (e.g. you can have a tenor solo transcribed for alto). The solos are high-quality and beatifully typeset,and rival those you can find in books. Within a few hours after the PayPal or credit card payment you will receive an email with the solos your ordered,in PDF format. You can also ask Curtis to transcribe a solo that you provide as an MP3 file (for a higher fee).
JazzNote.co.uk
Here you can find solos for any instrument,including piano. They charge 3 UK pounds per page for solos that are already available,and they can transcribe a solo for you.
www.cannonballjazz.com
This site by Doc Stewart offers virtually all Cannonball’s solos in paper form,for a total of 10 books and nearly 400 solos. Each book costs between 16$ and 80$,plus shipping fees. Solos are not available as individual PDF files.
www.dextergordon.com
This site showcases about 20 “official” transcriptions of Dexter Gordon’s solos. Presumably,these are the same solos that are found in Dexter Gordon Jazz Saxophone Solo Book,however you can purchase individual solos,at 4$ each.
Fred Hess
Fred sells collections of Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins’s solos.
Mouthpiece opening charts
JodyJazz
Compares all models of JodyJazz alto sax mouthpieces’with Bari,Beechler,Berg Larsen,Dukeoff,Meyer,Ponzol,Rico,Rousseau,Runyon,Rovner,Selmer,Vandoren,Yamaha,Yanagisawa,and a few others. Other charts are available for soprano,tenor,and baritone.
JunkDude
Covers several models by LeBayle,Morgan,Meyer,Otto Link,Ponzol,and Vandoren. This chart compares Ralph Morgan models and also provides reccommendation about which reed to use.
Saxman
Covers Bari,Beechler,Berg Larsen,Dukeoff,Meyer,Otto Link,Selmer, Vandoren,Yanagisawa,and a few others. Newer models are not covered,yet it’s a very good reference. Apparently,it’s based on 1996 The Saxophone Shop’s catalog,which I have seen in many other sites,such as this.
Michael Brecker Licks
SaxGourmet
Comparison of most popular alto sax mouthpieces in a printable GIF image. They have similar charts for soprano,tenor,and baritone.
Michael Brecker Transcriptions Pdf
Vandoren
Provides tip opening and reed suggestions for all Vandore alto sax mouthpieces. Similar charts are available for soprano,tenor,and baritone.
Warbunton
Compares Warburton mouthpieces to models by Otto Link,JodyJazz,Selmer,and Berg Larsen.
Yamaha
Tip opening and facing length for Yamaha Standard Series and for the Custom Series Mouthpieces.
Here’s a free sheet I give to all my students after they learn their major scales. It’s just a sheet with all the 12 Major Blues Scales on it. If you take a look at the sheet you might notice that the scales are the same as the scales on my free 12 blues scales sheet but that they start on a different note. For example, the F major blues scale is the same as the D blues scale (some people call this the minor blues scale) but the D blues scale starts on D and it’s home base root note is D. The F Major blues scale starts on F and it’s home base root note is F.
When I teach my students to use the major blues scales, I teach them to try to move off the b3 note quickly when playing. Many student who are new to improvising will land on the b3 and just sit on it without resolving it. This is a great note because there’s tension to it but tension sounds best when you hear it resolve. For example, if I’m using the A major blues scale and play a C, many times you will hear me resolve it to C# or to B which in most cases are more pleasing notes to the ear. It’s good to practice each blues scale to it’s corresponding major or dominant chord. Ex. A major blues scale- practice this over an A major or a A7 chord. There is slight variations in how you use this scale depending on the harmony behind it.
When you practice these scales over a major tonality or dominant tonality you want to practice resolving your lines to the three best notes in the scale. For Fmaj7 or F7 you would use the F major blues scale and try to resolve your lines to F, A or C. This takes focused practice at first but after a little while you will begin to hear where the notes of the major blues scale want to resolve naturally.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD –> 12-major-blues-scales
For more information and licks using the blues scales check out my two books on Mastering the Blues Scales. There are tons of great sound lines and licks in these two books!
I also have tons of lessons in my Neffmusic store on the blues scales and the 12 bar blues both for alto and tenor saxophone. I always tell my students, “If you can master the blues scale and wail with it………..you are ready for your first gig!”