Twenty saxophonists turned up at Sunningdale Village Hall on a rainy Saturday in February. It was quickly established after quick around-the-room introductions that many of us had limited experience with ‘playing by ear’ which helped quell some initial nerves.
Our friendly saxophone guide, Hannah Horton, had sent out some materials before the workshop, two songs and a minor scale, so that none of us would be jumping into the workshop completely cold. I figured that memorising the provided minor scale might just be enough to get me through the day and indeed that was a good start! From the outset we knew we’d be improvising and not playing from notated sheet music.
Hannah helped to break the ice by suggesting that “there are no wrong notes, merely some notes that fit better than others. A note is never more than two notes away from one that does fit”. So, if a note doesn’t seem to work, move it by a semitone in either direction to find one that does (or just play your note with confidence like you meant it)!
We soon got comfortable playing the minor scale and were introduced to noodling around with it. Noodling with a few notes from a scale sounded a lot less intimidating than improvising! We improvised in pairs using just a few notes from the scale with a simple accompaniment played by the other saxophonists in the room – it was a lot of fun and easier than first expected!
Things did get more technical at times; we were introduced to the idea of playing scales without starting on the root note of the key signature. The minor scale that had been sent to everyone before the workshop had been written starting on the fifth note – I had liked playing it that way rather than from its root note, it made it sound more interesting!
Hannah showed us Herbie Hancock’s version of the jazz standard ‘Summertime’ to see if we could identify the key and figure out which notes might fit when improvising. It became apparent that much of this skill comes down to a good knowledge of scales – the foundation of Jazz. Once our group collectively established the key of the song Hannah gave us some notes to noodle with which fitted perfectly! We learnt that playing from the second note of a major scale, created a very different sound called the ‘Dorian mode‘.
The day continued, experimenting with improvising on one of Hannah’s original compositions, ‘Surfing Thermals’, which had been sent out ahead of the workshop.
I have attended previous Sax Bandits improvisation workshops with Snake Davis and Alan Barnes and after both workshops my saxophone playing seemed to sound better and I felt more confident – this workshop was no exception!
I’d recommend anyone interested in developing their saxophone sound to try workshops like this, initial nerves can be quickly overcome, Hannah certainly made this a supportive learning experience. Walking into the room at the beginning of the workshop many had seemed a bit apprehensive but as we walked out of the room there were a lot of smiles and a newfound confidence in just giving things a go.
Pick a scale and happy noodling!
Great write up, Chris. I attended too and endorse everything that you’ve said. I would definitely go to another, it was fun and confidence building. Hannah was excellent and pitched it just right.
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Sounds like you all had a good time! I must pluck up courage and get one under my belt!
It was great to meet and work with you all! Happy noodling