I used to look forward to the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Now I look forward to Dr. Wally’s Sunday lessons.

I completely forgot!! I was so busy ranting against the academic cult of music theory I forgot to say: GO PRACTICE! Seriously, go practice...

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.

< 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 ! >

Thanks Dr Wally, my old YAS 25 came up sparkling when I hit that like button! This is a great lesson!

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.

The rocket to Uranus part followed by the song killed me 🤣🤣🤣 pure poetry

The lyrics of your classic song "Rocket to Uranus" has earned you a "like", and my undying admiration.

I’ve been listening to Rocket... for weeks now. The singer does a beautiful job and when she winks it’s just hilarious.

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.... ;)

Finally, some clear examples of excellent licks on 2 5 1 for sax players. Keep up your FANTASTIC work Doc!

Rocket to Uranus! Nearly fell off my music stool from laughing so much. Oh, great lesson too.

Wish you had been my instructor at the school of music.

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...

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.

Dr. Dave the psychologist here. Really like your approach. Easy to follow. Accurate too

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.

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.

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!

your explanation made me cleared of my curiosities over decade! thank you

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!

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!

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

Will certainly use this for my practice, thanks a bunch!

Doctor Wallace, found a KZfaqr 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.

Best jazz lesson approach I ever seen on KZfaq. Great job.

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!

Great video, people at a certain school in NY pay dearly for this advice.

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!

Straight ahead good fun. Thank you for reminding one on that. Good commentary

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!

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.

Dr Wally….. simply excellent. I am following your lessons. I am a fan of yours.

Love your approach. Will follow..

I love how that high A on the desmond lick is played

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.

Great lesson

Dr. Wally Wallace back at it once again!

Loving all the great lessons.

What an amazing channel. You're truly an inspiration Dr. Wally!

A very good approach and a positive way to learn. Thank you sir !

This is another great video thank you for demystifying jazz and saxophone!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Please more !

A great lesson, learn from the Masters, and Dr. Wally.

Great Video! Nice to see and hear you play some Tenor....

A truly superb lesson - thank you so much

It's very good content! And also, these are very useful patterns for all saxophonists. Thank you very much for your working 🎷🙏

Dr. Wally keeps on bringing the goods!

Ottimo Maestro... Grande didatta 🎷❤️

Really enjoyed this one, excellent practice session after feeling a little uninspired lately. Thanks Dr Wallace

Great explanation and lesson. 🎷😎

This guy is awesome!

I love Sundays!

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.

This is great!

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.

Love your videos

11:49 enjoy the process. Well said

Thank you so soooo much!!! you are amazing

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👍

Fantastic explanation of ii-V-I! As always, another great video.

I haven't commented for 4 Months: I was Practising, thx Dr. Wally-your the Man

AWESOME...AWESOME...AWESOME LESSON!!! OMG....Dr. Wally REALLY does have a song called Rocket To Uranus...!!

Hands down the best improvising companion to cook with. Waiting for the next recipe sir.

Tonic ... to the soul. Thanks!

Really great tutorial - thanks!

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

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.

the camera shot looks great in this vid!! Also, the content as always

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.

Really good stuff, thanks 🙏

The first traveller to the winking star!! 😂😂

Super super cool 💚💚💚👍🏻

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.

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? 🤔

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.

wow~~i will remember this!!! that's amazing!! I've been touched by you !!! ^^ have a lovely day !

Pretty cool that "Because" ends on a diminished chord.

that Paul Desmond line kills me every time, you just don't need a lot of fancy shit to get the job done.

Thanks greetings from Costa Rica

Wait, wait. You seriously wrote a song called 'Rocket to Uranus'?!? Genius.

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.

Thank you!!!

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. 😃

Rocket to Uranus sounds so good

I like your shirt, its very nice

Ok, so how am I supposed to play this while rolling on the floor laughing! 😂

thank you! JBS

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

What a great approach! I especially like that Miles lick. What tune is that from?

First traveler to the winking star! 🤣🤣🤣

Rocket to Uranus. Love your humor.

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

This is just too advance music theory for a Sunday morning. “Coffee! More coffee.” Do love ‘the Rocket to Uranus.” You are one twisted boy. I’m going to have to watch this several times and just try to play along. (The sound of blankets going back over my head)

And... “Go Practice”... 👍👍👍

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.

Great video. As simple as it seems, sometimes I have trouble hearing ii-V-I's. Btw, girl singer actually has a decent voice.

If your life change is a comprehensive book on learning jazz improv, I’m in. If you’re leaving music to study close-up magic at Online Close-Up Magic University, not so much.

Hello, Dr. Wally! Great presentation! I've already shared this with several of my students, 2 of whom have asked, What songs are these ii-V-I improvs from? Thanks in advance!

The "winking star"...LOL. I'm laughing so hard I possibly will have to cancel my lessons.