You are right. Richie will rightly give me hell for that!

Because of Richie's financial situation, he cannot take money directly. Heather is the go-between. Trust me that the money all goes to Richie outside of any "tip" someone gives at the time of donation This probably should have been made clear on that page.

@@mymusicsavvy I can vouch for this as well. The money is all going to Richie.

As I said in the video, I am not against working on scales. They help orient one's ear to key centers and builds technical facility, both of which are critical to improvisation. But leave them at the door when it comes to improvising. Orienting your playing to scales and memorized patterns is the very definition of mechanical playing. It also reinforces today's prevailing idea that jazz is about the quantity of notes - the more the better. And forcing scales and patterns into "improvisation" is an excellent way to artificially increase the volume of notes. Instead, listen to tons of music, compose your own music, play piano regardless of your primary instrument, practice your instrument relentlessly to gain facility, but don't be lured into the mechanical caricature of jazz by confusing scales and patterns for music. Play what you hear inside.

@@mymusicsavvy Wouldn’t you say that scale practice goes beyond just the key center? For example, you could play over a ii V I and think of just the key center and sound fine. This is what I call “global” playing. But thinking of chord-scales through the ii V I (ex. Dorian to Altered to Lydian tonic) will take you in a different direction and open up melodic possibilities that wouldn’t arise from the other approach. I think it’s important for students to develop this “local” approach as well as the global one. Ultimately, I agree that in the musical moment you want to just follow your ear and heart!

@@tbonealex I think our basic disagreement is about the relationship between scales and melodies when crafting music. Scales are not melodies. I'm advocating starting from melody instead of scale. I see confusion and frustration from players thinking while improvising about technical terms like Dorian, Altered, Lydian, etc. The notes fit the chords but is the final result personally inspired music? The audience I'm trying to help is the guy or gal who doesn't naturally think of modes and altered scales. It sounds like that stuff comes naturally to you and allows you to express yourself the way you prefer. But I see the musical results when I encourage a player to sing what they hear inside and then play that on their instrument, not thinking about anything but the melody over the sound of the chords. Is it perfectly aligned with the harmony? Not always. Did they miss that raised 4 or flat nine in the chord? Sometimes. But I don't think that technical precision is the primary goal of improvisation for many who want to improvise better. Was Miles always technically note precise. No. He played what he heard, and his energy and melodic genius created great music. That's my model. I did go to great lengths in the video to say that this way of approaching jazz is not objectively the only way. But for those with a certain sense for melody and whose left brain to instrument connection is not as technically proficient or quick as yours, I experience this as making them better and more satisfied improvisers.

@@mymusicsavvy I agree that scales are not melodies, but it doesn’t take much to go from a boring, mechanical scale to an expressive melody (add some rhythms, combine leaps and steps, chromatic embellishments, expressive inflection, etc). Maybe you’ve had different results, but in my own experience (ten years working full time teaching college jazz students), asking a student to follow their ear without also methodically exposing their ears (and fingers) to the sounds of the individual chords and scales tends to have very mediocre results. We hear this in every middle school blues scale solo! I suspect that if you asked a beginner jazz student to sing what they hear in their mind over a fairly complex tune like “Stella,” they would struggle a lot at first (my guess is that many wouldn’t even be able to hear the key area shifts), but after spending some time practicing the individual chords and scales (mechanically at first, then adding the other elements I mentioned, and also doing a lot of singing), they would probably be able to hear and sing something much better! When students listen to great jazz recordings from about the late 1950s on, they are largely listening to players who were thinking about individual chords and scales (in addition to song melodies and key centers) as the basis of improvisation. Chet Baker would be one obvious exception in that he was strictly an ear player, whereas people like Coltrane and Michael Brecker went hard on the scale side. I think there is a famous quote from Miles where he says that his musical goal was to “learn all the changes” which seems absurd on its face but I think he meant that he wanted to go deeper into the relationship between melody and harmony. This interest is also clear form fact that he hung so much with Gil Evans and got into George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept. There is no question in my mind that although he performed with absolute freedom, he practiced in a way that dug into chords, scales, and harmony in a very specific way. I know that students can easily get frustrated and overwhelmed with all the different scales and modes but I think it’s up to us teachers to make it as simple as possible and to let them know that it’s not as daunting as it seems (as you know, almost all the scales they need to know are modes of either major or melodic minor). Anyway, thanks for your response and I enjoy your channel!

@@tbonealex Let’s conclude this conversation by stating that you and I are saying basically the same thing: learn your chords, scales, patterns, piano voicings, and other theory-but leave it at the door when you stand up to improvise.

Hi Pieter, you can get the book at: musicsavvy.com/alto-trombone-savvy/ I just released a new video on the alto and on the book. You can see that here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jLVmoaSr0MzQgX0.html Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Hi Pieter. Just checking in to see if you've been able to access the book.

fun slide sound?

Sounds like fun … 😅 … I really enjoy your alto and improvisation „content“ - all the best from cologne

Interesting comment, Neil. I think the tie-in to my educational stuff is that my message for improvisational performance is for it to be free from the constraints of scales, memorized licks & patterns, and the technicality of the printed page. I think improvisation is a journey of musical freedom. It does take work to get there, but is worth the effort. Thanks for that!

Neil, Great question. Listening and the analysis of chords and harmonic theory are really to separate activities. Take the time to understand the chords and form of a tune. Know the various key centers and how they move from one to the next. If you are a horn player, play through the chords on the piano, ideally by memory. But after that analysis (or in between sessions of that analysis) LISTEN to the harmony, learn the melody, and improvise over the changes on your instrument by ear as much as you can. I advise players (and myself) to avoid thinking about the chords as they play. I look at it as a toggle switch that goes one direction or the other between thinking and listening. I mocked up this toggle switch in this 1-minute entertaining video: vimeo.com/479914635 I know how irresistible it can be to think think think from chord to chord or section to section, and if you have enough harmonic knowledge and instrumental chops, you can manufacture something that sounds 'correct.' But my question is: do you consider that type of playing to be spontaneous musical composition that authentically reflects YOU? And I also ask, as you develop your ear to instrument connection, will that connection allow you to create much more satisfying music for both you and the listener. I think you know my answers! As I hear from players who develop the skill and confidence to play by ear without the 'safety net' of thinking, they are thrilled with the surprising result. I look forward to you being one of them!!

That video spot on - trying to connect the chords, chord tones, approach notes, scalar notes, emphasis, articulation, while trying to have fun and stay loose. Drives me crazy. I appreciate your thoughts. Neil

Thank you Jason. Wonderful testimonial. Isn't it amazing what happens when you focus on your hearing of the music and the connection that can built with your instrument?

I made it as fast as I could (-; Glad it will help!

I’ve missed your fantastic videos and instructional materials.

Well put, Paul!