Having praised Jerry Bergonzi's book on Melodic Structures I should add one important caveat. Learning the language of Jazz will not happen with this book alone. Listening is very important.
As I said before, the book is a good stepping stone to improvisations well beyond the boundaries of the method described, but nothing can really be achieved unless the student has immersed himself in the language he is trying to learn.
Rhythm, phrasing, stylistic interpretations are all extremely important in a method that is quite theoretical. The exercises in the book could be played by a machine, and not sound like jazz at all, but in the hands of someone that understands and has adsorbed the language it's the perfect tool.
I really like this quote from Bob Anram "...one's style and the way one ultimately thinks through the horn are significantly defined by the various artists one chooses to embrace and the relative ratio of time spent listening to each artist." Have a read of the full article on Sax on the Web, it's a fascinating read that takes this point further.
http://www.saxontheweb.net/Jazz/BobAnram3.html
As I said before, the book is a good stepping stone to improvisations well beyond the boundaries of the method described, but nothing can really be achieved unless the student has immersed himself in the language he is trying to learn.
Rhythm, phrasing, stylistic interpretations are all extremely important in a method that is quite theoretical. The exercises in the book could be played by a machine, and not sound like jazz at all, but in the hands of someone that understands and has adsorbed the language it's the perfect tool.
I really like this quote from Bob Anram "...one's style and the way one ultimately thinks through the horn are significantly defined by the various artists one chooses to embrace and the relative ratio of time spent listening to each artist." Have a read of the full article on Sax on the Web, it's a fascinating read that takes this point further.
http://www.saxontheweb.net/Jazz/BobAnram3.html
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