Saxophone Forum


by scooby
(83 posts)
16 years ago

New Lester Young Transcriptions

There are two new Lester Young transcriptions available on www.scooby-sax.com . The first is DB Blues, a classic blues with a bridge. The second is Poundcake. This solo has two classic blues choruses. I like to have my students play them in all 12 keys. Enjoy! -- Scooby

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  1. by jamterry
    (573 posts)

    16 years ago

    Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

    anybody who really plays doesn't need transcriptions. you young people can pull that off the records. take the training wheels off you saxophone and dig in

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  2. by Tranesyadaddy
    (279 posts)

    16 years ago

    Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

    you need to play stuff in all 15 keys to be thorough.

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    1. by newreedsyndrome
      (343 posts)

      16 years ago

      Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

      15? typo or comedy? and yeah, students should really transcribe on their own, or eventually, the ability to transcribe will be bred out of the musician race because everyone will have a book, or a website or something and wont learn to do it themselves.

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      1. by Tranesyadaddy
        (279 posts)

        16 years ago

        Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

        7 sharps + 7 flats + C=.....

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        1. by cuber
          (653 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          enharmonics...

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        2. by newreedsyndrome
          (343 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          What, you hear licks differently depending on whether your playing in Eb or D#?

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        3. by newreedsyndrome
          (343 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          and by that logic, there'd be 35 keys, including A, B, C, D, E, F, G and all the sharp, flat, double sharp and double flat versions of each of those. enharmonics!

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        4. by Tranesyadaddy
          (279 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          If you practice the cycle of twelve the same way all the time ...C#... F#... B.. etc, what are you going to do if someone sticks a Db chart in front of you? how can you improvise over unfamiliar chords? the aim of practicing is to become prepared.

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        5. by jamterry
          (573 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          if you can hear, no chord is unfamiliar. just learn all your Eb licks, and your Bb licks. you guys make this too hard.

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        6. by Tranesyadaddy
          (279 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          I partially agree, only it's hard to plan a musical solo, or even just a logical one, if you're waiting to hear each chord before you respond. also, I find people who only learn licks are the ones who tend to hear the least.

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        7. by Tranesyadaddy
          (279 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          also, knowledge gives you confidence. and there isn't really that much to learn anyway. 12 tones in each of the 15 keys ( plus maybe G#, D# & Fb for good measure) and you're done for life.

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        8. by scooby
          (83 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          A few comments: 1). I agree wholeheartedly that one should take their own stuff off the recording. I provide these as a reference. After transcribing it yourself, you could compare to mine, see where we differ and why, etc. 2). Along with comment #1, the whole point is to be able play the solo and capture Pres's nuances. I find Pres to be one of the hardest guys to notate. If you try to capture exactly what he plays, you wind up with an unreadable score (for example, if you notate a delayed entrance with a 32nd note rest, etc). The transcriptions I published aim for readable scores (at the expense of absolute rhythmic accuracy). You have to listen to Pres to hear what a fabulous time sense he has, hear how long he swoops up to a note, etc. 3). The point of playing the solo in multiple keys is not just to be able to regurgitate rote licks in any key . I think it forces one to really understand how the notes are relating to the chords and to the key. It would be possible to learn the solo in the original key through rote memorization and muscle memory. Play in 100x and your fingers will know to press these buttons at this time. But take it up a half step and now you have to know that that line Pres is playing is outlining a dominant chord ( and that it isn't just any dominant chord but maybe it is VI heading to ii, etc). -- Scooby
          "... trying to play clean and looking for the pretty notes." -- Charlie Parker

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        9. by jamterry
          (573 posts)

          16 years ago

          Re: New Lester Young Transcriptions

          for a beginner that is great, but i don't like to mimmick anyone. i jammed with Sonny Stitt, and i didn't thought he was a Charlie Parker clone. i jammed a lot with Gene Ammons, and altough i was influenced by his husky tenor sound, i didn't try to be him. if you want to be good , you have to be yourself. when you hear other players, you will retain what you like.you will discard what you don't like. then you will develop a style of your own. a sheet of music will not give you articulation and feel. if don't feel it, don't play it.

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