Beginner impro Moondance range in B minor for tenor

[eb424]

Its all easy when youve been playing years...im struggling with a bit of improv over basic tunes..can pmay the melody from dots nowhere near the instrumentals.its where im at i have to accept it ..playing by ear next on the list..

 

[skeller047]

Eddie, I would like to gently suggest that your priority should be to learn to copy tunes by ear. Not “next on the list”, but right now. I was taking tunes down from records, and working out arrangements with a band, after playing 3 years. Yes I was a young teenager, but you are an intelligent person - perhaps with a mental block. “Playing by ear is hard, I’ll do that later.”

You mentioned elsewhere you have been playing for nine years. That’s certainly long enough to have gained the ability to play what you hear. You just have to do it. Note by note, bar by bar. Slow at first but eventually it will click. This will help you with your improv too.

 

[mizmar]

.im struggling with a bit of improv

... And the reason I bounced this thread was that I thought, maybe, the video would help with that.
Finger wagging about developing learning by ear wasn't my point... Although they aren't mutually exclusive. 20 mins learning a phrase or two by ear, 20 mins working on something like the video... Stuff like that is worth gold dust.

 

[eb424]

Eddie, I would like to gently suggest that your priority should be to learn to copy tunes by ear. Not “next on the list”, but right now. I was taking tunes down from records, and working out arrangements with a band, after playing 3 years. Yes I was a young teenager, but you are an intelligent person - perhaps with a mental block. “Playing by ear is hard, I’ll do that later.”

You mentioned elsewhere you have been playing for nine years. That’s certainly long enough to have gained the ability to play what you hear. You just have to do it. Note by note, bar by bar. Slow at first but eventually it will click. This will help you with your improv too.

Hi thanks a very informative video..you are right of course. The reason i havent done it to date is that ive focused on 20 songs for a set..playing by yourself wears thin and the buzz playing in care homes has given purpose to playing. But these songs need finishing so the time has to be now. It's just the how?

 

[thomsax]

This song is SO simple the only thing to do is just to learn it by ear. NO need dots.

I agree, it's an easy song to learn by ear. Beginners and home honkers can learn it rather quick. And that's good. But I've heard many insignificant versions played by professional and semiprofessional and they don't tell a story with their saxes. To play instrumentals by ear/from memory is one thing, to play a song with lyrics/word is another thing.

 

[thomsax]

Learn a song by ear ......

... learn the key
... learn the "meter" (versmått on swedish)
... learn the length
... learn the format
... learn the harmonic form
... learn the melody (no short-cuts)
... learn the lyrics/words and the meaning of the lyrics.

90% of the songs I learned by ear and play as I remember them, are songs with lyrics. Blues, Rock & Roll, R&B ..... . How to give tones and color the lyrics/words with your sax is important.