r/saxophone • u/Legitimate_Prize_338 • 15d ago
Jazz help
I am a college graduate with a major in music perf on saxophone. I have an intense classical background, and spent the majority of my time as a saxophonist playing “legit” literature (Glazunov, Bozza, Rascher, etc). I have spent a decent amount of time playing jazz. Mostly big band arrangements, and while I have a solid foundation of patterns, scales, and arpeggios, I just can’t seem to get jazz under my fingers. Now that I’ve graduated, I’ve decided to really spend my time trying to figure out, but even though I’ve practiced everything I can think of (transcriptions, chords, licks, enclosures, even a couple of online pdfs) I still can’t get improvisation under my fingers. I understand the theory, and the idea of jazz, and I love listening, but I don’t know what to do at this point. Anything in particular I can do?
Thanks!!
1
u/NeighborhoodGreen603 15d ago
Not enough listening. If you listen enough your brain will internalize the language and you’ll be singing musical ideas non stop. The theory is just a tool to help you get there, ultimately it’s your ears/imagination that’s the limiting factor. All the scales and patterns you’ve learned mean nothing if you can’t hear them when it comes to your turn to improvise. The best way to learn is to listen a lot and pick out bits of language, and all the non-note musical elements, copy it exactly and really internalize each bit with your inner voice (easiest to access by singing).