On Saturday 21st February, twenty saxophonists met in Bracknell for an improvisation workshop with renowned multi-instrumentalist, Justin Swadling. For many of the Sax Bandits, me included, this was a first venture into any type of soloing/improvising, but Justin’s approach was perfect for newbies, as well as those with a little experience under their belts.
While I had some expectations of playing during the day, I hadn’t anticipated we would be given the challenge (or I should say ‘opportunity’) to solo as early as 15 minutes into the workshop. However, this was a great way to get rid of any nerves we might have had. Throughout the session, Justin explained each improvisation concept, demoed it, and then gave us the opportunity to try it ourselves individually.
Improvisation Ideas
The morning was spent on soloing with limited notes (three notes initially), creating space (play a bar, rest a bar), and then expanding to the notes of the minor pentatonic scale. It was amazing to play just using 3 notes, you might think it was constraining but it gave so much freedom to experiment. Limiting the notes removes some of the challenge when coming up with ideas and helps you to think more rhythmically. Adding the 2 additional notes in the pentatonic scale just amped up the sound of our solos even more. The idea of leaving space and not playing isn’t natural to saxophone players who are new to soloing. It’s not easy to implement but it creates a powerful sense of anticipation about what comes next for anyone listening.
The 2nd half of the workshop moved onto playing the blues scale and introduced the idea of soloing “inside and outside”. My understanding of playing ‘inside’, is that you confine yourself to notes that sit nicely within the harmony, whereas playing ‘outside’ intentionally introduces notes that sit outside the harmony. The blues scale adds ‘tension’ within the harmony. Next, long notes were introduced, reinforcing the idea that not everything needs to be fast and punchy. Introducing long notes into a solo creates the opportunity to demonstrate your musical tone, control and breath support, as well as giving listeners the anticipation of what will come next.
The Holy Grail
The final idea was about extended techniques, which Justin called “the holy grail” (which included ‘The Turkey’, Venting, and Growling). This was an opportunity for many of the Bandits to show what skills they had and it was a lot of fun. For me personally, this was probably the step where I struggled a bit, but Justin was encouraged me to slow down and bring some focus, pointing out what was working and what needed tweaking. We finished the workshop by pulling together all the improvisation ideas into our individual solos.
I certainly left the workshop with a huge confidence boost, a template for soloing, and an eagerness to put it into practice. Justin was brilliant as were my fellow bandits, hugely supportive of each other throughout the entire session – thank you!
It was a brilliant workshop. I loved being able to play, using the planning steps Justin gave us. Next one please.
Thanks for sharing the experience, Tony. Excellent write up. I would definitely have gone if we hadn’t been away. I love that Sax Bandits organise this workshops. Keep up the soloing.