Hazel O'Connor - Will You

[MellowD]

Hello folks. Advice required please.

I've been approached to consider playing this little ditty with a band on New Year. Cough cough cough. I've been away from the sax over a year, though I'm back to practice from today.

My only experience of playing in a band has been Swing and Big Band style, so I've always been given the dots for my part. Other than that, any music I've played has been from books for sax, and pretty much they always play the melody itself, instead of the incidentals - example in mind, Isn't She Lovely: Stevie Wonder, gives the song dots but not the marvellous sax solo.

So I'm putting myself in the firing line here to ask:
How do you guys in bands do it?
Do you listen and learn the sax piece by ear?
Or is there a place you go to get the dots for the solo sax?

I KNOW I don't have the skills as yet to go off and take part in this offer if I need to learn and copy this piece by ear. Yet I would love to take up the opportunity if I can.

What's you view or experience please?

 

[Pete Thomas]

There are various ways:

• Buy the sheetmusic if it includes the solo
• Buy a MIDIfile and use a notation program
• Transcribe or learn by ear (Cna help to get a slowdowning program such as Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner

I suggest the latter is best, as in a band it is always best to have the tune and (non-improvised) solo memorised.

BTW, unless I am radically misremembering, the solo on Isn't She Lovely was mouth organ, or are you thinking of the Stevie/Kenny duet?

 

[rhysonsax]

"Will You ?" is a great sax-based song that is fun to play live, especially with a good singer.

The answer to your questions sort of depends on whether you and the band want to do a recreation of the well-known recording (as close as you can) or you want to do your own version.

In order to learn it, it would help to know the form of the song (key, verses, choruses, chord changes) and to play along with the original recording. I find that I remember tunes etc better if I learn them by ear rather than from reading notes and then trying to do without the notes.

There are various places you can get a transcription of the sax solo and you can also get a pretty good band arrangement of the song for all the instruments.

I have transcribed Wesley Magoogan's original alto sax part - all the fills and the long solo and then revised it a couple of times. It works quite well on soprano sax too, with just one note out of range.

Playing with Wesley Magoogan will help you to get closer to his style and his great saxophone sound.


Rhys

 

[Vlad]

Tbh, I'd just keep listening to it and try playing along and work it out for yourself that way, none of that kind of music is rocket science !
In a previous life as a bass player that's what I always did to learn songs for a set, if you've sussed it by yourself you're fairly likely to remember it too !

 

[MellowD]

[QUOTE="

BTW, unless I am radically misremembering, the solo on Isn't She Lovely was mouth organ, or are you thinking of the Stevie/Kenny duet?[/QUOTE]

Definitely it was mouth organ. It would be good to be able to play, even on sax though. I gave it as an easy recall example of where theres a fab solo without dots to get my point across.

I haven't heard of the programs you suggest, but then I haven't needed to. Will go take a look. I'm assuming they will work on Mac?

 

[Pete Thomas]

I haven't heard of the programs you suggest, but then I haven't needed to. Will go take a look. I'm assuming they will work on Mac?

Transcribe does (this one actually tells you the notes)

http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/download_mac.html

Amazing Slowdowner also is on mac, plus smartphone apps:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/amazing-slow-downer/id308998718?mt=8

 

[Pete Thomas]

Note that transcribing as opposed to just getting the notation is also great ear training, and with the slowdowning process is not at all difficult.

 

[MellowD]

Transcribe does (this one actually tells you the notes)

http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/download_mac.html

Amazing Slowdowner also is on mac, plus smartphone apps:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/amazing-slow-downer/id308998718?mt=8

Thank you. This is brilliantly useful. I will get onto it directly in the morning and hopefully I might be able to do something that makes sense. I really need to set myself some seemingly impossible goals otherwise I won't be challenged enough!

 

[Steve Marshall]

I have the Will You solo printed out if you need it.

 

[dooce]

I did it a couple of years ago for a band I was in briefly - I just sat down one (long) evening and transcribed it onto Noteflight. I'm usually pretty good at picking stuff up by ear but just could not crack that one for some reason. I've still got it somewhere if you want a copy. Performed it once and decided the band wasn't for me (they did Robbie Williams numbers - aaagghh!) so it was an evening I will never get back......

 

[Vlad]

^ A Robbie Williams tribute band eh..... I hope you left some Anthrax in their beer before you left ....

 

[Greg Strange]

Try this...

https://saxsolos.com/ArtistNtZ.html

Scroll down to Wesley Magoogan's name - Curtis Swift refers to the album it comes from as "City To City" which is incorrect - that's the title of a Gerry Rafferty album

or

Enjoy!

Greg S

 

[Greg Strange]

I just realized I have the sheet music as well - purchased from Curtis a number of years ago...along with a truck load of other stuff.

Greg S.

 

[Vlad]

Didn't the Sax player in the clip subsequently chop his hand off by accident or something ??

 

[Greg Strange]

Didn't the Sax player in the clip subsequently chop his hand off by accident or something ??

You are correct. Approximately 1995 Wesley was doing some home renovating and severed his fingers with a circular saw. The fingers were attached but unable to play the saxophone. I think he was living in the States at the time. Currently lives in Hastings, U.K. where he looks after his artist son Lester who has Downs Syndrome.

Here's Wesley playing with Billy Ocean...

Enjoy!

Greg S.

 

[ProfJames]

Great sound but rotten video!

 

[jonf]

There's a transcription of the whole song on Hazel O Connor's web site. Sax solo in in C but it's easy to transcribe. When I play it (I was playing it last night, by coincidence) I find it necessary to think back to the original song and listening to it in the early 1980s - key part of my life.

Incidentally a bit of interesting trivia. The song was from the film Breaking Glass, produced by a certain Dodi Fayed. He wasn't just Diana Spencer's boyfriend.

 

[Greg Strange]

This may help...

http://www.hazeloconnor.net/willyou.pdf

Greg S.

 

[Steve Marshall]

Interesting Youtube clip of Lester, Wes's son https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSXxdJj203E&feature=youtu.be

 

[gladsaxisme]

I don't go to the playing thread very often,not sure why,but stumbled on to this thread and it just shows what a great place this forum is and the knowledge and help that's available for everyone, I will be sorting out the dots for myself and giving it a try

Thanks .....John