Once you know your major scales, you’ll have some of the minor scales under your fingers already.
If you play a C major scale, but start on A then it becomes an A natural minor scale.
Minor scales are slightly more involved. There are three types- harmonic, natural, and melodic.
But you can relate the minor scales back to the major scales.
You’ll see minor chords in music all the time, so it’s useful to know the minor scales.
And it’s good to know the different kinds, since they each have a different feeling.
After you have mastered the minor scales, you might want to get into the different modes. What that means is that you take a major scale and get a different ‘mode’ by starting on each different note.
Tip - By knowing the major scales, you know a lot of how the minor scales work. And by hearing the sound of it, your ear will help you.
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Mindset Lesson-:
Practice scales part of the time, but don’t get caught up in them! Remember that you’re playing music.
Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone. On Double Rainbow, he plays Brazillian jazz from Jobim. The CD is interesting partly because he plays both with an American rhythm section including Herbie Hancock and a Brazillian rhythm section with players like Eliane Elias.
Knowing your major scales will provide a foundation for playing a lot of music.
The scales are in a ‘key’ and the key gives the musician and listener a sense of direction. You might move from the ii chord to the V chord back to the I chord and you’ll feel a sense of resolution.
If you know all your major scales on saxophone already, you’ll probably know this next part already.
The major scale has seven notes and the intervals are set up in a very specific way which stays consistent for all of the major scales. There are 12 major scales- one starting on each note.
On the piano, the major scale consists of the white notes from C to the next C.
C D E F G A B C
Between E and F and and B and C there are half steps.
So the pattern of intervals for the major scale is:
W W H W W W H
where W = whole step and H = half step.
Certain major scales are easier for you to play, for example the C and G major scales. The key of C has no sharps or flats and the key of G only has one sharp.
It’s really just an issue of being comfortable.
Tip - Spend time on the scales you don’t know well and make them as comfortable as the ones you do know.
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Mindset Lesson-:
Anything that is comfortable for you stops being hard!
Saxophone Challenge
Day 09 – Taking Breaks During Saxophone Practice
‘Bleeding Gums Murphy’ on the Simpsons played saxophone until his gums bled. And he never went to the dentist.
But I wouldn’t recommend it!
Playing too long without breaks can also cause blood….
Different sax players have different limits. You might be able to practice all day on a size [...]
Saxophone Challenge
Day 08 – Practicing Scales on Saxophone
Are you ready to go on stage at Yoshi’s and play some major scales?
Well… if you were, you shouldn’t be.
Scales aren’t that interesting by themselves.
But knowing them and having them under your fingers can help you out a lot on saxophone.
So start by learning all of the major [...]
@Paul_McK It could be an issue with the reed, or possibly a leak in the saxophone. If the low notes come out, it could be the leak. in reply to Paul_McK1 day ago
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